Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
South Peoria WIC Site
10 WIC sites
• 43,004 client visits
• $12,042,550 benefits issued
• 43,004 client visits
• $12,042,550 benefits issued
Relocation of South Peoria WIC site
The South Peoria WIC site was relocated to a larger site to allow room for additional staff to better meet the needs of the growing community. South Peoria WIC provides benefits to an average of 2,295 clients each month.
Little By Little School Readiness Program
Designed to provide the knowledge and resources to families so they can begin to foster and support early literacy habits within their home on a daily basis.
• 30,378 books distributed
• 9,914 individual families served
• 3,288 new enrollments
• 9,914 individual families served
• 3,288 new enrollments
Collinsville WIC Clinic
The Collinsville WIC clinic returned to in-person services in 2023. WIC is there to serve the community on Tuesdays. Collinsville WIC provided benefits to an average of 130 clients each month.
Remote WIC Services
USDA & OSDH have approved the continuation of remote WIC services when requested by clients.
Breastfeeding Peer Counseling (BFPC)
Our BFPC program secured $9,423 in grant funds from the George Kaiser Family Foundation for World Breastfeeding Month activities in August 2022. Five events were hosted across the county, with a total attendance of approximately 400.
Breastfeeding rates for WIC clinics served by Peer Counselors:
• Initiation: 70.3%
• Duration of 3 months: 58.3%
• Duration of 6 months: 37.6%
• Duration of 12 months: 16.8%
Breastfeeding rates for WIC clinics served by Peer Counselors:
• Initiation: 70.3%
• Duration of 3 months: 58.3%
• Duration of 6 months: 37.6%
• Duration of 12 months: 16.8%
World Breast Feeding Month at North Regional Health Center on Aug 5, 2023
World Breast Feeding Month at North Regional Health Center on Aug 5, 2023
World Breast Feeding Month at North Regional Health Center on Aug 5, 2023
Healthy Start
Healthy Start provides free and confidential clinic triage and home visitation case management services for expecting and postpartum moms and their babies up to age 18 months. The goal of the program is to improve birth outcomes and reduce infant mortality with an emphasis on those populations at highest risk.
• 265 pregnant women and families (up from 219 last fiscal year)
• 206 infants and children (up from 165 last fiscal year)
• 48 men (up from 40 last fiscal year)
• 127 THS program births
• 10 (7.9%) low birth weight births
• 13 (10.2%) premature births
• 13 (10.2%) premature births
Mental Health Screening
• Participants were screened one or more times for depression in our efforts to address the nation's maternal child health mental health crisis
• 22% of Healthy Start clients screened positive for mental health markers and received followed-up referral for evaluation and treatment
Zero infant deaths within Tulsa county high-risk target population
One of the most significant accomplishments of 2022-2023 is reflected in the Tulsa Healthy Start (THS) program’s birth outcomes. Tulsa Healthy Start has repeated its record of zero infant deaths within its high-risk Tulsa County target population for the seventh year in a row.
6th Annual North Tulsa Community Baby Shower
The 6th Annual North Tulsa Community Baby Shower took place at Booker T. Washington High School on Sep 17, 2022 after over three years. Healthy Start is the primary sponsor for the event. The event focused on North Tulsa residents from the eight Healthy Start target population zip codes. The baby shower provided education, baby supplies and connection to resource agencies to pregnant mothers and families with a child under the age of one.
536 attendees
• 192 moms
• 122 pregnant moms and 26 dads
• 73 families with a child under the age of one
• 122 pregnant moms and 26 dads
• 73 families with a child under the age of one
From the 170 surveys collected
• 98% of the families left knowing the safest place for baby was in its own crib, bassinet or pack and play
• 96% learned about an agency they were unaware of before
• 96% learned about an agency they were unaware of before
Community Baby Shower at Booker T. Washington High School on Sep 17, 2022
ConnectFirst
ConnectFirst provides support at no cost to anyone in Tulsa county who is enrolled in SoonerCare and is pregnant or have a young child under eight years old. Through the ConnectFirst Emergency Fund, Connect First has provided financial assistance to families enrolled in and receiving services from a ConnectFirst program.
• $149,466 emergency fund was utilized to serve 127 clients
• Assistance with Multiple Household Bill: 49
• Assistance with Rent/Mortgage: 47
• Assistance with Utilities: 22
• Assistance with Other Basic or Household Needs: 9
• Assistance with Multiple Household Bill: 49
• Assistance with Rent/Mortgage: 47
• Assistance with Utilities: 22
• Assistance with Other Basic or Household Needs: 9
parentPro
parentPro continues to work within the community to help in connecting community members to home visitation programs. The parentPro Community Connector has attended over 100 collaborative meetings with community partners in Tulsa county.
• 530 clients in FY23
• Attended 52+ community events in FY23
• Service reach target: 2,000. Outcome: 1,454
• Program Conversion (Percentage of mothers or mothers to be who had 2+ engagements with a FA): Target 25%. Outcome 27%
• Cold Call Pick Up Rate: Target: 60% Outcome: 60%
• Healthy Births: Target 19%, Outcome 15%
Unite Oklahoma
Unite Oklahoma is a coordinated care network consisting of healthcare, government, nonprofit, and other organizations. These network partners use Unite Us software to securely identify, deliver, and pay for services that address the needs of individuals within their communities. The Unite Us platform is a huge asset to better meet the needs of families participating in the ConnectFirst program by streamlining referrals to community partners. THD Family Advocates was the top George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) / Birth Through Eight Strategy For Tulsa (BEST) partner program to be named the top Unite US Oklahoma receivers of incoming referrals.
Serve undocumented clients
THD Family Advocates worked closely with community partners to better serve undocumented clients.
Access to Car Seats and
Play 'N Plays
Play 'N Plays
The Special Initiative allowed THD Family Advocates to provide a resource to ConnectFirst program recipients with access to car seats and pack 'n plays.
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Outreach
1,800+ contacts by MCH Outreach
Outreach workers and community engagement specialists provide SoonerCare enrollment assistance along with information and referrals to THD programs and community agencies to meet the needs of Tulsa families. Outreach team members completed over 1,800 contacts which yielded new or continued Medicaid/SoonerCare coverage for almost 3,000 individuals (adults and children).
507 individuals were provided support by social workers
Two social workers provided support to clinic patients to help with problem solving, resource management, depression screening, education and warm hand-offs to basic needs and mental health agencies. 507 individuals were provided support and needed referrals.
Child Passenger Safety Program
29 car seats with full installation and prevention education were provided to Tulsa County families since the launch of this program in Oct 2022. Two staff from the MCH team were trained as car seat installation technicians.
CityMatCH CityLeaders
CityMatCH is a national membership organization of city and county health departments' maternal and child health (MCH) programs and leaders representing urban communities in the United States. One of our MCH team members, Ashlee Cabrera, was accepted as a CityMatCH CityLeaders participant.
CityLeaders is a leadership training for emerging and mid-level urban maternal child health leaders. CityLeaders participants engage in nine months of intensive training on the MCH Leadership Competencies including one in-person meeting and a series of distance-based skills-building opportunities. They are also matched with a senior urban MCH leader in the field for a mentor/mentee relationship.
Children First
Children First, also know nationally as Nurse Family Partnership, is a family-centered program that utilizes home based services by registered nurses (RNs) to help first-time mothers and their families prepare for parenthood.
Active caseload of 341 clients• 4,614 in-person home visits
• 165 phone visits
• 36 telehealth visits
25th Anniversary of "Children First: Oklahoma's Nurse-Family Partnership" in October, 2022
THD's Children First Program was one of four pilot sites for the program that was initiated in 1997. Two current Children First nurses have received the Julie Bonner Award in 2022 from their significant contributions in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect in Oklahoma.
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Project
CQI project increased Workforce Knowledge of Child Development by 10%. Plan-Do-Study-Act included:
• Nurse home visitors develop the process and tools
• Nurse home visitors complete needs survey
• Education topics in monthly training sessions
• THD Child Guidance Team inform about newborn period through toddler stage development
• Pre and post survey to measure self-reported knowledge of topic
• Nurse home visitors complete needs survey
• Education topics in monthly training sessions
• THD Child Guidance Team inform about newborn period through toddler stage development
• Pre and post survey to measure self-reported knowledge of topic
150 Referrals from THD Women, Infants and Children (WIC) clinics
150/308 eligible Children First referrals were received from WIC clinic.
24 Clients Graduate from Children First Program
This very reduced number of graduates reflects the limited caseload of clients that Children First nurses were able to maintain during the two previous years of the COVID Pandemic response. Children First nurses were assigned to multiple emergency preparedness roles including administering COVID vaccines at PODs, staffing the phone bank and assisting with epidemiology contact tracing efforts.
Two Federal Congressional Site Visit in August 2022
Two Oklahoma Congressmen U.S. Representative Kevin Hern and a staff member from Senator Lankford's office participated in a site visit with THD Children First. This annual congressional site visit for the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visitation (MIECHV) Grant allowed the congressmen to learn about the Children First Program, visit activities and program outcomes from the Nurse Home Visitors and the current clients who were enrolled in the program. One of the clients was a second-generation participant in Children First. Both the client and her mother had the same Nurse Home Visitor.
25th Anniversary of Children First at Oklahoma State Department of health on Oct 6, 2022
Annual Congressional Site Visit on Aug 11, 2022
Child Guidance
Child Guidance provides child development, behavioral health and speech/language pathology services to assist children in achieving optimal growth and development
4,100 Client contacts in the clinic
268 Group hours
145 hours of Classroom Consultation hours
268 Group hours
145 hours of Classroom Consultation hours
AutPlay Therapy Certification
AutPlay Therapy is a neurodiversity paradigm informed framework for mental health professionals, especially those with a background in child and play therapy. The focus of AutPlay is to address the mental health needs of neurodivergent children and adolescents through a neurodiversity affirming approach.
All eight of our direct-care Child Guidance clinicians attended the two-day AutPlay Therapy certification training in 2023. This evidence-based approach will allow our clinicians to better serve neurodivergent clients and their families.
120 Hearing Aids Dispensed
Our Audiology program is one of two programs that provide Durable Medical Equipment (DME) services for Medicaid clients (hearing aids) for the entire east side of Oklahoma.
Mental Health Consultation Services
Our Child Guidance program provided mental health consultation services to Community Action Resource & Development Inc (CARD) Head Start and Native American Coalition of Tulsa (NACT) Head Start programs.
24 classrooms conducted
THD School Health
THD School Health seeks to improve overall health and academic achievement of Tulsa County school-aged children in collaboration with students, schools, and the community by aligning learning and health through comprehensive nutrition and health education. THD School Health serves elementary aged students (Pre-K - 6th Grade) in ten school districts across Tulsa County.
Health, Nutrition and Physical Education Classes For Elementary Schools
In 2022-2023 school year, health, nutrition and physical education classes are conducted to approximately 67,000 in-person participants and 97 virtual participants.
Topics included: Dental Health, Tobacco & Vaping Prevention, Human Growth & Development, Bully Prevention, Team building, Mindfulness, Stress Management, Nutrition in the classroom, Fitness in the Classroom, Incorporating Core Curriculum in PE, and Nutrition in PE.
Pre to 60-day post-test results show that there is a significant increase in Human Growth and Development and Dental Health Knowledge. 4th and 5th grade students who have participated have shown increase knowledge in the prevention of tobacco and vaping.
Pre to 60-day post-test results show that there is a significant increase in Human Growth and Development and Dental Health Knowledge. 4th and 5th grade students who have participated have shown increase knowledge in the prevention of tobacco and vaping.
Professional Development Workshops for Tulsa County Teachers and Community Partners
THD School Health offers professional development to Tulsa County teachers and community partners on the topics of Teambuilding, Dance, Incorporating Fitness in the Classroom, Inside Recess Games & Activities, Action Based Learning - Lab Activities, Nutrition in PE, and Physical Education Games.
• Health Education 504 in-person and 111 virtual participants
• Physical Education: 516 in-person and 71 virtual participants
• Physical Education: 516 in-person and 71 virtual participants
• 78.2% of the survey respondents selected that the professional development was very beneficial and 21.1% selected somewhat beneficial.
Don’t Bug Me Flu Campaign
THD School Health Program facilitated the annual Don't Bug Me Flu Campaign Kick-off assembly for students Pre K to 5th Grade at Lindbergh Elementary in Tulsa Public School District. Students learned flu prevention tips and how to keep the spread of germs to a minimum.
Breakout session at the National Academy for Health & Physical Literacy (NAHPL)
THD School Health Program presented 'Be The Change You Want To See' during a breakout session at the National Academy for Health & Physical Literacy (NAHPL) on March 9, 2023. Topics discussed include:
• Advocating for health and physical literacy
• Mentoring emerging professionals
• Be more involved with professional organizations
• Mentoring emerging professionals
• Be more involved with professional organizations
Annual Don't Bug Me Flu Campaign Kick-off Assembly at Lindbergh Elementary on Oct 28, 2022
Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP)
Our Teen Pregnancy Prevention Specialists provided education to middle and high school students in 16 different schools throughout Tulsa County. The evidence-based curricula taught share three common themes which are proven to be effective in reducing unplanned pregnancy, high-risk sexual behaviors and STIs, including HIV.
• PREP Program in 16 schools in Tulsa County
• 2,612 students initiated at least one of the four curricula. 74.13% more than the PREP grant target of 1,500
• Students attended at least 75% of the classes
• 1,842 students completed the program
• 2,612 students initiated at least one of the four curricula. 74.13% more than the PREP grant target of 1,500
• Students attended at least 75% of the classes
• 1,842 students completed the program
• 1,700 survey results collected from students
• Emphasis on Parent-Child Communication Regarding Sexual Health
This highlights to the students that communicating with their parents and guardians is instrumental in helping them navigate adolescence. Survey results show that students were more likely to talk to a parent/guardian about things in their life, including sex after attending the PREP program.
• Inclusion of activities that address the social pressures that influence sexual behavior• Practicing the students' ability to resist or say no to peer pressure
• Manage their emotions in healthy ways
• Make decisions to not use drugs and alcohol
• Manage their emotions in healthy ways
• Make decisions to not use drugs and alcohol
Survey results showed that students have an increased ability to resist or say no to peer pressure after being in the PREP program. They are more likely to manage their emotions in healthy ways and make decisions not to use drugs and alcohol.
• Consistent and clear messages about abstaining from sexual activity or using condoms or other forms of contraception
Students who were less likely to engage in sexual intercourse and more likely to talk about protection with a partner. Plans for the future, emotional and social consequences, STIs and unplanned pregnancy were cited as their reasons for choosing abstinence. Over 90% of students surveyed said they were satisfied with the information they received during the program about abstaining from sex and about condoms and birth control.
PREP Program Booth
Epidemiology
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Newsletter
Our MCH Epidemiologist released a THD Maternal and Child Health Newsletter to improve community communications on local events and topics that impact maternal and child health in October 2022. The newsletter is designed to reach parents, caregivers, and those who serve them.
• Public health topics featured include safe sleep, injury prevention, preterm labor, sexually transmitted infections during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and the wonderful impact of fatherhood involvement on infant and maternal health
• Over 80 community members have signed up to receive the newsletter
• Over 80 community members have signed up to receive the newsletter
$140,000 Grant funding from National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO)
In response to the growing syphilis and congenital syphilis epidemic occurring in Tulsa County, the MCH epidemiologist as part of the Tulsa Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Project in collaboration with the MCH Outreach Initiatives Community System Development Specialist submitted a grant proposal and was awarded $140,000 grant funding from NACCHO in April 2023. The funding awards an innovative approach to engage the community and those with lived experiences to share their thoughts on the solutions to reducing syphilis among women of childbearing age. Over 10 community organizations have vowed to take part in the community engagement and planning process.
In March 2023, a case of Hepatitis B was identified among a non-English speaking mother who recently had a baby. Through collaborative efforts with the Preventative Health Services staff fluent in Burmese/Zomi, the MCH epidemiologist was able to discuss the test result and ensure that the baby received the appropriate vaccinations. The THD staff, along with the Oklahoma State Department of Health Perinatal Hepatitis B Virus coordinator, provided comprehensive services to the mother and baby as well as free testing and consultation for the father of the baby.
