Help Me Grow connects families to the right resources, so their children can thrive. It is a national model that promotes a universal system to provide a cost-effective, efficient, and user-friendly mechanism for early identification, referral, and care coordination related to the development, learning, and behavior of children ages 0-5
One in four children under the age of 6 is at risk for developmental, behavioral, or social delays.1 Despite this, only 33.9% of children in California receive a developmental screening and many children miss the window of opportunity for early identification and early intervention services.2 For children to get the right intervention at the right time, families need reliable, equitable access to support services.
Help Me Grow is a systems change model that aims to improve the coordination of local early childhood services by leveraging existing resources in the community, maximizing opportunities within public agencies, and promoting cross-sector collaboration toward a shared agenda. This is accomplished through oversight by an organizing entity and a network of partner agencies and programs that focus on young children and their families.
To maximize the ability to provide strategic direction for the Help Me Grow system and leverage resources within the community, F5VC officially became the organizing entity for Help Me Grow in July 2019.
1. Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health (2011). Interactive Data Query, National Survey of Children’s Health, Emotional, and Mental Health. Retrieved 12/4/17 from www.childhealthdata.org/browse/survey.
2. Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. 2018-2019 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) data query. Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). Retrieved 10/15/19 from www.childhealthdata.org.
