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Story Starters: Violence: Domestic Violence
Lead: Mother finds strength through GoodStart
Synopsis
Ginger Lee Giordoni was in a panic when she found out she was pregnant. At 17, she was busy with high school, the field hockey team, and working at a part-time job. Overwhelmed with ordinary teenage responsibilities, she now had to face motherhood. When her baby, Kyle, was born five weeks premature, her boyfriend broke up with her. Unprepared to be a mother, Ginger Lee appealed to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (MSPCC’s) GoodStart for help.
GoodStart provides a variety of free services to mostly low-income new parents who ask for help. It connects families with community resources and support; provides parenting education; and has a strong home visiting component.
The home visiting service is especially appealing to many of the parents who use GoodStart. Offering in-home guidance and support, home visitors aid parents in understanding child behavior, and teach them coping mechanisms and discipline strategies. Much of what home visiting does is to help parents feel confident in their parenting, in turn making them better parents. Linnea Norris, Director of GoodStart Program Southeast Region, explains that GoodStart is "… a very positive strength based program where you are building on someone’s skills. Encouraging them to go on and build up their self-esteem so they can feel that they are doing their best."
Research has confirmed that providing educational and support services to parents around the time of a baby’s birth can significantly reduce the risk factors associated with child abuse. A recent study by W. S. Barnett found that early childhood programs such as GoodStart can also produce significant short term benefits for children in terms of intelligence quotient, and sizable long term effects on school social development.
Ginger Lee gave her son a good start by soliciting the help of GoodStart soon after he was born. Now, Ginger Lee is working as a GoodStart home visitor, helping new mothers do the same for their children.
GoodStart
MSPCC
158 Main Street
Brockton, MA 02301
(508) 586-2660; (800) 339-2204
- Provides parenting information and education to expecting parents and new parents throughout Massachusetts.
- Uses the family approach system to establish an optimal environment in the child’s home.
- Offers parenting education classes in hospitals, health clinics, and community-based agencies.
- Trained home visitors deliver comprehensive health, child development, and counseling and support services through.
- Home visitors include trained volunteers, parent aides, social workers, mental health clinicians, child development specialists, speech, occupational, and physical therapists, psychologists, and nurses.
- In 1997, GoodStart provided services to more than 4,000 families across the state of Massachusetts..
Linnea Norris
Director of GoodStart Program, Southeast Regional Director of MSPCC
158 Main Street
Brockton, MA 02301
Deanna Gomby Ph.D.
Deputy Director of Children, Families, & Communities
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation
Phone: (650) 948-3696
d.gomby@packfound.org
David VanDamme
Communications Director, Central Office, Department of Social Services
Phone: 617-748-2000
www.deptofss.com
M.Ann Easterbrooks
Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development
Tufts University
105 College Avenue
Medford, MA 02155
(617) 627-2217
Fax: (617) 627-3503
Young, inexperienced, and poor parents with limited resources are at a high risk of abusing and neglecting their children. (Preventing teenage pregnancy. Virginia Child Proteen Newsletter, (Fall, 1997). 52, 9-15.)
Every five hours a child dies from abuse or neglect, every 10 seconds a child is reported abused or neglected, every 1 minute a baby is born to a teen mother, and every 15 minutes a baby dies. (The Stand for Children Action Packet. (May, 1996). For copy, contact: Stand for Children. 1834 Connecticut Ave. NW. Washington, DC 20009. (800)663-4032.
www.stand.org)Studies show that home visiting programs can work to prevent abuse and neglect in "high-risk" families up to 99.8 percent of the time. (O'Connell, R. D. (Summer, 1992). Healthy Beginnings. Caring, 20-24.)
The earlier the parents are educated and given support for the birth of their child the less likely the parents are to treat the child poorly. (Healthy Families America Fact Sheet. Distributed by the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse. 322 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60604-4357. (312) 663-3520.)
For every $3 spent on prevention programs, the state saves at least $6 that might have been spent on child welfare services, special education services, medical care, foster care, counseling, and housing juvenile offenders. (Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund, representing Healthy Families Massachusetts. 294 Washington St., Boston, MA. (617) 727-8957; (800) 252-8403.)
References
Barnett W. S. (1995). Long term effects of early childhood programs on cognitive and school outcomes. Future of Children. Issue 3. 25-30.
Healthy Families America Fact Sheet. Distributed by the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse. 322 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1200, Chicago, IL, 60604-4357. (312) 663-3520.)
Massachusetts Children’s Trust Fund, representing Healthy Families Massachusetts. 294 Washington St., Boston, MA. (617) 727-8957; (800) 252-8403.
Moments in America for children. (January 1998). CDF Reports. 7-14.
Children’s Defense Fund. 25 East Street NW, Washington DC, 20001. (202) 628-8787. Cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org; www.childrensdefense.orgO'Connell, R. D. (Summer, 1992). Healthy Beginnings. Caring, 20-24
The Stand for Children Action Packet
. (May, 1996). For copy, contact: Stand for Children. 1834 Connecticut Ave. NW. Washington, DC 20009. (800)663-4032. www.stand.org)Special report: Infant health improving. (November 1996). CDF Reports. 7-8.
Children’s Defense Fund. 25 East Street NW, Washington DC, 20001. (202) 628-8787. Cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org; www.childrensdefense.orgRelated Coverage
Bartley, S., & Tyrrell, S. (April 23, 1997). How we can make life better for Massachusetts newborns. The Boston Globe.
Hart, J. (May 30, 1997). Home visiting bill gets wide range of support. The Boston Globe.
Preventing teenage pregnancy. Virginia Child Proteen Newsletter, (Fall, 1997). 52, 9-15.
Protecting children against abuse and neglect. The Boston Parents’ Paper. October 1998. 45-46.
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