Healthy Start offers universal screening for all Florida pregnant women and infants to ensure that early care is targeted to those families where there is the best chance of preventing or minimizing adverse outcomes. Healthy Start was signed into Florida law on June 4, 1991.
The range of Healthy Start services available to identified women and infants include:
- Information and referral
- Comprehensive assessment of service needs with consideration of family and community resources
- Ongoing care coordination and support to assure access to needed services
- Preconception Education
- Childbirth, breastfeeding, and parenting support and education
- Psychosocial, nutritional, and smoking cessation counseling
- Home visiting
Healthy Start Coalitions cover the state to ensure local leadership and planning for a system of care and to promote optimum health outcomes for pregnant women and infants.