Babies and young children facing inequitable stressors will have access to enhanced primary care thanks to a new investment in HealthySteps, a program of leading early childhood nonprofit ZERO TO THREE, which today announced a $46.5 million investment by Blue Meridian Partners. The funding will allow the program to double in size nationwide by 2027, according to a news release. The announcement follows a previous $39 million investment in the program by Blue Meridian.
The HealthySteps program embeds early childhood development experts (HealthySteps Specialists) in pediatric and family medicine primary care practices to help ensure that the young children in their care reach important early developmental and social-emotional milestones. This investment will more than double HealthySteps’ reach from over 350,000 children ages 0 to 3 to approximately 715,000 per year. The program’s goal is to support at least 1 million young children and their families every year by 2032, with a focus on children served by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as children without insurance.
Launched in 1995, HealthySteps has seen recent annual growth of 15 percent, largely due to high demand for the multi-generational services offered by the program.
HealthySteps currently operates in more than 200 sites across 26 states and Washington, D.C. Read more.
