Best Practice

Arizona Health Start

State/Jurisdiction: Arizona
Setting: Community Home
Population: Women & Maternal
Topic Area: Reproductive Health Care Coordination
NPMs: NPM 1: Well-Woman Visit NPM 3: Risk-Appropriate Perinatal Care

HSP is unique in that it is the longest-running program in Arizona that employs CHWs to engage at-risk, low-income mothers in order to improve birth outcomes. The initial framework for HSP was developed in 1984, to address the low rates of prenatal care among migrant farmworker women in southern Arizona. At the time, Arizona ranked the 5th worst state for prenatal care outcomes. In 1992, Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) assumed leadership of the program, and in 1994 the Arizona State Legislature passed the Arizona Children and Families Stability Act, A.R.S. § 36-697, which formalized and expanded HSP’s purpose, requirements, and administration. HSP is a beneficiary of the Arizona State Lottery and now operates in 14 communities across Arizona.


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CONTACT INFORMATION
Arizona Department of Health Services
Kristin Spevak
Kristin.Spevak@azdhs.gov

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