To Improve Health and Health Care
Chapter One
Free to Grow
Irene M. Wielawski
Editors' Introduction
Preventing substance abuse through a preschool program may seem, at first
glance, like a strange approach. But this is precisely the strategy behind the Free
to Grow program, which has supported fifteen Head Start programs in organizing
coalitions of families and social service agencies to reduce substance abuse in
their communities. The program's organizers recognized that families with young
children wanted their children to grow up in a safe, nurturing environment and
that Head Start was a natural locus for parents and social service agencies to collaborate
on projects that would improve the life of the community and ultimately
reduce substance abuse.
One reason for using local Head Start programs to house Free to Grow
was the hope that if the coalitions proved successful, the national Head Start program
might adopt the program and continue its funding. This hope has not been
realized, however, as financial belt-tightening has ... read full excerpt from To Improve Health and Health Care: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Anthology ebook
