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Healthy Families Fairfax

Preventing
Child Abuse and Neglect
Through Successful Parenting

Healthy Families Fairfax – Cost Effective Intervention

In Fiscal Year 2011, Fairfax County spent an average of $42,862* per child receiving foster care services. In contrast, it costs about $3,281 per family to provide prevention services through the Healthy Families Fairfax program.

* The per child cost of foster care would be significantly higher if services purchased from private providers under the Comprehensive Services Act were included, but those expenditures are managed separately.

Healthy Families Fairfax – A Model Program Designed to Help Families

Healthy Families Fairfax in 2011 served 633 children and 627 families living in Fairfax County who are at high risk for abuse and neglect.

Healthy Families Fairfax provides home-based parenting education, health information and community support to first-time parents from pregnancy until the child reaches age three and is enrolled in an early group education experience.

Healthy Families Fairfax is a unique public-private partnership that includes the Department of Family Services; the Health Department and three local nonprofit organizations – Northern Virginia Family Service, Reston Interfaith and United Community Ministries.

Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect

In 2011, 2,597 complaints of child abuse and/or neglect were assessed or investigated by Fairfax County’s Child Protective Services.
The long-term effects of child abuse and neglect can be serious and long-lasting. Child abuse and neglect can result in lowered academic achievement, increased risk of drug use, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency and adult criminality. As a result, communities are forced to incur huge costs related to increased police and court interventions, additional correctional facilities, and expanded mental health, substance abuse and public assistance programs.

Outcomes of Healthy Families Fairfax Program

Objective	Achieved in 2011
Prevention of child abuse or neglect	Less than 1% of the families who were at high-risk of child abuse or neglect when entering the program were later found to have abused or neglected their children
Effective, positive parenting	95% of participants screened showed an acceptable level of positive parenting.
Pre- and post-natal health care to ensure healthy births and continued healthy growth and development during a child’s critical early years.	99% of children have a medical provider within two months of birth. 91% of new prenatal enrollees made almost all of the recommended prenatal care visits. 100% of prenatal enrollees delivered babies with a healthy birth weight. 94% of the children received their immunizations as recommended. 100% of children suspected for developmental delays were referred to a specialist.