YOUNG MOTHER BREAKS CYCLE OF ABUSE THANKS TO FIRST 5 LA FUNDING OF BLACK INFANT HEALTH PROGRAM

Suddenly, she developed complications with the pregnancy and had to quit her job because she was not yet eligible for medical leave.

"I was very defensive and angry during this time but didn't understand why," Shannon admitted. "Fortunately, my family and a Medicaid representative recommended that I go to the Black Infant Health (BIH) Program in Pasadena for prenatal care, and I took the advice."

She got involved and, as part of the program, she took classes, which she described as completely life changing.

Through social support and empowerment, a classroom-style intervention, clients like Shannon attend eight sessions designed to increase self-awareness and self-esteem via facilitated group discussions, peer support and personal skills-building.
"I was constantly in abusive relationships and didn't realize I was caught in a horrible cycle. Working with my mentor and taking the classes, I leaned about self-esteem and recognized that I didn't feel good about myself."

The BIH Program helped Shannon gain self-confidence and break the unhealthy pattern. "I finally understood what was happening to me and made a promise to my son that I would never be abusive with him and that I would never enter another abusive relationship with a man."

The program taught her how to discipline her child without hitting or spanking because she learned a much better way to communicate with him. She also rekindled her dream of going to college. "I no longer felt alone. I now had a support system that gave me the courage and motivation to keep attending classes," said Shannon, who graduated from Pasadena City College and then obtained a degree in film editing from Pasadena Arts Center and Design in 2008.

But Shannon and her son could have easily become another sad statistic. African Americans have 2.4 times the infant mortality rate as whites and are four times as likely to die as infants due to complications related to low birthweight, compared with white infants.

BIH offers long-term case management services to support at-risk pregnant and parenting African-American women and men. Throughout enrollment in the program, clients receive positive support, continuous encouragement, home visits and referrals to family support services, health education, therapy, social support and depression screening for parents.

Recognizing the importance of the BIH Program, the First 5 LA Commissioners agreed in January to continue funding the effort in Los Angeles County until 2014. The Program was facing severe cutbacks without the state funding for its three local programs, which include the city of Pasadena, the city of Long Beach and Los Angeles County.

The Commission voted to support BIH in 2009 after the program experienced devastating state budget cuts. To prevent interruption of services, First 5 LA agreed to provide nearly $1.2 million in annual transitional funding. The agreement was set to expire in June, but the Commissioners' action to continue the funding at the same rate saved the BIH program from cutting back 75 percent of its services.

The state-wide program began in 1989 to address the alarming number of black infant deaths. But since then, it has seen a 50 percent reduction in the number of low birth weight babies born to clients and successfully reduced infant mortality rates among program participants by 50 percent.

For more information about the Black Infant Health Program or other First 5 LA efforts contact 1-888-347-7855 or visit www.First5LA.org or its parenting website ReadySetGrowLA.org