START Program
In 2004, over 57,000 children were referred to Child Protective Services in San Bernardino County. 80% of these children came from families in which substance abuse is a problem. Among over 2,000 pregnant women screened in SBC, 43% were using alcohol or illegal drugs during the pregnancy. Maternal substance abuse during pregnancy can cause changes in the structure and function of the developing fetal brain.
Child abuse and neglect cause further changes in the young child's brain. Children with changes in brain structure and function can suffer mental retardation, learning problems, and severe behavioral difficulties. Children growing up in homes in which there is abuse, neglect, or substance abuse are much more likely to develop attachment disorders, which complicate the behavioral and learning problems even further.
If these children do not receive early identification and treatment services before age five, they are at risk for multiple failed foster care placements leading to institutionalization, school failure, and incarceration as juveniles or adults. San Bernardino County spends over $6 million per month for over 2000 of those children, who in their teens exhibit emotional and behavioral problems that require institutional care. The START (Screening, Triage, Assessment, Referral, and Treatment) program ultimately improves the long term outcome of the children, as measured by developmental, behavioral, and mental health status; school readiness; and permanency placement.
By systematically screening all children birth to five years of age who enter CPS care, the program is able to provide comprehensive medical, developmental, and mental health assessment that will evaluate all levels of brain functioning in the young child. A treatment plan that addresses the young child’s specific needs is created and the child/family is linked to available treatment services in San Bernardino County (e.g., Regional Center, school-based special education programs.)
Three centers across the County provide a continuum of treatment services based on the child's specific needs rather than based on eligibility by leveraging state/local and federal funds to sustain operational funding and by utilizing existing resources complemented by additional funds to support the system infrastructure.
Copyright © 2008 Children’s Fund Tax ID# 33-0193286