Maternal and child health

Maternal health, both physical and emotional, is the foundation for the first 1000 days of a child's life. Florida's Medicaid expansion for one year after birth can increase access to needed health and mental health services, address racial disparities, and reduce the risk for future adverse birth outcomes.

First 1000 Days Florida supports promoting interconception health as a key strategy to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

Infant and Toddler care

Maternal and child health

Quality early learning programs improve language skills and help reduce the achievement gap to increase school readiness. High-need children particularly benefit from high-quality early learning, which is especially important during the pivotal years of rapid brain development. Access to affordable, quality infant and toddler care is difficult to find.

Access to quality infant toddler care is a First 1000 Days Florida priority and benefits parents, children and the community.

Early intervention

ACEs Prevention and Resilience

Early Intervention services support families to optimize children’s mental health, cognitive, motor, behavioral, and language development, especially for infants born preterm or low birthweight. Screening can detect autism as early as 16 months and be treated to minimize problems.

First 1000 Days Florida supports expanding early screening, eligibility for early intervention, and early childhood mental health services to maximize the impact during the pivotal time of rapid infant & toddler development when intervening most effectively.

ACEs Prevention and Resilience

The first 1,000 days of life offers the most opportunity for development, and yet, the most vulnerability for adversity, including maltreatment. One third of abused and neglected children in out-of-home care are under age three, many in families with multigenerational trauma. Home visiting & quality child care can prevent child abuse and Early Childhood Courts bring trauma therapy to stop the intergenerational cycle. First 1000 Days Florida supports home visiting to prevent child abuse and expansion of Early Childhood Courts with a dedicated funding source as recommended by Florida TaxWatch.

Why 1000 days?

The 1,000 days from the start of a woman's pregnancy until the child's 3rd birthday offer a singular window of opportunity to shape healthier and more successful children. Skills and risks that develop during this critical period are cumulative and form the foundation for every child’s future. That's why Florida must prioritize its policies to support pre-natal and post-natal care, high quality early childhood education, health care, and other prevention services. For Florida to have a sustainable social and economic future, it must invest more in families with young children.

Our history

The inaugural First 1000 Days Florida Summit, held in 2015, drew more than 700 participants from maternal and child health programs, prevention of abuse and neglect, early intervention, child care, and school readiness.

The second summit in 2018 was held at the Palm Beach Convention Center and drew over 1,000 participants. The statewide multidisciplinary, cross-sector conference focused on science, skill-building, and advocacy for home visitors and other early childhood staff serving expectant and new families with children through age 3.

Adapting to national challenges, we held a Virtual Summit in 2021 to engage our network and highlight the important efforts that were continuing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. We were able to engage nearly 1000 participants and a rich blend of diverse approaches in the 0-3 space in Florida. To view the sessions, click on the 2021 Virtual Summit.

Our partners and audience

Home visitors, care coordinators, case managers and other front-line staff
Infant mental health practitioners
Prenatal and women’s health care providers
Coordinating agency staff and board members (Healthy Start Coalitions, Community-Based Care Agencies, Early Learning Coalitions)
Early learning and child care providers
Program administrators
State and community policymakers and funders
Advocacy groups
Model developers, evaluators and researchers

what matters to us now and in the future

During a 2022 survey of over 100 of our partners, we asked for recommendations for new policy interests in which the First 1000 Days of Florida could incorporate in the upcoming year. Five primary topics were recorded:

racial disparity, diversity, equality and inclusion
mental health awareness and impacts
education for both parents and children
COVID 19 restrictions, responses and safety action plans for current and future planning around pubic health emergencies
substance use and the consequences for mothers and babies

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Maternal and child health