About Healthy Start

History and Background

Florida’s Healthy Start was enacted by state legislation in 1991 with the goals of reducing infant mortality, reducing the number of low birth weight babies and improving health and developmental outcomes for all Florida’s babies.

Healthy Start Coalitions are non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the health of pregnant women and babies in a community. Through 32 state Healthy Start Coalitions, local community input is used to plan, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive system of care for pregnant women and children, up to age three, that are determined to be “at risk”.

Healthy Start is a sound investment for Florida’s children and Florida’s taxpayers. A healthy baby saves state tax dollars: for every $1 spent on preventing an unhealthy birth, $10 is saved in neonatal intensive care costs, recurrent hospital and medical expenses paid by Medicaid, exceptional and remedial education, child abuse and neglect investigations, disability and dependency costs.

Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard County

The Prenatal & Infant Health Care Coalition of Brevard County, Inc. DBA The Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard County is a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization funded through the State of Florida’s Healthy Start Initiative with local matching contributions and in-kind services.

The Coalition was chartered in October of 1992 and in January of 1993 was funded by the State of Florida to deliver the components of the 1991 Florida Healthy Start Initiative to the citizens of Brevard County. The Healthy Start Initiative is a strategic plan designed to help women have healthier babies, reduce infant mortality, and improve the overall health and development of Florida’s children. In adopting this strategy, the mission of the Coalition became: To promote a system of care which enables healthy growth and development for moms and babies.

Overview of Healthy Start Services in Brevard County:

  • Care Coordination
  • Childbirth Education
  • Breastfeeding Education
  • Tobacco Education & Cessation
  • Nutrition Counseling
  • Psychosocial Counseling
  • Parenting Support & Education
  • Interconceptional Education
  • Community Referrals

Healthy Start Coalition of Brevard contracts services through:

Healthy Start of Brevard’s 5 year Service Delivery plan

Since the inception, the Coalition has grown from 48 to over 100 community members that represent consumers, private and public health care providers, industry, educational institutions, public and private social service agencies, and civic groups. In 1994, the Coalition developed a “vision” for Brevard County’s maternal and child health services. This “blueprint” was the foundation of the service delivery plan. In 1999, based on the prior years’ experiences, the vision was revised and expanded. Since then, the Coalition has worked diligently to implement action steps, develop new ones, and make revisions as changes occur in our community, state and nation that affect the families we serve.

This document includes a recap of the accomplishments and experiences gained from the Coalitions implementation. It provides an analysis of relevant data noting both the positive and negative trends that have occurred. The Service Delivery Plan outlines the activities that the Coalition will work on over the next five years.

Healthy Start of Brevard’s Audit and 990

Below is Healthy Start of Brevard’s most recent Audit and 990. Historical reports are also available to review by contacting the Coalition Office at 321.634.6101.


What is Healthy Start?

Please watch our video below…

Healthy Babies Start With Healthy Moms