The ten Tulsa Health Department WIC sites had over 50,000 visits this fiscal year.
Recognized for the highest percent increase in caseload
The Mingo WIC clinic was recognized for having the highest percent increase in caseload of all large clinics with a 22% increase (compared to 9% statewide) at the the 2024 State WIC Conference.
Highest percentage of breastfeeding mothers who reached 12 months of breastfeeding
The South Peoria WIC site was recognized at the Oklahoma State Department of Health WIC Conference for having the highest percentage of breastfeeding mothers who reached 12 months of breastfeeding. 22% of mothers breastfed for 12 months compared to 16% statewide.
50,390
WIC clinic visits
WIC clinic visits
$13,195,200
in benefits issued
in benefits issued
2024 State WIC Conference
South Peoria WIC Breastfeeding Award
2024 Gold WIC Breastfeeding Award of Excellence
Breastfeeding rates are trending upward for WIC clinics served by our peer counselors
• Initiation: 74.5%
• Duration 3 Months: 59.5%
• Duration 6 Months: 39.8%
• Duration 12 Months: 17.7%
• Duration 3 Months: 59.5%
• Duration 6 Months: 39.8%
• Duration 12 Months: 17.7%
2024 Gold WIC Breastfeeding Award of Excellence
The THD Peer Counseling Program received the 2024 Gold WIC Breastfeeding Award of Excellence. The award was established to recognize local WIC agencies that provide exemplary breastfeeding promotion and support activities. The award is valid for four years and is intended to motivate local WIC agencies to strengthen their breastfeeding promotion, ultimately increasing breastfeeding initiation and duration rates among WIC participants.
Little By Little (LBL) School Readiness Program
Designed to provide the knowledge and resources to families so they can begin to foster and support early literacy habits within their home on a daily basis.
• 41,155 books issued
• 11,383 unique families served
• 11,383 unique families served
A WIC mom, originally from Guatemala, shared her joy of receiving books for her one-year-old through the LBL School Readiness Program. She has a small bookshelf for her child that is filled with books from the program. The book she received while pregnant was the first book she had ever owned to read on her own.
A WIC family whose native language is Pashto appreciated receiving books that helped the whole family learn English.
Children First, also known nationally as Nurse Family Partnership, is a family-centered program that utilizes home based services by registered nurses to help first-time mothers and their families prepare for parenthood.
• Active caseload of 368 clients
• 3,975 home visits
• 3,975 home visits
A graduation event was held in May 2024. Sixty-seven mothers, along with their toddlers and their families, were invited to celebrate completing the 2.5-year Children First program. Each mother received a graduation photo from their nurse as a meaningful keepsake of this achievement. Eight community partners participated in the event, providing information and resources to the graduates. Additionally, participants were recognized for reaching educational milestones such as graduating from high school, technical school and college.
WIC remains as the leading referral source for the Children First program
A friendly competition was facilitated among the WIC teams to encourage continued referrals to Children First. As a result, WIC referred a total of 365 1st time pregnant moms to Children First during the past fiscal year.
Continuous Quality Improvement
Tulsa Children First participates year-round in the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Learning Collaborative that is part of a National Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN). Teams participating in the CoIIN identify common goals, share information and use quality improvement (QI) processes to improve outcomes.
This year's QI projects focused on improving the referral process and timeline for clients needing services from Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma (LASO), the Sooner Start Early Intervention Program and the Parent-Child Assistance Program by utilizing the Unite Us Referral Platform. The LASO referrals experienced the greatest impact as a result of the improved and streamlined referral process.
The Child Guidance program continues to provide evidence-based, trauma-informed services to their client and families served. This year, Child Guidance expanded their services to include Behavioral, Child Development and Speech/Language services at our North Regional Health and Wellness Center. This allows the Tulsa Health Department to provide the entire range of multi-disciplinary services in one location in addition to Audiology that was already available. In addition, the team at the James O. Goodwin Health Center relocated to the Mingo Marina site when the building remodel began.
Mental Health Consultation Services
The Child Guidance program has provided Mental Health Consultation Services in the community through contracts with Community Action Resource & Development Head Start, Native American Coalition of Tulsa Head Start and community child care facilities.
The provision of Mental Health Consultation Services supports the teachers within these sites, as well as enhances the services that they provide to the children in their center. We utilize relationship-based models that allow the teachers to better support the children's social-emotional capacities, in order to be more successful in the school and child care settings. This support also address those children who may need additional support, in and out of the classroom, in order to lower school expulsion rates.
• 4,015 client contacts in the clinic
• 661 Group hours
• 241 hours of mental health consultation services
• 661 Group hours
• 241 hours of mental health consultation services
Parenting Groups for the Community
The Child Guidance program continues to offer parenting groups for the community with the Tulsa Women and Children's Center as its largest partner. A total of 661 group hours were provided during the fiscal year. Through the Circle of Security Parenting, mothers at the Tulsa Women and Children's Center had an opportunity to repair their mother-child relationship. These children have experienced significant trauma and this evidence-based parenting curriculum has been proven to promote healing and strengthen their attachment to their caregivers.
Audiology
Our Audiology program is one of two clinics in Oklahoma that serves the Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) adult population over the age of 21. Our clinic is one of four in the state and one of two in the Tulsa area that serve the children's Medicaid population with the provision of hearing aids. A total of 166 hearing aids were dispensed in the fiscal year.
Oklahoma State Department of Health Commissoner's Coin for Respect
At the recent Child Guidance Summit, the Tulsa Child Guidance Team was awarded with the Oklahoma State Department of Health Commisioner's Coin for Respect.
This award was presented to the Tulsa Child Guidance Team, in recognition of the level of excellence in the work that is accomplished within our program, the many programs and interventions that we provide to our families, the services that are provided with our community partners in the Tulsa area, and the leadership that our program exemplifies for other Child Guidance teams across the state.
Maternal and Child Health Outreach
Over 5,653 clients requested assistance with renewing their SoonerCare (Medicaid) cases and providing requested income documentation. Outreach staff served almost triple the number of clients compared to the previous fiscal year due to a several factors:
• SoonerCare eligibility renewals resumed in spring 2023 after being paused during the Public Health Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• In April 2024, SoonerCare clients were required to choose a health and dental plan as SoonerCare transformed to managed care. Clients were provided education and resources to understand the selection process and guided appropriately.
Client contact rose from 1,800 in the previous fiscal year to 5,653 resulting in SoonerCare enrollment for 4,267 men, women and children.
Safe Sleep Train-the-Trainer Session
Our MCH community systems development specialist, who is trained as an advanced Safe Sleep instructor, provided a Safe Sleep Train-the-Trainer session on May 16, 2024 to 18 community partners and THD programs who will educate their clients on safe sleep environments. The training included the latest recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics on Safe Sleep, including a triple-risk model that looked at compounding factors such as smoke exposure, a vulnerable baby's system and an unsafe sleep environment which increase risks of infant death.
Preventive Depression Screening
Social workers provided preventive depression screening to over 97% of the pregnant clients seen for services and made appropriate referrals to strengthen the family prior to delivery. In total, 508 contacts were assisted with problem solving, resource management and warm handoffs to case management programs. This included interviews with moms who had experienced a pregnancy loss within the last year.
Team of Community Engagement Specialists
The Community Engagement Specialist team, consisting of a supervisor and three members, assists clients in the community in five languages: English, Spanish, Hmong, Burmese and Zomi. They offer remote enrollment assistance, participate in health fairs and develop community partnerships to facilitate SoonerCare enrollment and referrals.
The team participated in 229 in-person and virtual events, completed 675 client contacts and referred clients to over 600 locations for resources and assistance. Additionally, the Community Engagement Specialist team has a partnership with El Centro to provide weekly enrollment services at their location specifically for Spanish-speaking clients.
7th Annual North Tulsa Community Baby Shower
The 7th annual community baby shower was held on September 30, 2023 at Booker T. Washington High School. Led by the THD Maternal and Child Health team with primary sponsors Healthy Start and Birth Through Eight Strategy For Tulsa (BEST), the event's primary focus was to educate and connect resources to those at the highest risk for poor birth outcomes.
The event served 191 individuals, including 48 pregnant moms, 32 families with a child ages 1 or younger and 28 dads. Additionally, 40 community vendors provided information about their services. A Safe Sleep Hub featured an interactive crib display, examples of unsafe sleep products, and information on car seat safety and the period of purple crying.
Ninety-five percent of the guardians in attendance rated the event as excellent and 96% left the event knowing that it is unsafe to have pillows, blankets, toys or crib bumpers in a baby's sleep space. Attendees left with a bag of essential baby supplies like diapers, wipes, onesies, bibs and a safe sleep book. The event also featured a Fatherhood Hub that offered activities and resources for the fathers or male caregivers of infants.
Healthy Start
Healthy Start provides free, confidential clinic triage and home visitation case management services for expecting and postpartum moms and their babies up to 18 months of age. The program's goal is to improve birth outcomes and reduce infant mortality with a focus on populations at the highest risk.
Zero Infant Deaths For the Eighth Year
The program has repeated its record of zero infant deaths within its high-risk Tulsa County target population for the eighth year in a row. There was a total of 115 births, including three sets of twins and one set of triplets.
Depression Screening
Participants were screened one or more times for depression in our efforts to address the nation's maternal child health mental health crisis. All 313 pregnant and non-pregnant female clients were screened for depression. Of the 66 who tested positive on depression assessment tools, 100% were successfully referred to and followed up with appropriate mental health professionals.
Lactation Program
The THD Lactation Program provides lactation services for parents who reside in Tulsa County and are income-eligible for WIC or SoonerCare.
The breastfeeding support include in-person and virtual visits, phone consults and text support. At the no-cost lactation visits, clients receive breastfeeding education, support with positioning and latch, assistance with milk supply or other concerns and receive no-cost breastfeeding supplies.
The addition of a full-time bilingual certified lactation specialist bridged a lactation health equity gap by offering no-cost, home-based lactation visits to monolingual Spanish speaking families directly in their own language, reducing lactation service barriers due to transportation access and language.
The fiscal year 2023-24 is record-breaking year for THD Lactation Program.
• 892 referrals on the UniteUs Platform
The THD Lactation program was the largest incoming referral recipient on the UniteUs platform in the State of Oklahoma
• Served 551 clients with no-cost lactation services• 624 in-person client lactation visits
• Distributed 463 breastfeeding supplies, including 43 electric breast pumps
• 605 touchpoints with Spanish-speaking clients, up from 263 the previous fiscal year
• Conducted 12 community breastfeeding education classes
• 605 touchpoints with Spanish-speaking clients, up from 263 the previous fiscal year
• Conducted 12 community breastfeeding education classes
7 in-person Spanish classes with lunch provided and 5 virtual classes in English
Our Bilingual Breastfeeding Educator, Esther Gutierrez, was recognized at the THD Annual Awards with the THD Public Service Award and the PHS Impact award this year for her work in bridging the health equity gap for monolingual Tulsa County breastfeeding families.
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THD Family Advocate
THD Family Advocates connect eligible clients who are pregnant or parenting a young child (newborn through 8 years old) with resources and services during pregnancy and beyond at no cost.
26% increase in service reach
The service reach increased from 1,450 in the previous fiscal year to 1,820.
There were 4,477 Medicaid funded births in Tulsa County during the fiscal year. The Family Advocates engaged with 1,209 out of the 4,477 potential clients, achieving a 27% engagement rate for clients with at least one successful engagement with a Family Advocate prior to delivery. Additionally, the Family Adovocates had two or more successful engagements with 586 clients prior to their delivery.
• 136 Car Seats and Play 'N Plays provided to clients
• 85 bus passes were provided to clients facing transportation barriers
• Of the 196 clients served by the Navigation team through the ConnectFirst emergency fund, a total of $177,156 in financial assistance was distributed, averaging $903.86 per person
• 85 bus passes were provided to clients facing transportation barriers
• Of the 196 clients served by the Navigation team through the ConnectFirst emergency fund, a total of $177,156 in financial assistance was distributed, averaging $903.86 per person
The parentPRO program is dedicated to easing the challenges of parenting by connecting expecting and parenting families with young children to home visiting programs and a range of resources tailored to meet their unique needs.
Reaching Parents Where They Are
The parentPRO Community Connector actively engages with parents and families at local community events, reaching those facing social and economic challenges. Of the 27 events attended, 81% focused on parenting, child development, food insecurity and homelessness. The Community Connector is a bilingual resource that provides invaluable support toOklahoma families with 37% of the events attended focusing on helping Spanish-speaking families.
• 373 clients
• Facilitated 550 individual conections
• Made 370 referrals to partner organizations
• Attended 27 community events
• Facilitated 550 individual conections
• Made 370 referrals to partner organizations
• Attended 27 community events
Building Strong Community Partnerships
ParentPRO is trusted by community partners such as home visiting programs, early childhood development organizations, lactation specialists and doulas to serve their clients. Over the past year, the Community Connector served 373 individual clients and facilitated over 550 individual connections.
To further support families, 370 referrals were made to vital partner organizations including Emergency Infant Services, Family and Children’s Services for Mental Health, Family Connects, Legal Aid, Madison Strategies, Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative, Tulsa Responds and more.
Improving Overall Health and Academic Achievement for 53,000 Tulsa County School-Aged Children
During the 2023-2024 school year, skills-based health education, nutrition education and physical education classes were provided to approximately 53,000 elementary students in Pre-K to 5th grade. The skills-based health education classes covered three topics: Accessing Information, Decision-Making and Self-Management.
Health Series Pre/Post Assessment for 4th & 5th Grade Students
Total Assessments: 9,193
(5,128 pre-assessments and 4,065 post-assessments)
(5,128 pre-assessments and 4,065 post-assessments)
• 52.3% of students reported confidence in identifying accurate and reliable health information on the pre-assessment. This increased to 65.8% of students on the post-assessment.
• 65.1% of students reported they were confident choosing health options when making a decision on the pre-assessment, and this increased to 72.2% on the post-assessment.
• 70.6% of students reported understanding the short- and long-term effects of tobacco use on the pre-assessment. This rose to 90.6% on the post-assessment.
Professional Development Workshops for Tulsa County Teachers and Community Partners
THD School Health offers professional development to Tulsa County teachers and community partners. The topics include: Introduction to THD School Health, Inside Recess Activities & Games, Movement & Learning, Physical Education Games, Teambuilding, ABL Building Better Brains Through Movement, and ABL Changing Lives Through Movement.
• 246 in-person and 107 virtual participants
• 78.5% of the survey respondents selected that the professional development was very beneficial and 21.5% selected somewhat beneficial.
Health Education Presentations at Conventions
THD School Health presented the following topics at the Oklahoma Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (OAHPERD) Convention in October 2023:
• The Whirlwind of Skills-Based Health Education
• Promoting Health Across the Halls with Free Resources Made in Oklahoma
• Community Health Round Table
• Advocacy 101
In April 2024, THD School Health led two sessions at the National Academy for Health & Physical Literacy (NAHPL):
• Skills-based Health Education with the Future in Mind
• A Conversation About Collaboration: Working Together to Enhance Health Literacy
Bully Prevention Drillers Game Day
In partnership with the Tulsa Drillers, we presented the importance of advocating for a bully free school to students who attend the Bully Prevention Drillers Game Day on May 1, 2024. Approximately 3,000 students participated in the 2023-2024 game day.
Personal Responsibility Education Program
The Tulsa Health Department's team of six Adolescent Health Education Specialists provided education to middle and high school students in 12 schools across two school districts.
Four evidence-based curricula that are taught share common themes proven to be effective in reducing unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
These themes include goal setting, communication and negotiation skills, and medically accurate information about contraception, STIs and HIV. The lessons educate students on how to identify healthy and unhealthy relationships as well as accessing community resources such as contraceptive services, STI testing and other physical and mental health services.
Survey Results from 1,600 students
The results indicate that the programs taught were highly effective in positively influencing students' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Students reported increased confidence in negotiating safe sex practices, identifying healthy relationships, and accessing essential health services. The program's impact on students' intentions to abstain from sex, use condoms, and utilize birth control suggests that it has the potential to significantly reduce unintended pregnancies and STIs.
Key Findings: Attitudes, Beliefs and Behaviors
• 69% are more likely to say no to peer pressure
• 74% are more likely to make plans to reach their goals
• 82% can identify what makes a relationship healthy
• 90% can identify warning signs of an unhealthy relationship
• 60% felt more likely to talk to a guardian about things going on in their life
• 89% reported confidence in their ability to get consent from current or future sexual partners
• 50% plan to abstain from sex citing reasons such as risk of STIs and pregnancy, emotional/social consequences and the impact on their plans for the future
• 63% are more likely to use a condom or ask a partner to use a condom
• 50% are more likely to use birth control
• 89% reported confidence in being able to access STI testing
• 90% reported confidence in accessing contraceptive services
Key Findings: Program Experience and Satisfaction
Overall, the program was well-received by students, who reported high levels of satisfaction with the information provided and the respect shown by their teachers.
• 92% were satisfied with the information provided about abstaining from sex
• 93% were satisfied with the information provided about condoms and birth control
• 83% of students felt respected during the class all or most of the time
• 90% were satisfied with the class
• 94% felt their teacher was knowledgeable about the subject matter presented in class