Wisconsin Partnership Program Approves Kenosha's Plan to Fight Infant Mortality

Madison, Wisconsin - With support from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, a group in Kenosha will start working immediately toward tackling infant mortality rates in the African-American community.

A community coalition - led by The Black Health Coalition of Greater Kenosha - won approval for its $200,000 planning and early implementation proposal from The Oversight and Advisory Committee (OAC) of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

The coalition includes strong partnerships with the Kenosha County Department of Human Services and the United Way of Kenosha County. The group has lined up extensive support from local faith-based organizations, health care systems and community groups.

The effort will be overseen by Gwendolyn Perry-Brye, chair of the Black Health Coalition of Greater Kenosha and a nurse-practitioner with Kenosha County Division of Health.

The funds were awarded as part of the Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families (LIHF), the Wisconsin Partnership Program's $10 million overall commitment to address infant mortality in Wisconsin's black community. From 2002 to 2006, Kenosha County's infant mortality rate among African-Americans (18 deaths per 1,000 births) was more than four times the rate for whites. 

"This is a strong plan with the wide-ranging community participation that will be necessary for success," LIHF program leader Lorraine Lathen said.

The bulk of the award will be used to set a course toward improving access to maternal and child health resources and tailoring community-specific action plans that use evidence-based practices to close the racial disparity in birth outcomes. 

The group will use $10,000 of the award to extend the Mom/Baby talk program, an education and support program for new mothers in Kenosha. These funds will enable the group to reach out to at least 10 percent of the high-risk African-American women who give birth in Kenosha County.

"There's an incredible array of participating programs," said Dr. Philip Farrell, co-chair of the Lifecourse Initiative for Healthy Families steering committee and professor of pediatrics and population health sciences.

A planning proposal from Racine was approved in March.

The Oversight and Advisory Committee plans to review proposals from coalitions in Milwaukee and Beloit in the coming months.