“A HealthySteps specialist has checked in on us numerous times, keeping me on track with appointments and wellness visits…She truly gives pediatrics an edge over others. I had never encountered a social worker/specialist at any of my children’s previous doctors.”
— Kinesha Johnson, parent of two Hackensack Meridian Health pediatric patients
HealthySteps transforms primary pediatric care by adding a child development expert to primary pediatric teams — making use of an excellent opportunity to reach 90% of infants and toddlers at routine well-child visits.
A HealthySteps specialist provides tailored support on common concerns physicians often lack time to address, including behavior, sleep, feeding, attachment, language development, parental depression, connections to community resources and early intervention, and adapting to life with a baby.
This evidence-based model supports the cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioral health of babies and toddlers by partnering with — and supporting — parents and caregivers. HealthySteps addresses a diverse set of health and well-being topics across both generations. By strengthening the relationship between families and their primary care providers, HealthySteps helps foster strong parent-child attachment and significantly improve a child’s development, with lifelong impact.
The benefits of HealthySteps have been demonstrated through rigorous research trials:
HealthySteps children were twice as likely as children in the control group to make timely well-child visits and receive recommended vaccinations.
HealthySteps parents were twice as satisfied with their pediatric care and more likely to remain at that practice.
HealthySteps mothers with depressive symptoms reported fewer symptoms after three months in the program.
As part of our First 1,000 Days strategy, the Burke Foundation, the Turrell Fund, The Nicholson Foundation, Hackensack Meridian Health, and the HealthySteps National Office at ZERO TO THREE in 2020 piloted the HealthySteps model in New Jersey at three clinical sites in Bergen and Monmouth counties. During the pilot period, the sites served nearly 3,800 families and made more than 7,000 referrals to community resources. Every age-eligible child had at least one developmental and social-emotional screening and mothers received at least one depression screening.
At Hackensack Meridian Health, the HealthySteps pilot led to such improvements as:
- A 33.9% increase in toddlers who were up to date on vaccinations by age two
- A 54.1% increase in children who received at least six well-child visits by 15 months
A return on investment tool shows that for every dollar NJ Medicaid invests in HealthySteps, state agencies save:
- $1.59 in the short term
- $8.35 in the long term
The promising results from the New Jersey pilot helped attract federal funding to the state.
The New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics secured a four-year grant to expand the model to more pediatric practices in partnership with ZERO TO THREE. This grant, coupled with other federal funding, increased capacity to serve 10,400 more children up to age four annually at 10 HealthySteps sites in 5 additional counties.
Burke’s ongoing support after the pilot ended involves policy and sustainability efforts to generate permanent payment mechanisms to help HealthySteps become a fixture in the healthcare landscape and scale it statewide to reach 22% of young children by 2029.
Efforts yielded a significant win when
Medicaid determined that starting July 1, 2025, HealthySteps sites can receive a $15 enhanced rate for every sick- and well-child visit for children on Medicaid up to age four, creating an important financial sustainability pathway for healthcare practices.
Implementing the model at the state level has the potential to result in significant cost savings, especially those associated with:
- Increased well-child visit and immunization rates
- Fewer cases of maternal depression after three months of care
- Reduced rates of child emergency room visits for injuries in a one-year period
- Lower incidence of unhealthy birth spacing
- Increased rates in smoking cessation
- Increased rates of provider and patient satisfaction.
The Burke Foundation will continue to build a strong base of support for HealthySteps in collaboration with our partners to promote the model’s sustainability and scale in New Jersey.
