Since its inception in 1992, Healthy Families San Angelo has become one of the most
innovative family support programs in the country, offering training and technical assistance to over 175 family
support programs internationally.
.
Healthy Babies...Healthy Families, the parenting curriculum
developed by HFSA, is being used in over 700 programs in the U.S. and Canada, has been translated into Spanish,
Vietnamese, and French, and was purchased by the U.S. Navy for use in New Parent Support programs worldwide.
HFSA's progressive use of outcome-based evaluation procedures resulted in its
being selected to participate in a Ford Foundation project, Deciding
for Investment, an approach to budgeting that aligns tax dollars with current priorities, keeps resources
focused on results, and realizes a return on investment.
HFSA was chosen by the Texas State Comptroller and the Texas Performance Review
to pilot Investment Budgeting Strategies in social service agencies. This process makes resource
allocation decisions by establishing measurable outcomes, determining their net present value, and assessing the
return on investment of alternative strategies. The results of this project were presented to the Texas State
legislature and were instrumental in obtaining State funding for 19 new Healthy Families sites in Texas.
HFSA received the William Tinney Award in 1999 for Innovations in Perinatal Care by the Texas Perinatal
Association.
Dads Make a Difference (DMD), founded in 1994,
was the first family-centered fathering program in the
U.S. DMD program components are now being replicated in 49 sites in the U.S. and in Canada.
In partnership with the Texas Attorney General's Office, Dads Make a Difference participated with
program families in the development of curricula and videos for the original PAPA Program, a paternity establishment project.
Dads Make a Difference was recognized by the Social Policy Action Network (SPAN) as one of the 12 most
effective programs in the United States.
HFSA developed and published Maps for Dads, a curriculum for working with fathers from the prenatal period
through the first 3 years. The Texas Office of the Attorney General is distributing an adapted version of
Maps for Dads in WIC clinics throughout the state. To date, 70,000 copies have been distributed.
In collaboration with the Texas Attorney General's Office,
HFSA has successfully piloted modified child support policies as a model to create statewide policy changes.
HFSA was selected by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as one of 10 programs in the US to participate
in the foundation's Fatherhood Focus Group to develop ideas for a series of guides on optimal operating criteria for fatherhood programs.
In partnership with the Office of the Texas Attorney General, the Texas Health & Human Services Commission,
and the Texas Workforce Commission, HFSA program families present their stories at Texas Regional Healthy Marriage Summits around the state.
The summits were designed to promote the development and implementation of community initiatives that strengthen families and encourage healthy marriages.