From left, Katie Jo Ballard, executive director of the Governor's Office for Children and Families, First Lady Sandra Deal, program participant Kirrena Gallagher and DPH Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald spoke at the State Capitol during the launch of Great Start Georgia. Photo by Emily Salguero.

Georgia officials have launched a new statewide program aimed at promoting optimal early development for the state's children, especially those from at-risk families.

Great Start Georgia, an initiative piloted by the Governor's Office for Children and Families and the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), lends support to parents across the state through in-home visits in which they can receive guidance on nurturing the physical and mental development of their children.

Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal and DPH Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald announced the start of the program at an event at the Georgia State Capitol on Jan. 7.

"Research has shown that it's so very important to give children a good start from birth," Deal said. "We want every parent to know how to rear a child properly and how to reach those milestones of development."

Early childhood, the period of life from birth to age 5, is called the most important phase of development in the overall lifespan by international groups such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF. It's a time when children learn speech, physical coordination, and emotional cues. Young children also can make intellectual gains during these years that will prepare them for learning in school.

Great Start Georgia's evidence-based home visiting program allows trained personnel observe families firsthand and help parents learn ways to nurture and guide critical skills and behaviors for their children, such as stimulating their child's eye contact or improving their coordination, "important things that don't necessarily come naturally" to new parents, Deal said.

Currently, seven Georgia counties -- Clarke, Crisp, DeKalb, Glynn, Houston, Muscogee and Whitfield -- receive funding from the Governor's Office for Children and Families to support these programs, which comes in part from $5 million in federal grants. With the launch of Great Start Georgia, the office hopes to expand access to these services across the state, beginning by providing support to parents through a toll-free hotline and the program's website,  www.greatstartgeorgia.org.

Fitzgerald said Great Start Georgia is especially important to the state's population of at-risk children. Of the 130,000 babies born in the state in 2011, DPH identified about 47,000 as being at risk of poor health and development. Great Start Georgia will use an expanded screening process to identify families that need services, potentially reaching thousands more children who are at risk due to circumstances such as a premature birth or being born to a single, teenaged mother.

"Parents of these children can do a great job, but they may need some extra help," Fitzgerald said. With services provided through Great Start Georgia, "we reach out to those families and give them support."

Kirrena Gallagher was one Georgia mother who was glad to receive that support. Gallagher, who lives in Athens, became a new mother at age 19, and she said she found herself unprepared for the task of raising her son, Malachi. But she said the personnel who visited her at home empowered her to be knowledgeable and take charge of Malachi's development.

"I became more aware of what my son was learning, that the reading and singing I did were helpful for him," she said.

Gallagher said Great Start Georgia not only cared about her son's physical and mental development, but about her development as a successful parent.

"They're here to make sure parents know that they are their child's first educator," she said.

-Story by Carrie Gann, DPH Communications