Ten‑year community effort to reduce African American child deaths shows program gains but county data rose during COVID years, presenters say

First 5 Sacramento and partner agencies on Aug. 4 presented a multi‑pronged, decade‑long effort to reduce disproportionate rates of African American child deaths and described both program outcomes and recent countywide trends.

Linda Fong Samara, the long‑time lead on the reduction effort, and partners from the Sierra Health Foundation and external evaluators at Applied Survey Research described a collective impact model that combines targeted neighborhood work, family resource centers, pregnancy peer support, safe‑sleep education and a “concrete needs” rapid‑response program.

What programs reported - Black Mothers United (BMU) pregnancy peer support: Evaluators reported that in the 2020–2022 period there were 241 BMU births and one infant death during the 12‑month follow‑up window (a numerical rate of 4.1 deaths per 1,000 births for BMU participants). Applied Survey Research reported that, for the 2020–2022 births, the BMU infant mortality rate was lower than the countywide African American infant mortality rate (12 per 1,000) and lower than the countywide total rate (5.2 per 1,000) for the same period. Program data showed improved enrollment in supports such as WIC and CalWORKs and reductions in self‑reported…