Youth and Shelter Services of Ames will receive $195,357 from the Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of Primary Health Care for the third year in row to improve the health of infants and pregnant women.

Jan Tibbetts, program coordinator for Tri-County Health Connections, said the federal grant for the Healthy Futures program serves women in rural areas of Story, Boone and Marshall counties.

The grant money will be used to provide mothers the free service of one pre-natal home visit and one post-natal home visit by a nurse, interpreters, educational opportunities and emergency funds.

Tri-County Health Connections, a program under the YSS umbrella, also will offer a new service this year – cross-county referral and case coordination.

This service allows women who move within the three counties to remain eligible for services without a time delay, Tibbetts said.

The goal of Healthy Futures is to ensure healthy pregnancies and healthy babies, Tibbetts said. In 2000, 73 percent of the women offered home visits accepted, Tibbetts said, which was above the program’s goal of 70 percent.

The women are given an opportunity to fill out a health-screening assessment when they visit a clinic for pre-natal care.

Tibbetts said some of the local clinics working with the program are McFarland Clinic, the Doran Clinic and the ISU Health Clinic.

Each county writes its own grant to tailor it to its specific needs, Tibbetts said.

The first grant was written after 18 different agencies from the three counties sat down together to find out what the needs were, Tibbetts said.

Laura Griffin, an employee at the Health and Human Services office in Washington D.C., said the grant is part of the Rural Outreach Program.

She said the grant is awarded to innovative programs that enhance access or improve delivery of health care.

“I’m very excited we’re able to offer this program another year,” Tibbetts said.

Griffin said the Ames program will have to find a new source of funds in 2002, as the grants are only given a limited number of times.

“It’s the third and final year,” she said.