In July, every newborn in Georgia will begin a healthier journey through life thanks to The Atlanta Project (TAP), The Carter Center's program to tackle problems associated with urban poverty.

In June, TAP announced the America's Youth Passport, a practical tool for parents to record health and other vital information about their children. Funded by the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance and Kaiser Permanente, the passports will be distributed starting July 1 by the Georgia Hospital Association to the 110,000 infants born annually in the state's 100 hospitals that deliver babies.

On the outside, the booklet resembles a U.S. passport stamped with an American eagle holding a teddy bear in its right claw and a soccer ball in its left. Inside are 26 pages of information on childhood vaccinations, nutrition, exercise, injury pre-vention, baby-sitting, day care, and parenting.

The passport was piloted last August at Nike's P.L.A.Y. (Participate in the Lives of America's Youth) Day in the Georgia Dome, where more than 15,000 children and their parents participated in athletic events and were offered health, safety, and other information.

"When Nike came to us with the idea of the P.L.A.Y. Day, we said, 'Let's do more than play. Let's teach parents about health and safety,' " said Judson Hawk, M.D., coordinator of children, youth, and families for TAP. "Our media sponsor, WAGA-TV, brought us something called Kinder Passport, which was being given to mothers in Atlanta who were going through a drug prevention course. We adapted the idea to create the America's Youth Passport."

Other partners have collaborated on the passport, including The America Project, a Carter Center program that shares TAP's experiences with cities nationwide; Georgia Gov. Zell Miller; Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center; Every Child By Two (ECBT); the Atlanta Federal Executive Board; and the National Law Enforcement Involvement Committee.

"The America's Youth Passport will touch every child in Atlanta and Georgia through the private, public, and media partnerships that has been formed," said former President Jimmy Carter. "It shows that children are our state's highest priority."

The booklet will provide other bene-fits as well. "We expect the passport to become a national program because it is such a useful tool to foster the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of our children," said Rosalynn Carter, co-chair of ECBT, a national campaign to encourage families to have their children immunized by age 2.