Posted: Monday, January 05, 2015

Babies don’t come with owner’s manuals. But there is a group of staff at The Providence Center’s Early Childhood Institute ready to help.

Bryna Hebert, Simmy Carter, Eva Juarez and Heidi Samayoa are the faces behind Healthy Families America (HFA), TPC’s newest program in the Early Childhood Institute promoting early intervention for the behavioral health and positive development of young children and families. Healthy Families America (HFA) is a national evidence-based program that provides family visiting services to pregnant women and families with newborns. As an HFA provider, TPC will serve 25 moms and families located in Pawtucket.

HFA takes a whole family approach to supporting expecting moms and their co-parents, placing an emphasis on helping the family support their child’s development and gain independence while improving family functioning. The program’s goals focus on strengthening factors that contribute to family functioning and reduced risk —positive parenting practices for promoting positive child development, employment, education, stress management, and identifying resources. The bilingual and bicultural staff are key to making a connection with families and establishing trust.

“One of our biggest goals is to instill confidence in these moms that they can do it—that they can help their child reach his or her fullest potential and have a successful and happy family,” said Bryna Hebert, manager of ECI programming, including HFA. “They might come to the table with a lack of knowledge or a positive model from their own childhood, but our family support workers work with them in ways that build upon their strengths.”

A new parent’s journey starts with an introduction from Heidi, HFA’s family resource worker. Heidi meets with the family before they enroll to glean information about the family’s goals, strengths and their current resources. If the family isn’t a good fit, she can refer them to another program that will suit their needs, or direct them to resources in the community.

Once enrolled, the family meets Eva Juarez, the family support worker. Juarez conducts weekly home visits, during which she facilitates bonding time with the baby while supporting the parents in their goals. Often, the families ask a lot of questions about what they should be doing as new parents.

“My role is to help them find the answers that work for them,” Juarez said. “On one home visit we could be working on ways to bond and interact with their new baby. On another we might talk about how to make time during the day to tend to household chores.”

“The goal of our work in the ECI is to support families in the healthy development of their children and to help them feel hope,” said Simmy Carter, associate director of the ECI.  “We’re excited to add the Healthy Families America home visiting program to the array of services we offer and we’re very pleased to be working in Pawtucket with community partners like Memorial Hospital and Women’s Care.”

HFA can be a valuable service to current TPC adult clients, and internal referrals are encouraged. “We know many of our colleagues are working with clients who are expecting a baby and HFA’s services are extremely effective in buffering the risks that the parent’s mental health status or life circumstances can present,” Hebert said.

HFA services are available to all parents with newborns (under 14 days old) or who are expecting, not just single moms. While TPC will serve families in Pawtucket, HFA staff are able to refer the family to services in their city. HFA is a voluntary program that is free to the family and is not based on insurance.