Helping New Parents

Raising a child in today’s world is difficult at best. Add pressures like single parenthood, unemployment or poverty and this task can quickly become overwhelming.

Although many parents get the help and encouragement they need, far too many young families have nowhere to turn when they are in need of support. Often, it is the most vulnerable family member – an infant or toddler – who becomes the target of a parent’s anger and frustration. But this painful cycle can be prevented by helping new parents, right from the start. Experience shows that supporting parents beginning in pregnancy and through the first five years of their child’s life can significantly reduce the risk factors associated with abuse and neglect.

To be sure that all new parents get the help they need, Southwest Human Development operates Healthy Families Maricopa County. Part of a national initiative, Healthy Families is designed to strengthen families from pregnancy through the crucial first five year’s of their child’s life. Highly trained family support specialists visit families regularly in their own home to work on three primary goals.

Program Goals
• Promoting child health and development
• Enhancing parent/child interaction
• Preventing child abuse

Program Features
• Helping the family with both long and short term problem solving
• Connecting the family with a variety of community services
• Encouraging positive play and interaction among family members
• Providing information about child development
• Connecting the family with the medical community by locating a primary care physician
• Promoting and supporting appropriate prenatal care

A Proven Solution
Healthy Families is one of the most rigorously evaluated programs in Arizona. Results of these evaluations consistently show that 99% of the high-risk families served did not have a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect.

Eligibility
Family needs are assessed when a woman is pregnant or in the hospital soon after a baby is born. Following screening and an interview by a trained family assessment worker, families may be eligible to enter the program. Families may also become involved with the program through community referral if their infant is less than three months old.

To make a referral, contact the Healthy Families
intake manager at: (602) 266-5976 or email healthyfamilies@swhd.org

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