Outreach Programs

Outreach Programs

The Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute has developed community based outreach programs in both Ulster and Dutchess Counties in cooperation with the local Health and Social Service Departments in an effort to improve access to prenatal care, reduce the infant mortality rates and to provide support to young families in need. Below is as description of each program

Ulster County Healthy Start

In 1995, Mid Hudson Family Health Institute added a Healthy Families New York program to its community services programs. Healthy Families programs systematically identify overburdened families in need of support; promote positive parent-child interaction; ensure optimal prenatal care and promote healthy childhood growth and development; and enhance family functioning by building trusting relationships, problem solving skills and support systems. Trained home visitors provide support, child development and parenting information to help reduce family stress. The Healthy Families program in Ulster County is known as Healthy Start. It aims to help each parent become the best he or she can be to help each child grow and develop in a safe, nurturing environment.

Our goals are to:

Support positive parent-child bonding and relationships
Promote optimal child health and development
Enhance parental self-sufficiency
Prevent child abuse and neglect

Good parenting can be learned. Participants in HFNY report that their relationships with their children have improved, they are more likely to use appropriate discipline and are better able to deal with their children’s difficult behavior. They are taught proper healthcare and feeding for babies, infant growth and development, and how to make the home safer.

The service is offered at a time when planned early intervention makes the greatest impact. It is a comprehensive approach to meeting the health and social needs of New York’s newest and most vulnerable citizens: its children.

Ulster County Healthy Start serves all pregnant and parenting families with children under 3 months of age who reside in Ulster County until the children reach the age of 5 years old.

Dutchess County Healthy Families

Dutchess County Healthy Families is a home visiting program that provides support, information and referrals to pregnant and parenting women and their families in Poughkeepsie, Hyde Park and Beacon. Trained home visitors meet with program participants in their homes to share information on having a healthy pregnancy, infant and child development, community resources, and dealing with the stress that comes with being a parent. For more information or to refer yourself or someone you know to the program, please call (845)452-3387.

Dutchess County Healthy Families is an unprecedented blending of the experiences and best practices of two established New York State home visiting programs: the Community Health Worker Program and Healthy Families New York. Building on existing programming and community collaboration in Dutchess County, this model will serve as a step toward developing a comprehensive system of services for pregnant and parenting families throughout New York State. This unique project is a collaboration between Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute and Dutchess County Department of Health. For details about the component programs of the Dutchess County Healthy Families Program, please see below.

Community Health Worker Program

Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute has operated the Poughkeepsie Community Health Worker Program since 1993. Community health workers provide outreach, education, referral and follow-up, case management, advocacy and home visiting services to women who are at highest risk for poor birth outcomes, particularly low-birth weight and infant mortality. The CHWP is targeted to specific communities with high rates of infant mortality, out-of-wedlock births, late or no prenatal care, teen pregnancies and births, and births to low-income women. The program's focus is on getting pregnant women into early and consistent prenatal care and ensuring their families receive primary and preventive health care services. There are 23 programs currently across the state.

Services are provided by paraprofessional home visitors who live in or are familiar with the community. They create a bridge between providers of health, social and community services and the underserved and hard-to-reach populations within the community.

Community health workers (CHW) are trained to provide basic health education and referrals for a wide range of services, and to provide support and assistance in navigating the health and social services system. The CHWs:

Conduct intensive outreach efforts to pregnant women, including pregnant women who are uninsured, underinsured, are not involved in prenatal, health or other community services, and other high risk populations living in the target area to help get these women into prenatal and other health care services.
Develop and maintain a relationship with the family during home visits, which are made at least monthly throughout the woman’s pregnancy and throughout the infant’s first year of life.
Provide basic health education to families on a range of topics including lead poisoning prevention, HIV risk factors and measures to prevent transmission, risk factors associated with prenatal substance abuse (including tobacco), domestic violence, family planning, breastfeeding and other important health topics.
Ensure parents understand the need for children to receive immunizations and regular health care.
Help families address such issues as completing high school education, selecting appropriate childcare and handling the multiple demands of work/school and child rearing.
Work with parents in their homes to improve parent-child interaction and to promote their understanding of normal child development.
Assist families with application procedures for such services as Medicaid, Child Health Plus and WIC.
Assist families to develop the necessary skills and resources to improve their health status, family functioning and self-sufficiency.

Healthy Families New York

In 2001, Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute added a Healthy Families New York program to the existing Community Health Worker Program to create the pilot project described above. Healthy Families programs systematically identify overburdened families in need of support; promote positive parent-child interaction; ensure optimal pre-natal care and promote healthy childhood growth and development; and enhance family functioning by building trusting relationships, problem-solving skills and support systems. Trained home visitors provide support, child development and parenting information to help reduce family stress. Our programs aim to help each parent become the best he or she can be and to help each child grow and develop in a safe, nurturing environment.

Our Goals are to:

Support positive parent-child bonding and relationships
Promote optimal child health and development
Enhance parental self-sufficiency
Prevent child abuse and neglect

Home Visiting Works! Healthy Families home visitation, with its focus on prevention and parent education, has emerged as a successful strategy to improve parenting skills, parent-child interaction, parental self-sufficiency, and child health and development.

Good parenting can be learned. Participants in HFNY report that their relationships with their children have improved, they are more likely to use appropriate discipline and are better able to deal with their children's difficult behavior. They are taught proper healthcare and feeding for babies, infant growth and development, and how to make the home safer.

The service is offered at a time when planned early intervention makes the greatest impact. It is a comprehensive approach to meeting the health and social needs of New York's newest and most vulnerable citizens: its children.

Sire Design Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute

Page last updated August 27 2005