Healthy Baby Healthy Child
The Healthy Baby Healthy Child (HBHC) program provides free home visits for pregnant and parenting families in Boston.
The Healthy Baby Healthy Child program provides home visits for pregnant and parenting families. Families must be residents of Boston with a child under five years old. All services are free, voluntary and confidential.
You are eligible for Healthy Baby/Healthy Child services if you:
- Are pregnant or the father of an expectant baby
- Have a child between the ages of birth to 5
- Live in the City of Boston
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For more information, contact:
Becky Cruz-Crosson, Division Director, Heathy Start System
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1010 Massachusetts Ave.
Annex
Boston, MA 02118
What services will I receive?
- Health Education
- Nutrition
- Prenatal Education
- Breastfeeding Counseling
- Family Planning
- Injury Prevention
- Parenting Education
- Child Assessment and Education
- Short term mental health counseling
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Grief Counseling
- Early Childhood Education
Programs
Welcome Family
Welcome Family is a newborn home visit pilot program. The home visit is free, confidential, and voluntary. Multilingual public health nurses conduct home visits. The program aims to improve population-wide health and wellbeing. Goals include:
- increase parental skills, knowledge, and self-confidence
- improve maternal and infant health and wellbeing
- increase participant access to community based maternal, infant, and family health services, and
- improve coordination of community resources and support.
Shirley's Pantry
Shirley's Pantry provides emergency food assistance to HB/HC clients and Boston residents. The address is:
213 River Street
Mattapan, MA 02126
Phone: 617-534-2032
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Summer Enrichment Program
The Summer Enrichment Program operates one day a week from July through August. It offers enriching educational and recreational programming. It aims to reduce social isolation, provide health and wellness education, and engage families in recreational activities.
Father Friendly
This initiative provides individual case management services that promote father involvement and family engagement. It is available for any father living in the City of Boston, especially male partners of women enrolled in HB/HC and Boston Healthy Start Initiatives. The goal is to strengthen families by providing men with support for engaged fatherhood.
Special Collaborations
MA Center for Unexpected Infant and Child Death
The Massachusetts Center for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome/Massachusetts Infant and Child Death Bereavement Program is located at the Boston Medical Center. The SIDS Center is responsible for coordinating services to families throughout Massachusetts whose babies and young children (0-3 years) have died suddenly and unexpectedly from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sudden unexpected infant death(SUID), miscarriage, stillbirth and other causes of infant mortality.
HB/HC works collaborative with the MA Grief Center and receives referrals from this the SIDS Center to provide culturally competent services during the first year of bereavement. The HB/HC public health nurses and social workers provide grief counseling, support, anticipatory guidance and linkage to available resources.
Healthy Start in Housing
Healthy Start in Housing (HSiH) is a collaborative initiative of The Boston Public Health Commission and the Boston Housing Authority that helps housing insecure, high risk pregnant and parenting families, with a child under the age of 5 who has a complex medical condition requiring specialty care, to secure and retain housing.
The goals of HSiH are to improved birth outcomes and improved health and wellbeing of women and families. Key strategies include the provision of housing as well as intensive case management aimed housing retention and participant engagement in services and interventions that contribute to participate achievement of their self-identified goals.
Information and Referrals
We provide information, referrals and advocacy for services, such as:
- Primary Care Health
- Transitional Assistance
- Food Stamps
- Emergency Food
- WIC
- Fuel Assistance
- Housing
- Father's program
- Education
- Financial planning
- Childcare services
- Parenting and Support Groups
- Mentoring Programs
- Immigration
- Mental Health
- Child Support
- Paternity
Resources
Resources
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For more information, contact:
Becky Cruz-Crosson, Division Director, Heathy Start System
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1010 Massachusetts Ave.
Annex
Boston, MA 02118
