Working with families before they’re ready to bang the kids against the wall or simply leave them unfed and uncared for is the goal of Central Baptist Children’s Home’s newest program, Healthy Families Illinois. The key is to identify at-risk parents in the first months of their first child’s life and work intensively with them, said supervisor Diane Petersen.
Clients may be young single mothers who don’t know even the basics of child care. They may be a couple in financial trouble. They could even be 30-year-old professionals stressed by the demands of caring for a child and earning a living. There is no economic criteria for participation, but participants must come into the program in the prenatal period or before their child is 3 months old. Referrals come from pediatricians and health department personnel who notice signs of stress, whether from relationships, finances, transportation or other sources.
“We have limited resources and we need to use our funds where we will be most effective,” Petersen said. “In those first months parents are like sponges, soaking everything up. They are more receptive to learning. Later they have established their own patterns.”
Deborah Daro, research fellow at Chapin Hall for Children, a University of Chicago research organization, said, “The first months are a valuable period to set up a relationship between the baby and the parents. Children learn a sense of self and trust at a very early age. If a baby cries and gets no help or reaches out and no one is there, they will stop reaching out.”
Society sees the results of this in the extreme in those adolescents who commit violent acts, she added.
Potential clients are identified by the Lake County Health Department, which works closely with Central Baptist, by pediatricians, hospitals or relatives. As word of the program spreads, people may even walk in on their own, asking for help. Once referred, Healthy Families assessment workers contact them and ask if they would like to talk about their concerns. If so, an assessment is done in the person’s home. Petersen stressed that the program is voluntary. No one is ordered to participate.
The initial assessment may show that the person has enough extended family support or merely needs a list of good day-care centers or other existing community resources. However, if need is established, clients will be visited by a Healthy Families staff person on an average of once a week up until the child is in school.
Visitors listen to the parents’ issues regarding discipline, feeding, relationships and more. They bring developmental information and instruction in areas that range from feeding and medicating their children to shopping garage sales and accessing public transportation.
Each week they leave the parent with an activity to share with their child such as a song, flash cards or a book. Some visits last longer than a hour and some families are visited several times a week, especially in the early months, Petersen said.
Healthy Families Illinois traces its origins to the Hawaii Healthy Start program, initiated in that state in 1985. From 1987 to 1991, of the 1,353 high-risk families enrolled in the Hawaiian program, 99.3 percent remained free of abuse and 98.8 percent free of neglect. Home visits were stressed because they allowed the social worker to see first hand what was going on, yet the family was in control of the visit.
“They are in their own territory and they are more relaxed than they would be in an office,” Petersen said.
Based on successes in Hawaii, the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, in partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, launched Healthy Families America in 1992. Five years later it was introduced in Illinois, where it is funded by the Department of Human Services. Central Baptist was chosen last year to manage the program in Lake County.
The need is apparent when statistics from the 1995 report from the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect show about 2,000 children dying annually from abuse and neglect. Central Baptist has a budget of slightly more than $150,000 to manage Healthy Families in Lake County, most of which is provided by the state (other funding comes from United Way of Lake County and fundraising events).
“Prevention is always more cost effective than coming in after there is a crisis,” said Ed Buchs, senior vice president of Central Baptist.
Three staff people, all of whom have received intensive training, work as visitors. The program can accommodate 30 clients. One is 18-year-old Grisel (who does not want her last name used) of Waukegan, who is raising a baby girl by herself and trying to finish her senior year of high school.
“(HFI staff) counseled me and helped me accept the fact that the baby’s father is not going to help me,” she said. “I can’t drive because I’m legally blind so they drive me to appointments. They’re more like friends and when I’m stressed out I can call them and talk it over.”
Although money is limited, Petersen said, “We are not a program in isolation. We work with resources in the community such as the Lake County Health Department, food pantries, a Safe Place and Staben House (a Waukegan Township transitional housing facility for women and children), always with the client’s permission. Everything is voluntary.”
Although it is too early in the HFI program to identify successes, Petersen can cite cases from the Wings program, a Central Baptist program similiar to Healthy Families. Several years ago they worked with a single mother of a new baby, who had gone off her medication for mental illness during pregancy and was having hallucinations. The agency involved members of her church and helped her mend fences with her family out of state. She eventually moved back to her hometown, where Central Baptist hooked her up with resources there. At last report, she is doing well, Petersen said.
———-
For more information on Healthy Families, call 847-336-1746.
