The Healthy Baby/Healthy Child Program (HBHC) is a community-based program designed to promote infant survival, positive birth outcomes, oral health, and family unity. The HBHC program provides home visiting to pregnant and parenting families with a child under age of five who reside in Boston. All services are free, voluntary, and confidential. Public health nurses, public health advocates, and social workers help prepare parents (via a strength-based model) for healthy deliveries and successful parenting within the scope of their own culture and language. Clients are linked to a range of services and health care facilities.
The HBHC program collaborates with community-based organizations; neighborhood health centers; hospitals; early intervention programs; certified home health care agencies; Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition programs; and other social service agencies to ensure that clients receive holistic, surround-care services.
WHAT SERVICES WILL I RECEIVE?
- Health
- Oral Health
- Nutrition
- Prenatal Education
- Fetal Growth and Development
- Breastfeeding Counseling
- Family Planning
- Home Safety
- Injury Prevention
- Parenting Education
- Child Growth and Development
- Immunization
- Community Based Women’s Health Groups
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Grief Counseling
YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR HEALTHY BABY /HEALTHY CHILD SERVICES IF YOU:
- Are pregnant
- Have a child between the ages of birth to 5
- Live in the City of Boston
- Loss of a pregnancy after 20 weeks gestation
- Loss of a child - birth to 3 years of age
WE PROVIDE INFORMATION, REFERRALS, AND ADVOCACY FOR SERVICES SUCH AS:
- Primary Health Care
- Health Insurance
- Transitional Assistance
- Food Stamps
- Emergency Food
- WIC
- Fuel Assistance
- Housing search
- Child support
- Father’s program
- Education
- Childcare services
- Early Intervention
- Parenting and Support Groups
- Mentoring Programs
- ESL and GED Classes
- Immigration Issues
- Legal Services
- Mental Health
- Substance Use
- Workforce development
YOU CAN RECEIVE SERVICES BY CALLING
(617) 534-5832 or (800) 711-1180
- We speak English
- Hablamos Espanol
- Falamos Portugues
- Waa Ku Hadalnaa Somali
- Nous Parlons Francais
- Nou Pale Kreyol
HBHC SUBPROGRAMS AND ADDITIONAL SERVICES:
Enhanced Perinatal Case Management
This program is funded by Boston Healthy Start Inititive (BHSI). HBHC delivers enhanced perinatal case management to Black women and infants in the Boston Healthy Start Initiative (BHSI) project area: Roxbury, Mattapan, Dorchester, South End, Hyde Park, and Jamaica Plain with the ultimate goal of eliminating disparities in perinatal health by reducing the Black infant mortality rate in Boston through individualized case management, care coordination, and referrals. For more information please contact 617 534-5832
HBHC Food Pantry
The food pantry provide emergency food assistance to Boston residents. Hours of operation are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 10:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. For more information, please contact 617 534-2032. The food pantry is also a member of the Project Bread Food Source Hotline, which coordinates and provides referrals for the general public. Please contact 1-800-645-8333 for a referral.
Partners In Parenting (P.I.P.)
Partners In Parenting is a mentoring program that offers parenting support to pregnant and parenting women. Clients are connected with volunteer "partners" from their community who serve as mentors, advocates, and community liaisons. The partners encourage individual empowerment, provide peer leadership, and support the women in their goal of self-sufficiency and decreasing social isolation. For more information, please contact 617 534-5832
Summer Enrichment Program (SEP)
The Family Summer Enrichment Program is a diverse program operated one day per week for seven weeks from July through August. The program offers enriching recreational and learning activities to families who receive services from the HBHC program. The goal is to reduce social isolation, provide education, and expose families to activities they may otherwise be unable to participate in. For more information, please contact 617 534-5832
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Program
HBHC collaborates with the Massachusetts Center for Sudden Infant Dealth Syndrome/The Massachusetts Center for Infant and Child Death Bereavement Program, located at the Boston Medical Center. HBHC nurses and social workers are trained by the Center. They provide services in the home to women who have experienced a SIDS death. They provide bereavement counseling, information, and linkage to parents support groups for families in Boston whose babies and young children (0-3 years) have died suddenly and unexpectedly. The services are available up to one year after the death.
Women Circles
HBHC provides spring and fall community-based health, social, and educational sessions to women and their families. These sessions are designed to decrease social isolation and to promote community awareness, health and mobilization in an informal and safe environment held at various locations throughout Boston. It is also an avenue for networking, collaboration, and sharing resources. For more information, please contact 617 534-5832