Healthy Families Trains Parents for a Tough Job

Since children don't come with instruction manuals, Healthy Families Florida provides the next best thing. Healthy Families is a community-based, voluntary program to help new parents in Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties get their children off to a healthy start.

Through home visiting by trained workers, Healthy Families offers families guidance in the areas of parent-child relationships, parenting skills, child development and discipline training. Parenting is a demanding job, so Healthy Families' services can be especially helpful for families experiencing significant stressors, such as single/teen parenthood or unemployment.

Healthy Families also assists in accessing community resources as well as screenings to determine if the child's development is progressing normally. The program builds on and coordinates with existing home visiting and family support services available in the area, such as Healthy Start and Head Start, to prevent duplication and provide a comprehensive array of services.

Families may enroll during the mother's pregnancy or within two weeks of the child's birth and may remain in the program for up to five years. Healthy Families has a limited number of openings for participants, but new or prospective parents who contact the program when it is full still can receive assistance in connecting with the resources they need.

Healthy Families' services are free, and because the program is voluntary, families may discontinue receiving them at any time. However, according to Program Manager Rosemary Cox, "Families seldom stop services because of the support given and the relationship they develop with the home visitor."

Nearing the end of its second year, Healthy Families has served more than 150 families in Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties during the previous year. Habilitative Services of North Florida sponsors the program, which is funded through grants from the Ounce of Prevention and the Department of Children and Families. Community partners such a West Florida Electric Cooperative help to furnish a 25 percent match required for the funding.