Parents are their children’s first and most important teachers. Equipping them with the information and support that they need to provide their children with a strong start in life is a primary goal of Welcome Home Baby. Welcome Home Baby will connect with parents at a time when we can make the greatest impact—the earliest days of their baby’s life. It will become the main gateway for newborns and their families to access Kent County’s system of early childhood services.
Welcome Home Baby is a broad partnership that is led by First Steps and includes local health systems and service providers. It will lead to better coordination and alignment of existing early childhood programs. Currently, there is no consistent method to identify parents of young children, and we know that many families with high needs fall through the cracks, never connecting to support services and other community resources.
Welcome Home Baby will be offered to all first-time parents and parents 25 and younger in Kent County. It will establish two reliable touch-points: an initial visit in the hospital and a home visit from a maternal child nurse. The nurse will be able to answer questions about everything from how to feed a baby to where to look for quality child care. He or she will educate parents about early childhood development and the importance of talking, reading, and playing with their child from infancy. Families will be offered a menu of community services, and the nurse will help them access the resources that best meet their needs.
Welcome Home Baby is modeled after similar programs that are making a positive difference in their communities. We are beginning a phased implementation of Welcome Home Baby this summer.
For more information about Welcome Home Baby, please contact Jill Eldred, Program Manager or Nicole Swayman, Intake & Referral Specialist.
First Steps is currently seeking applications for the Welcome Home Baby program.
Maternal Child Care Nurse. This position has the responsibility for the physical and psychosocial assessment of mothers and their babies within 3-5 days of the newborn’s birth. The Maternal Child Care Nurse will be responsible for identifying referral needs of a diverse population and assuring that proper follow-up occurs. This position requires a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and recent post-partum experience. Two years of community health work is preferred. Bilingual, Spanish is a plus. Interested parties may apply by sending a cover letter with salary requirement and current resume to: srex@hwmuw.org
Please click on the link for the full Job Description for the Maternal Child Care Nurse.