WELCOME HOME BABY

The First Steps to ensuring all Kent County parents have the tools they need to provide opportunities for their children.

All parents have questions, and all parents need help.  First Steps is committed to answering those questions and providing that help from day one.  Early prevention is far more effective—and less expensive—than later interventions.

Welcome Home Baby is a home visiting initiative with the goal of reaching all first-time mothers and fathers in Kent County while they’re still in the hospital with their newborn baby.  Welcome Home Baby will then offer them a home visit from a nurse within the first few weeks of their child’s life.  The nurse will educate parents about the health and development of their newborn, answer families’ questions, help assess their needs, and offer them a menu of services available in the community.

Welcome Home Baby is a broad partnership that includes all of the major health systems in Kent County and dozens of service providers.

The nurse visit is important to the success of the overall early childhood system, providing a vital link to other First Steps initiatives.  During that home visit, families can get connected to a medical home, high quality child care and other community resources.

Welcome Home Baby is modeled after similar programs that are making a positive difference in their communities, including one in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  Welcome Home Baby is in the final stages of development, and First Steps plans to begin offering that support to Kent County children and families in the near future.