Healthy Families Loudoun offers in-home parenting education and support, intensive case management, and access to critical resources to at-risk, first-time parents. Administered by INMED USA (an affiliate of INMED Partnerships for Children), the program relies heavily on home visits to assure babies have a vibrant future from the start.
“It’s a very holistic program,” said Maria Vasquez, director of INMED USA’s Healthy Families Loudoun County.
Many of these parents are dealing with multiple stressors, such as single parenting, former abuse or adverse childhood experiences. Through home visits and structured curriculum, the program helps parents create safe and nurturing environments for their children.
The Healthy Families Loudoun program is accredited by Healthy Families America for child abuse and neglect prevention and mitigation. The program operates off this national model. According to the program’s website, the model “is the primary home visiting model best equipped to work with families who may have histories of trauma, intimate partner violence, mental health and/or substance abuse issues.”
INMED Healthy Families Loudoun has been a top-performer among Healthy Families programs in Virginia for 22 consecutive years. Most families are referred to Healthy Families Loudoun prenatally or after birth through Inova Loudoun’s prenatal clinic or local agencies. The parent must be willing to participate. The program works with families through the first three years of children’s lives.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unusual circumstances for a program based upon at-home visits, however. Vasquez, who has been in her position for more than 20 years, says engaging with families face-to-face is what makes the program so wonderful.
“These relationships are strong and based on trust,” she said. “It’s not as easy to bring that emotional support (remotely).”
In a crisis like this one, Vasquez said the program’s caseworkers are these first-time parents’ primary connection to resources–from mental health services to diapers.
Vasquez said the pandemic has created new economic challenges for most of these families, such as unemployment, food and housing insecurity. As a result, program caseworkers are working a lot more hours. INMED USA’s family support specialists put in more hours in two weeks in March than the entire month of February.
The program is adapting, however. Caseworkers have been able to stay in touch virtually with the 53 families it currently serves. They use whatever devices are available to the families for video conferencing and texting. Only a few participants have computers at home, but phones are available for most to communicate. Vasquez said all participants have been receptive to the new way of doing things, despite it being less intimate.
“They have learned how to take pictures and are moving phones around so we can see what’s going on in the home.”
As time goes on, social isolation is a major factor of concern, according to Vasquez. Often the family support specialists program workers are the most stable relationship in these individuals’ lives. Vasquez said they’re staying proactive by virtually engaging on a consistent basis.
“It’s paying attention to clues, to red flags that these families are in need of more help,” she said. “It’s also a matter of having this one person to trust, that they can confide in.”
Vasquez said they are looking for behavioral changes, such as someone becoming less talkative with a caseworker, or clues that point to potential shaken baby syndrome. The main goal is to stop any negative acts or feelings before they happen. So far, it’s been successful.
Vasquez said the work couldn’t be done without the caring and professional family support specialists they have on INMED USA’s staff who are committed “rain or shine” in preventing child abuse.
“Not everyone is ready for that,” she added.
About INMED
INMED Partnerships for Children Healthy Families Loudoun County is a free program offered through INMED Partnerships for Children – an international nonprofit humanitarian development organization that has been serving vulnerable children and families in Loudoun located in Sterling and in operation since 1994. Healthy Families Loudoun County consistently ranks among the top 5 Healthy Families’ child abuse prevention programs in the Commonwealth. It works in partnership with Loudoun County, Healthy Families Virginia, the Virginia Department of Social Services, Inova, and many other public and private sector organizations.
INMED is located at 21240 21630 Ridgetop Circle, Suite 130 115, in Sterling, VA.
Visit https://inmed.org for more information.