Paul Szmal: Good morning, it's 817. It's FLX Morning Wednesday and we're zooming with Julie Champion at Child and Family Resources, CFResources.org. Good morning. Good morning, Ted. It's great to have you back once again and your Healthy Families program has some openings now and Healthy Families provides just a lot of real basic information and resources for new moms and new families. You might say that some of this stuff, well everybody knows that stuff, but that's not always the case and some families need a little more help than others, so tell us about Healthy Families.
Julie Champion: Well, the Healthy Families program, which we've offered for many, many years now, it's a free and voluntary program. It's up to the family if they want to participate and for how long. It really provides a lot of support throughout pregnancy and after the baby and actually up until the child is enrolled into kindergarten or pre-k program. One of the things you ask in the application is, do you feel like you have enough money? Because some of us, some of us are very fortunate. We have a child for the first time and our wife's friends throw a big baby shower and you get a new car seat and you get all this stuff. Some moms might not be so fortunate. Some moms might be younger and perhaps having a child under the less than the greatest circumstances and they need that extra boost.
Paul Szmal: That's right, and a lot of the supports that we're able to offer include helping families access needed resources. You know, whether it's providing ourselves a car seat or Port-A-Crib for ourselves or connecting them with an agency in their community that will help support them in those types of services. You also offer bottle and breastfeeding support. We've talked about that. I've talked about that with you and a number of different medical providers and everything. It's a natural process, but sometimes the baby doesn't always take it right away and there can be problems. It's a real self-esteem issue for a woman because you're supposed to know how to be a good mom and so that's a real stressor sometimes.
Julie Champion: It is, and that's a huge misconception. You know, people don't always know how to be a new parent and they don't know everything about child development or they've never breastfed before so they have no clue. And one of the the pluses that we have is in the Healthy Families Program we have certified lactation consultants who can help mom throughout process and we have access to an actual credential consultant through local hospitals that can even help them more specific to their very important needs. So it's really great because moms get so frustrated if they're not doing it right and they feel horrible like they're less of a mom and that's so not the case. And it's like anything, if you get good at it you get that confidence boost.
Paul Szmal: Exactly, and there's always going to be little tips and tricks and sometimes babies can't latch like they need to because of a lip tie or whatnot. So having a family support worker there to help them see that it's okay, this happens to a lot of people you just don't hear that normally. Another part of the Healthy Families Program is called Strengths Based Family Goals. So how do you work with the whole family to promote a healthy atmosphere for that new child coming in?
Julie Champion: Well every family has some sort of goal, whether it's to make sure that they have a new car, maybe mom or dad doesn't have a license, or maybe they want to make sure they can put food on the table. And it's just simply knowing that they have someone there to support them and help them achieve it, whether it's guidance, whether it's a cheering team to say, yeah you did it, you know, let's celebrate. So the family set those goals. It's driven by them and they get to decide, you know, what is the next thing we want to focus on to make sure that we have a happy, healthy family.
Paul Szmal: Do you work directly with dads because we're part of the equation too, and we don't have an instruction manual either?
Julie Champion: They sure are, and we actually have a very good participation rate. I would say about 40% of the dads in our families are often in the visits as well, and we try to accommodate schedules so that, you know, dad wants to be present, we'll do a later visit if he's working the day, or whatever works for the family. We definitely know it takes two, and dads are very welcome.
Paul Szmal: And you get support in this program from the State Office of Children and Families, or Children and Family Services, and also Excels Blue Cross Blue Shield, and in Ontario County, the Ontario County Department of Social Services helps.
Julie Champion: Yes, this program is largely funded by the Office of Children and Family Services, and they fund programs all across the state. We have them in Ontario, Seneca, and Yates counties, and year-round we typically can serve anywhere from 50 to 80 families with home visiting, and even more just with providing referral resources. So the funders are great. Excel has helped us provide some of those resources families need, program supplies, extra time to work with families by supporting staff time. So it really, the funders have been phenomenal.
Paul Szmal: Now one of the other resources you offer is the Parenting Partners Group. Tell us about your group.
Julie Champion: Well, our Parenting Partners Group, it's actually Family Matters, is what we've called it in Penn Yan. And Penn Yan, every Tuesday night, or should I say afternoon, we have an open group for any parents that just want to come and talk to other parents, learn different skills, discuss, you know, they might have a teen that they're having some trouble with, and it really creates partnerships within the group. And we have our facilitator Eileen Kiesinger, who's very experienced in supporting families. She's there to provide one-on-one support, as well as helping facilitate the group. And that's Tuesdays from 330 to 5 in our Penn Yan office.
Paul Szmal: And again, to emphasize, this is for parents of any age kids. It's not just for newborns. And like you say, you have all these challenges with screens and devices, and how much time is appropriate. You don't want to, you know, be the only parent that doesn't let their kid do this stuff. But you have to find some limits.
Julie Champion: Exactly. And if you need help in setting boundaries, a group like this, you can get lots of tips on how to set the boundaries with your kids. And it's actually really good to make sure you start setting them early on. So Family Matters is at the 263 Lake Street, Penn Yan location. It runs Tuesdays from 330 to 5.
Paul Szmal: And back to the healthy family for a moment, there is a short application. You're just asked a few basic questions so that they can kind of assess your needs and get you going. Is that on the website, or should they just call the office? What's the best way to get started on healthy families?
Julie Champion: That application is on the website, but they can easily just call and ask to speak to someone about joining the Healthy Families Program. We'll connect them to the right staff. And of course, you also, we've talked about the car seat program in the past, because it's important to have the biggest issue. People get a car seat, and they think they're putting it in correctly, and they don't.
Paul Szmal: Yes, we have another technician in our Yates County office, Amanda Miller, who we have distribution of car seats so folks can't afford it. Or if the one they have, their child is outgrown, they can give us a call to see if they can get a free one. And she can help show them how it's supposed to be installed correctly.
Julie Champion: Alright, again, cfresources.org is the website for this information and more. Of course, child care referrals, that's a big part of the equation as well. Julie, thanks. We look forward to keep bringing the child, children, and families, and moms and dads this important information.
Paul Szmal: Thank you, Ted. We'll see you next month.
