With the goal of promoting and improving the health of mothers and children the MCH division of the Department offers services to women, children and their families through several different programs. All programs are offered FREE of charge. For more information regarding specific programs, select the links below.

Maternal Infant Outreach Program (MIOP)

MIOP is a program that was created to help reduce infant mortality, infant morbidity, and the number of low birth weight babies in the City of Hartford.  

The MIOP program helps women of all ages, free of charge, and all information is kept confidentially.  We provide the best service to our clients by working with all the clinics in Hartford including: 

Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center	Community Health Services
Hartford Hospital	Private Physicians
Charter Oak Terrace/Rice Heights Health Center	Asylum Hill Family Medicine

Using neighborhood outreach workers, MIOP helps pregnant women by:

• Making sure that all pregnant women register for prenatal care early in their pregnancy.

• Making home visits to pregnant women to provide health and nutrition education and support.

• Making community presentations on pregnancy and other problems which concern women and children.

• Following the health and development of the infants first year of life.

• Providing emotional support when needed, and linking women to health and community agencies as required.  

Each woman participant is assigned to a Neighborhood Outreach Worker (NOW) who will work on addressing the special needs of that client.  Home visits are performed once a month, or more if necessary, and are focused on teaching the client how to take care of herself and her new family.  The NOW assists the clients during pregnancy, through the time of labor and delivery, and then continues to work with the mother and her family to promote positive parenting skills and preventive child health care.

MIOP will help you understand:

Pregnancy and the changes that take place in the body;	The importance of healthy eating habits;
The dangers of smoking, drinking, and taking non-prescribed drugs during pregnancy;	The need for early and consistent prenatal care;
The healthy habits and practices during pregnancy--for example, proper rest, reducing stress, exercise, etc;	The problem of low birth weight, premature birth, infant mortality, and how to reduce risks;
The benefits of breastfeeding, and how to breastfeed;	How to participate in childbirth preparation techniques;
The importance of post-partum checkups and care;	The importance of immunizing your baby.

For more information on MIOP, call Sandra Abella, Project Supervisor at (860) 757-4818, or send an email by clicking on their name.   Or our Referral Line at (860) 543-4818.  The MIOP office is located in the health services building at 131 Coventry Street, Hartford, CT 06112.  

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Nurturing Family Network (NFN):

 NFN is a program created to meet the needs of first-time parents facing the challenges of parenthood by enhancing their strengths, providing education and creating community connections. The mission of NFN  is to assure that every child shall be raised within  a nurturing environment thru prevention of child abuse and neglect.

NFN is also a home visiting program  that works with mothers prenatally and up until the child  reaches the age of 5. Providing voluntary services is just one of the many features of NFN, hence a participant may simply leave the program if she/he chooses to and can come back  again prior to the child’s 5^th birthday and if there’s a vacancy available.

Utilizing Home  Visitors, NFN assists women by: 

• conducting weekly home visits and providing pregnant women with health/nutrition educational support using approved curricula.
• ensuring that all pregnant women are registered and undergoing regular prenatal care.
• providing emotional support when needed and providing linkages to health/community resources.

§         utilizing the ‘Age and Stages Screening Tool’ to ensure age-appropriate

§         having quarterly Focus Groups with clients and discussing issues about health,

            environmental safety, nutrition and others.

• conducting a 9-week Prenatal Group with graduation upon completion.
• conducting a 23-week Parenting Group with graduation upon completion.
• establishing  annual events for families( Christmas party, Mother’s Day, etc.)

For more information about NFN, please call Donna Redway, NFN Clinical Supervisor at (860)757-4821 or send an e-mail by clicking on their name.

DCF Parent Aide:

This is a Department of Children and Families- funded program tasked with the mission of improving and maintaining parenting skills provided to children through the delivery of services that are home-based, strength-focused and delivered within  a family context.

This program utilizes Parent Aides(PA) who are specially trained and supervised professionals/paraprofessionals capable of developing a trusting relationship with the parent. The PA provides support and encouragement , builds self-esteem and helps to reduce the isolation of the client served. Parent Aides may work to engage ‘resistant’ parents and teach parenting skills, advocate for or seek services for a family such as food and housing, establish and reinforce health care needs  of a family, or help to ensure that a parent understands and utilizes treatment suggestions provided by other professionals.

Guided with the mission that every child has the right to grow and thrive safely in nurturing homes, the DCF-Parent Aide Program expects to meet this challenge by:

• improving general parenting skills.
• teaching and applying child development knowledge.
• improving  parent-child relationships.
• improving discipline techniques.
• reinforcing confidence and self-esteem among parents.
• teaching and practicing basic living skills.
• engaging families in the use of community resources.
• promoting substance-free behaviors.
• promoting sex and child abuse-free family environment.
• developing a positive social network.

 For more information about DCF-Parent Aide please call Sandra Abella, Program Supervisor at (860) 757-4818

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HEALTHY START and THE HUSKY PLAN  

Are you pregnant or have children that are uninsured or under-insured? 
The Hartford Health Department's Healthy Start Program can help by getting you free health insurance and other services for which you are eligible! The Healthy Start Program can help you enroll in many programs, including the HUSKY Plan, which is described below.

What is a HUSKY Plan?

The HUSKY Plan is a subsidized health insurance program to help Connecticut families obtain and afford coverage for their children.  HUSKY is a commitment by Governor Rowland and the General Assembly to ensure quality health care for the young people of our state.  It provides access to free or affordable health insurance for thousands of children and youth in working families.

To find out if your child may qualify you can use the income guidelines chart pdf.

HUSKY Benefit Package

The HUSKY benefit package is designed to mirror the State of Connecticut Employee Health Plan.  Benefits include:

Preventive care	Outpatient physician visits
Prescription medicines	Inpatient hospital and physician services
Outpatient surgical facility	Mental health and substance abuse services
Short term rehabilitation and physical therapy	Skilled nursing facility, home health care, hospice care
Diagnostic x-ray and laboratory	Emergency care
Durable medical equipment	Eye care and hearing exams
Dental care (including orthodontist)

For more information about the Husky Program, call the Maternal and Child Health Division at (860) 757-4820, or send an email by clicking on their name. 

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 Immunization Action Plan (IAP):

 The IAP is State-funded program focused on increasing immunization rates and reducing vaccine preventable diseases among children under 2 years of age.These goals have been consistently met by:

• stablishing and maintaining a referral system for infants who don’t have updated immunization schedules and later outreached for vaccine updates.
• monitoring immunization provider participation in the referral network in order to evaluate utilization of referral services.
• monitoring the immunization status of all children 0-2 years of age referred by entities such as Connecticut Immunization Registry and Tracking System(CIRTS), Women-Infant &Children(WIC), Department of Children and Families(DCF), school systems, private MD’s and others.
• conducting immunization education campaigns that culture-appropriate among pregnant women, new parents and immigrants.
• promoting immunization-related materials to the community, hospitals and pediatric clinic, and other similar seetiings.
• promoting National Immunization  Week/Month to increasdr public awareness on the significance of early childhood immunizations.
• conducting site reviews with all private and public immunization providers that have been identified.

For more information about IAP, please call Tish Ricks or Sandra Abella, IAP Outreach Workers at (860)757-4820  or send an e-mail by clicking on their names.

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Mission

The mission of the Hartford WIC Program is to safeguard the health of the population that we serve by providing quality nutrition and health-related services and giving access to nutritious foods.