Babies and first-time parents benefit from Schenectady effort

The face of Schenectady is going to change in the next few years -- the baby face, that is.

At least that's what a coalition of human service agencies, the local Catholic hospital and a physician are planning.

Dr. Kevin Karpowicz, a Schenectady pediatrician; St. Clare's Hospital; Catholic Charities of Schenectady County; Schenectady County Public Health Services; and Parsons Child and Family Center have joined to offer first-time parents in the County ongoing support and education.

Parental support

The goal of this effort, called Healthy Schenectady Families, is to promote positive child development in order to prevent child abuse, neglect and maltreatment.

The program -- part of a national effort known as Healthy Families America -- was brought to the County by Dr. Karpowicz, who was concerned by the lack of support his patients' parents had.

"As a society, we haven't been supporting parents with babies," he said. "Many people have no grandparents living near by, and there have been [budget] cuts for public health nurses. There is no support for some parents."

Sees problems

The end result, Dr. Karpowicz said, is children with problems. In his practice, he sees more children having problems in school, including behavioral problems, and children in need of mental health services.

In a report on the Healthy Schenectady Families program, Dr. Karpowicz states that child abuse, teen pregnancy, juvenile crime, teen violence, drug abuse and school behavior problems can be reduced when the family is involved in programs similar to Healthy Schenectady Families.

BY providing parents with support and information during their first pregnancy and continuing until the child is at least three-years-old, Healthy Schenectady Families hopes to prevent behavior problems from starting.

At-risk parents

"Our major focus is pregnant and new mothers who are at risk of being stressed and over-burdened," said Wendy Bender, a social worker at St. Clare's Hospital and Healthy Schenectady Families site manager. "It's difficult enough to be a first-time parent. To do it with limited support or resources makes it more difficult."

Ms. Bender explained that adding to a new mother's frustration level is the belief that mothering is instinctive.

"I was 32 when I had my first child," she said, "and I had no idea what I was doing. It's not always intuitive."

Screening

The goal, Ms. Bender said, is for St. Clare's Hospital to screen every first-time pregnant woman. The process looks at the stress level of the woman and determines if she is over-burdened. Women who are not will be provided with information. Women who are will be offered a variety of services.

For example, highly stressed women will have a home visit from a public health nurse who will ensure that the mother and child's medical needs are being met. These women will also have a family support worker who will promote positive parent-child interaction and teach positive parenting techniques.

Moderately stressed women will receive visits from a volunteer family support worker. The volunteers take part in an intensive training program and then commit to working with one family for three to five years.

Baby cues

The parenting part of the program is key, Ms. Bender said. "Part of every visit is parenting," she said. "It doesn't count as a visit unless there is parent-child interaction."

One area in which the Family Support Worker assists the parents is learning how to read the baby's cues. Parents need to know when an infant is ready to play, when it's time to sleep and when to limit stimuli. Parents will also learn about the importance of reading and singing to a baby.

While being able to read a baby's cues and meet his needs appropriately will help the parent develop a good relationship with their child, it will also help the child's emotional, cognitive and physical development, Dr. Karpowicz said.

"Brain development in children takes place in the first three years," he said. "The most critical time is the first three years."

Success measurement

Once the first group of children receiving services from Healthy Schenectady Families is in school, Dr. Karpowicz expects to see a dramatic decrease in school problems, an increase in school success, less adolescent risk-taking and a decrease in the teen pregnancy rate.

Families in the program will experience long-term benefits, according to Trudy Brunelle, site manager for Healthy Schenectady Families for Catholic Charities of Schenectady County. "Parents will get the best access to services in the community," she said, "and they won't be receiving duplicate services."

Families in the program will have early identification of developmental delays which will allow the child to receive help sooner, Ms. Brunelle said. Studies have also shown that programs like Healthy Schenectady Families have better rates of immunizations, consistent well child visits, and a decrease in emergency room visits, she said.

Cooperation

One of the best parts of the program, say those involved, is the number of agencies working together.

"It's been one of the most exciting parts of this program," said Dr. Karpowicz. "All of the agencies came together for one purpose."

Because of that, good things are happening Ms. Bender said. "We began meeting and talking about options. We had some community meetings, and since then doors have opened to us," she said.

While Healthy Schenectady Families planned on being able to assist 65 families in its first year, the collaboration among agencies will allow them to serve more than 150 families this year, Dr. Karpowicz said.

(For more information on Healthy Schenectady Families, call Wendy Bender at St. Clare's Hospital at 382-2000 or Trudy Brunelle at Catholic Charities at 372-5667.)

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