Our name has changed from Maternal Infant Early Childhood ... Jan 2014 (4).pdf · activities that...
Transcript of Our name has changed from Maternal Infant Early Childhood ... Jan 2014 (4).pdf · activities that...
The new year is always a good starting point for change! That’s why at the start of this year, we are excited to welcome and introduce, not only our 1st newsletter, but a name change—from Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) to iGROW!
Many of you know this pro-gram as MIECHV or ‘McV’ for short. We know it as the same quality Home Visiting Program, in partnership with federal, state, and community levels, to enhance and improve lives of families and children here in the Rock-ford community. The new
name is easy to remember, user-friendly, client-friendly, catchy, and fun! It represents positive and personal growth for you, your family, and of course, an Early Start,
Bright Future for our children. You will begin no-ticing the new name popping-up in other MIECHV com-munities across the state. The good news? In our community, the change begins right here, right now, with the start of the NEW YEAR!
Let us know how you like it! Call us at: 815-720-4316
Illinois Health Insurance Enrollment: It’s not too late
If you have not had the oppor-tunity to enroll for health in-surance, there is still time. Get the process started at www.GetCoveredIllinois.gov
Open enrollment for the Mar-ketplace runs through March 31st . Medicaid is open all year. The Insurance Marketplace is designed to help you find health insurance that fits your budget. You will also be able to explore qualified health
plans in the state. Your life and family are unique. In the marketplace, you will find health insurance plans that fit the way you live and learn if you can get a break on costs. In-Person Counselors are
available to assist you and answer your questions.
For a list of local community agencies or assistance, call: 815-720-4247 or go online to www.wchd.org
O U R N A M E H A S C H A N G E D !
January 2014
iGROW Rockford
A local Home Visiting
Collaborative
Volume 1 Issue 1
Purpose of the iGROW
Newsletter:
To keep clients informed
about our community’s
Home Visiting Program.
To increase communication
and awareness with com-
munity agencies, stake-
holders, and the commu-
nity-at-large.
To provide a venue for infor-
mation-sharing between
homes visitors, families,
clients, advocates, and
friends of iGROW.
Inside this issue:
What is iGROW? 2
Meet a Home Visitor 2
Agency Profile Easter Seals
3
Pulling the Plug on Pacifiers
3
Partner Agency Contacts
4
Welcome, Bently!
4
GetCoveredIllinois.gov 1.866.311.1119
Our name has changed from Maternal Infant Early
Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) to iGROW!
iGROW has evidenced-based Home Visiting programs that use trained, profes-sional home visitors to provide direct services to pregnant women or children from birth to age 5. Its goal is to improve health and developmental outcomes for at-risk children through home-based services. The Rockford program is one of several across the state of Illinois designed to address home visiting in five compo-nents of the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems:
Access to health care and medical homes Social emotional development and mental health Early care and education Parenting education Family support
Additionally, clients receive parenting support, developmental screenings and as-sessments for their child. Home visitors often work with parents in guidance and education to build strong families. Four agencies in the Rockford area carry out home visiting services. The agencies are: City of Rockford Head Start, Easter Seals, Metropolitan Chicago– Rockford Region, Rockford Public Schools Early Childhood Program, and LaVoz Latina. Each of these agencies have select criteria from which clients meet to determine eligibility. In most cases, clients must be pregnant, first time teen moms, or parenting with children up to 3 years old. Clients may be re-ferred, may contact our Partner agencies, or come to the Coordinated Intake and Referral service at the Winnebago County Health Dept. 555 N. Court Street.
What is iGROW? (formerly MIECHV)
Meet Home Visitor – Cindy Waffle recognize
their dreams
and goals,
and for my
clients to
work to-
wards achiev-
ing them. I
also want
each parent
to gain an understanding of child
development and effective parent-
ing skills”.
Cindy loves to do craft projects
and spend time with her grand-
children. She has a 9 year old
grandson and 5 year old twin
granddaughters. “They are the joy
of my life” says Cindy!
Meet Cindy Waffle who
has been with Easter
Seals for over 20 years.
Recently, Cindy was nominated
as ‘Employee of the Year’.
Cindy started in the Child Care
Development area and joined
Teen Family Support about 6
years ago. “I have a passion for
working with families. It is a total
blessing to be a part of my client’s
families and being able to watch
their babies develop from infancy
on. It’s a great feeling being able
to share their joys, triumphs, and
successes. You are there to help
them get through their challenges
while providing empathetic listen-
ing and support. My wish for my
clients this year is to be able to
”It’s a great
feeling being able
to share their
joys, triumphs,
and successes!”
Page 2
Cindy Waffle and the Teen Parent
Group giving back to the community
during the holidays!
iGROW currently
has several Home
Visiting Programs
across the state of
Illinois. iGROW
Communities are:
Southside Chicago
Cicero, IL
Elgin, IL
Rockford, IL
Decatur, IL
Danville, IL
iGROW has
evidenced-
based Home
Visiting
programs
Spreading 2013 Holiday Cheer
Easter Seals Metropolitan
Chicago-Rockford Region
(formerly Easter Seals
Children’s Development
Center) has provided
services to children in our
community for over 45
years. In 2006, they merged
with Easter Seals Metro-
politan Chicago, and
continued to provide
quality children and family
services, including services
for children with disabili-
ties. The Teen Family
Support Program offers
services to teens, such as
one-on-one support through
Doulas and Family Support
Workers. Both Doulas and
Family Support workers
discuss issues concerning
pregnancy; promoting a
healthy pregnancy, labor
and delivery, encourag-
ing and supporting breast-
feeding, helping new moms
adjust to becoming a par-
ent, as well as understand-
ing their child’s behavior.
The Teen Family Support
Program staff have been
assisting pregnant and par-
enting teenagers living in
Winnebago County
improve healthy parent-
child relationships and suc-
cessful child development
for nearly 30 years. Easter
Seals Metropolitan Chicago
-Rockford Region also of-
fers the family Therapeutic
Autism School and the
Autism Service Center at
the Uni-
versity of
Illinois
School of
Medicine.
More information can be
obtained by calling
815-965-5069 or on the
web at:
eastersealschicago.org
CHECK IT OUT!
Go to parents.com/playtime
to see a video of fun
activities that get your baby
moving and prime him for
motor milestones.
Partner Agency Profile: Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago—Rockford Region
effective self-soother, and sur-prisingly, won’t harm the teeth until at least age 5. As your child’s second birthday approaches, devise a plan to wean her from the pacifier. Strategies range from cutting the kids off cold
turkey to elaborate send-offs.
Ultimately, the method you choose will depend on your child’s personal-ity. Dina Duy, a Rockford educator and mother of two, suggests making the move when your child switches to a “big-kid” bed. Simply declare that pacifiers are off limits in a “big-kid”
bed. Voila! You are home free...if
your child goes for it.
Kristina Stone of Rockford recom-mends a more gradual weaning off of the pacifier. When her daughter, Grace turned 1 she enforced a new rule that the pacifier must be left in the crib when she get out. Grace’s pacifier –dependence quickly dissi-
pated shortly after.
Staci Hubley of Rockford created an exciting memory to aid her daughter, Averey in relinquishing the coveted security piece. Together, they left a plate of cookies for the “Paci Fairy,” who swept into the house unnoticed in the middle of the night to collect every last “meep meep” for quick delivery to babies in need. Rockford grandmother Gale Piveretto offers a similar option: sit down with your child and stuff every pacifier into an envelope and ship them off to some-place special— perhaps the hospital so new babies will be sure to receive
one. Rockfordparent.com
Your baby is crying. He’s been fed and changed, so you reached for the pacifier. When you are a parent with an infant, a pacifier can be your best friend. When you are a parent with a toddler a pacifier can be your
worst enemy.
“It may be tempting to offer your child a pacifier when it is easy for you,” the American Academy of Pediatrics says, “but it is best to let your child
decide whether, and when, to use it.”
Dr. Errol Baptist, a Rockford pediatri-cian, suggests, “pacifier use until the age of 2 especially because pacifiers have been linked to a decreased incidence of sudden infant death syndrome. “If used in later years,” he cautions, “pacifiers may cause mala-
lignment of the teeth.”
Conversely, thumb--sucking is an
“If used in later years,
pacifiers may cause misalignment of
the teeth”
Page 3
Mission
Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago
maximizes independence and creates
opportunities for people with
disabilities and other special needs to
live, learn, work and play in their
communities by providing a lifespan
of premier services.
Messy Monday @ Discovery
Center Museum.
Age 2+ 1/20/14 –Theme focus
Art Projects
discoverycentermuseum.org
Find fun things to
learn and do for
Parents and Kids!
Happy New
Year from
iGrow
Rockford!
When to Pull the Plug
On Pacifiers By Angela Malavolti
Explore pbs.org and
pbskids.org. Find educa-
tional games, recipes, vid-
eos, apps, fun stuff, and
more!
…..from MIECHV to iGrow Page 4
Winnebago County Health Department
401 Division Street
555 No.rth Court Street
Rockford, IL 61103
Phone: 815-720-4000
This program was made possible by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 which authorizes the crea-
tion of the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Education Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. Winnebago County Health
Department serves as the lead agency. The program is carried out in conjunction with four Rockford home visiting
partnering agencies (listed below), in addition to the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, IL Depart-
ment of Human Services, and the State of Illinois.
Winnebago County Health Department
555 North Court Street
Rockford, IL 61103
Phone: 815-720-4000
If you would like more information about
iGROW or would like to be referred, please
contact Coordinated Intake at: 815-720-4000
Rockford Home Visiting—Partner Agency Contacts:
Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago– Rockford Region
815--965-5069 x 233
Early Head Start Program
815-987-5480
Early Childhood Program
815-967-8030
iGROW client Whitney sh
ares a bonding moment
with her bundle of
joy! Whitney’s son B e n t l y
made his debut in
July of last year.
815-965-5784
Whitney, Bently and family.
Congratulations,Whitney and family on
your beautiful baby boy!
Look The iGROW family is growing!!!!
Newsletter Editors:
C.Boyd, WCHD –CSD
D.Ricther, WCHD –CI
Contributors to this edition:
K.Kurtz, Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago– Rockford Region
Staff of Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago– Rockford Region
RockfordParent.com Magazine (with permission)
Let us know if you have information you would like featured in iGrow. Send us your photos, stories, comments, or feedback. The iGrow Newsletter will be published quarterly.
Want to be on our mailing list for future
editions of iGrow newsletters?
Email: [email protected]