DATE, TIME, AND PLACE: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 3-5pm, at the Cornell Cooperative Extension, 249 Highland Ave.
WHAT: A graduation for young moms who completed three successful years in the Building Healthy Children program. The ceremony includes one participant speaking about how BHC helped her and her family. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the graduates' children will present their mothers with a surprise gift.
BACKGROUND: Building Healthy Children is an innovative community collaboration between the University of Rochester's Mt. Hope Family Center, Strong Pediatrics and the Society for the Protection and Care of Children (SPCC) addressing the needs of low-income, high-risk young mothers and their children.
Monroe County has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in New York State and teen families face increased risks for child abuse, neglect, emotional difficulties, behavioral problems, and ultimately foster care placements.
The Building Healthy Children program seeks to stop these problems before they start. The program brings together Strong Pediatrics' medical talent and the Society for Protection and Care of Children's expertise in social work with Mt. Hope Family Center's evidence-based clinical therapy. Through a comprehensive approach, physicians, social workers and psychologists reach out to young mothers with evidence-based support. They provide parenting education, parent-child attachment and maternal depression therapy, along with food, housing and transportation for three years.
The Monroe County Department of Human Services and The United Way of Greater Rochester fund BHC.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Sarah Smith, sarah.g.smith@rochester.edu, 585.275-2991 x 238 (office); 585.410.1481 (cell)