Area Communities Have Home Visiting Program To Assist Parents

Parenting is tough these days … who couldn’t use help?

Roosevelt County Health Department has an active home visiting program with staff trained in a myriad of family and parenting topics who come alongside parents with children during pregnancy and up through kindergarten age.

How do home visitors help?

•They get to know you, your child and the family by visiting you in your home or elsewhere once or twice a month.

•They listen to you. They encourage you.

•At each visit, they assess developmental milestones. As your child meets milestones, home visitors celebrate with you. If your child is having difficulty meeting a milestone, they can show you how to help your child in that area, or they can get you in touch with the proper healthcare resource where early assistance can be given to your child.

•Home visitors help parents to problem-solve. Two heads are better than one, two sets of eyes can see more than one.

•They help you get your child ready for kindergarten.

•They teach you to be your child’s first and most important teacher. At each visit, home visitors demonstrate ways to interact with your child at his/her developmental level. This stimulates learning, and the parent is the teacher.

•They emphasize reading and bring a new book to each home visit for your family to keep.

•If pregnant, they talk about baby’s stage of development and support healthy lifestyle choices. They help you interact with baby early on, and help you prepare for delivery.

•Home visitors help you set and meet goals … maybe it’s to get your GED, or potty-train your child. Whatever you decide to strive for, they will help you reach.

•They know protective measures for families and can help you apply those measures to build a stronger family.

Any parent can join the home visiting program. You may not have any problems or you may have a whole host of problems, home visiting is for you. Home visiting can even help when Child Protective Services are involved.

Contact the Roosevelt County Parents as Teachers Home Visiting Program by phone at 653-6223 or email at mbarsness@rooseveltcounty. org or rmason@rooseveltcounty. org, or stop in at the health department at 124 Custer St. Suite A in Wolf Point. We will be happy to talk and help you decide if home visiting is right for you.