Healthy Families America (HFA), an affiliate of Prevent Child Abuse (PCA) America, recently granted accreditation to Project Self-Sufficiency for the agency’s Healthy Families program, one of the agency’s three home visitation programs which aim to improve children’s health, nutrition, and developmental outcomes. The prestigious accreditation underscores the high quality of Project Self-Sufficiency’s home visitation services, which are targeted to low-income families who are pre-natal or who are parenting a child under the age of three. The stringent accreditation process takes about a year to complete and requires that the agency meet or exceed twelve different critical standards, grounded in nearly 30 years of research, including corporate operating procedures and the quality of the visits made to each participating family. Project Self-Sufficiency’s accreditation was expedited this year due to the high quality of its programming.

HFA is a signature program of PCA America that has been providing home visiting services for more than 25 years. HFA connects with families through community partners like hospitals, pediatricians, and non-profit organizations to help expectant and new parents find the answers to common questions about their child’s development. Meetings take place within the familiarity and convenience of the family’s own home. HFA is an accessible, voluntary, and well-received service.

Once a family elects to participate in Project Self-Sufficiency’s Healthy Families home visitation program, they will receive visits approximately once a week, depending on the age and health of their children. Typical visits from a home visitor usually last about an hour and include a discussion about topics such as health, nutrition, and developmental milestones. Home visitors receive extensive training in a wide range of potential issues for new parents, including caring for a crying baby, proper nutrition, healthy child development, partner relationships, and stress management. Project Self-Sufficiency’s home visitors rely on the Nurturing Parenting and the Parents as Teachers curricula to help participating families.

“Project Self-Sufficiency’s Healthy Families home visitation program is an important component of the agency’s services to low-income families in Sussex and Northern Warren Counties,” commented Project Self-Sufficiency Executive Director Deborah Berry-Toon. “Families who participate in the home visitation program are also able to take advantage of the other services we provide, such as parenting skills workshops, legal education, and career and employment programs. We have always been proud of the home visitation services provided by Project Self-Sufficiency, and this accreditation demonstrates the strength of our commitment and the high quality of our services.”

Approximately 200 families are currently being served by Project Self-Sufficiency’s home visitation programs. In addition to the Healthy Families initiative in Sussex and Warren counties, the agency also offers the Parents as Teachers program to families in Sussex and Hunterdon counties. The agency’s Nurse Family Partnership program is available to pregnant women and new parents in Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren counties. Families are referred to Project Self-Sufficiency’s home visitation program by a variety of local medical and social service agencies. Interested participants can enroll online, at https://www.projectselfsufficiency.org/pregnancy-help-sussex-warren-nj, or by calling 973-940-3500.