Referral Process

The Healthy Families Program (CHFP) is available to families who have babies three months of age or younger (at time of referral) and live in designated service areas of Calgary.

A Public Health Nurse (PHN) is the first person a family will meet once they bring home their new baby. During the visit the PHN will ask the family if they are interested in having a referral for Calgary Healthy Families Program. If the family agrees then the PHN will make a referral to Calgary Healthy Families Collaborative (CHFC).

Once the CHFC receives the referral a Screener will call the family to set up a visit to explain the Calgary Healthy Families Program. If the family is still interested the Screener will administer the Calgary Regional Home Visitation Collaborative Postpartum Screening Tool. If the family scores positive and agrees to the program then the Screener will then connect the family to a Home Visitor.

The CHFP is voluntary and the family can say “no” or change their mind at any time about participating in the program.

Service

Parenting does not happen in a vacuum. It is an interaction/reaction that occurs between a parent and a child’s unique characteristics, emotional experiences, knowledge, skills, and resources available. Research has shown that the most critical brain development period for children is immediately after birth and up to three years of age. The most significant individuals in a child’s life are their parents.

Home visitation provides parents with the knowledge and the tools to strengthen parental capacity. Home visitors teach parenting strategies specifically related to each developmental stage. Home Visitors provide suggestions, information and interpretations for parents based on their extensive knowledge of best practices in home visitation, their experiences and observations and assessments of individual families and their needs. The job of home visitation is helping parents to understand child development, creating appropriate expectation of children and enhancing family functioning.

An integral part of home visitation is shared goal setting with the family. It is the process that identifies the needs, the source of supports and matches the resources to the identified needs. Goal setting is directed by the family in the context of their priority needs.

Cost

The CHFP is completely free, there is no cost to families who participate in the CHFP.

Visits

Home Visitors will visit families in their home (or an agreed location) for 1 hour a week. On average most families stay in the program for about 1 year (some families stay open longer and some close sooner, depending on their family's needs).