Pregnant and Young Parent Support

Healthy Families

Healthy Families Massachusetts is a statewide home visiting program available for first-time parents age 20 and under, funded by the Children’s Trust Fund. Healthy Families visits are conducted by trained staff and involve the entire family, including fathers, mothers, children, and extended family members. Staff members encourage participants to develop, at their own pace, the information, skills, and support networks necessary to be strong parents.

A strong emphasis is placed on promoting positive parenting skills, teaching child development, and encouraging nurturing interactions between children and parents. Healthy Families focuses on parents and children receiving adequate medical care, being economically self-reliant, and attaining educational goals. The program also offers group-based activities to reduce isolation, promotes peer-to-peer support, and encourages the development of informal support networks.

Home visitors also help parents set goals and find the right services and programs for themselves which may include child care, health insurance, job placement agencies, and continuing education. Enrollment in the program is voluntary and may begin for parents prenatally or until the child’s first birthday. Services continue until the child turns 3 years old.

Catholic Charities Healthy Families programs are programs of Catholic Charities Greater Boston and Catholic Charities North. For more information, call:

Catholic Charities Greater Boston - 617-506-6600
Catholic Chariteis North - 781-593-4515

Latino Outreach

The Latino Outreach program of Merrimack Valley Catholic Charities provides culturally sensitive, bilingual pregnancy counseling and parenting education and through individualized case management and parenting groups to low income, primarily Spanish-speaking teen and adult parents in the Greater Lawrence area. It is the only program in Lawrence that provides crisis pregnancy counseling to pregnant teens and adults who are trying to sort out their feelings and consider their options for dealing with their pregnancies.

Services offered through the program include crisis pregnancy counseling, long-term case management, outreach to family members, home visits, advocacy, parenting and education support groups, and baby supplies. Targeting teen and adult Latinas, goals of the program include the following: healthy pregnancies and births, improvement in parenting and life management skills, a change in attitudes and behaviors to avoid the risk of unwanted pregnancies and exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, and the avoidance of repeat crisis pregnancies to establish stable living situations.

The Latino Outreach program is a program of Merrimack Valley Catholic Charities. For more information, call 978-685-5930.

Pregnancy Counseling

Considering whether or not to parent your child is a difficult decision. Catholic Charities provides free counseling to pregnant individuals or couples, or parents of very young children to determine whether the plan of adoption may be the right decision for them and their child.

The goal of our pregnancy counseling program is to provide individuals and couples with the information they need and support them while they make an informed and uncoerced decision. Experienced social workers actively involve pregnant individuals and couples, and parents of very young children in designing a plan for adoption. Parents will have the opportunity to choose a family with which they feel comfortable. They can even meet and get to know them if they wish. Support is offered if they decide to parent the child themselves, and interim care is available if they need more time to make a decision.

Catholic Charities is a licensed adoption agency that works closely with several other well-established programs to find families that match the wishes of parents interested in making a plan of adoption.

For more information about Pregnancy Counseling, contact one of the following individuals:

Wendy Vandenhoeck
Catholic Charities Adoption Program
617-268-9670

Erin Heenan
Catholic Charities North
781-593-2312

Janice Anderson
Catholic Charities South
508-587-0815

Sante Manman Se Sante Petit

The Santé Manman Sé Santé Petit Program, which translated from Haitian Creole means “the health of the mother is the health of the child,” provides comprehensive prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal support to the Haitian community. This program is unique in that it serves pregnant women, new parents, and infants up to 2 years of age.

The program helps to promote a healthy pregnancy for the mother by increasing prenatal care and providing infant and family counseling. It also aids in avoiding developmental delays by ensuring that babies are healthy and helps prevent child abuse and neglect by making certain that babies receive adequate care. Parents are supported in nurturing positive outcomes for their children by strengthening their parenting skills and in preventing psychosocial problems from escalating in the mother by improving her emotional health and, therefore, her family.

The Santé Manman Sé Santé Petit Program is a program of Catholic Charities Haitian Multi-Service Center. For more information, call 617-506-6600

Young Parent Program

Catholic Charities Young Parent program provides counseling and case management services for pregnant and parenting teens and young adults, 23 years or younger. The Young Parent program assists young parents in gaining the knowledge and skills needed to set goals for their lives, to develop self-sufficiency, and to provide a nurturing, safe environment for themselves and their children. Services include counseling for individuals, couples, families, and groups; case management; parenting skills education; household management and budget training; education and job planning; advocacy referral for medical care; housing; child care; and adoption counseling.

The Young Parent program is a program of Catholic Charities North. For more information, call 781-593-2312.