Category: News

Supporting the whole family

In December, 2018, one of Clayton Early Learning‘s home visitors was assigned a homeless family that came to the HIPPY program from Clayton’s Community Services team. Her first visit with the family was in a very small one room trailer that was given to them by a family member until the family’s financial circumstances improved. The mother had lost her job and CCAP, and her husband had left the family. 

Clayton Early Learning

Despite the many difficulties she was facing, the parent was incredibly kind and gracious during every visit. The mother’s number one goal was to get all three of her children, who were all enrolled in HIPPY, into a full time early childhood education program so that she could go back to work. With guidance and support from her home visitor, the mother was able to get her CCAP benefits restored and register the children in a full time early childhood education program successfully. This enabled the mother to her previous employment. 



The family benefited from referrals that the home visitor was able to suggest; so that over time the family accessed a food pantry and mental health services. She was able to benefit from mental health services for herself and one of her children.  


During the holidays Clayton was able to give each member of the family a gift from our community collaborations. The family was overjoyed and appreciative, since the parent was not able to afford any Christmas gifts for her children. Though the family was not in our program for long, they received what they needed during a time when there were not other resources available to them. 


On her last visit this mother said to her home visitor:

“I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

New research finds HealthySteps reduces future maternal and child healthcare costs

New research from University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado finds that participating in HealthySteps averted future mental health costs for mothers and their children. What is more, the savings in terms of future mental health care is greater than the cost of administering the program. Simply put, the research suggests that investing in HealthySteps today, prevents larger mental health costs in the future.

Economic estimates vary but in terms of cost averted the program cost of $575 per child likely averted between $641 and $959 in future costs.

Read the full research article here

In Colorado HealthySteps is supported by Assuring Better Child Health and Development (ABCD) which serves as the state program office.  

Finding Stability Through Home Visiting

A mother enrolled in Pueblo’s SafeCare and HIPPY programs shared the impact of home visiting on her family. Through home visiting from Catholic Charities of Pueblo she and her family were able to find stability.

Earlier this year, my family was having a very tough time, along with other challenges, we had a car accident. My infant, nine-year-old, husband, and I were fine, but our car was not. The money we saved to move into our own place went to car repairs.

Things seemed to be going from bad to worse, when I met Jewl with Catholic Charities. She was just what we needed at this low point. We joined the Catholic Charities SafeCare Program for the baby. SafeCare provided us with the information and tools needed to childproof our home and keep our crawling baby protected. Jewl also referred us to Catholic Charities’ Home Stability Program, where they provided our first month’s rent, and we were able to pay our deposit, with my husband’s first paycheck. At last, we had a home to call our own.

We were still struggling to make ends meet, and I was frantically hunting for a job when Jewl told me about the HIPPY Program where parent can serve by helping other families get their kids ready for school while earning and education award for themselves. Excitedly, I applied and was chosen as a HIPPY Home Visitor!

Now, my family is doing so much better. Our children are safe and thriving. My husband and I can envision a future for ourselves and our children. We are so grateful that Catholic Charities entered our lives, lightened and load, and helped us get back on our feet. I am serving as HIPPY AmeriCorps Member with Catholic Charities and love helping others, while serving with an agency that helps families.

Hidden Brain Podcast Talks about Impact of Early Childhood Experiences

Nobel Laureate James Heckman talks about skills and traits – beyond performance on a test which have been shown to impact success and happiness. Of particular note to those interested in home visiting he talks about how the famous Perry Preschools parental engagement, not just student education.

It wasn’t just that the program operated with the kids. It also visited the parents. It tried to build the parents’ engagement, the parent with the child. And that was really important because a lot of parents then and even now don’t understand how important they are in stimulating, motivating, cultivating the child and getting the child to stay on task and, you know, learn. And so the parents themselves got galvanized and worked with the child. So the child and a visitor – a person from the child care center would go home and work with a parent… Parents themselves were directly encouraged to work with the child. And there was this very, very active engagement on the part of the parents that was – hadn’t been there before.

https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=721733303

Click hear to listen to the full podcast

Click here to read a transcript of the podcast

HealthySteps Is “Life Changing,” Mom Says

Sometimes, parenthood is scary


Already a mother of two, Sara experienced complications during her pregnancy with her daughter, Emilee, that led to an early delivery. Her daughter’s lungs were underdeveloped, and she was put on oxygen to help her breathe.


Although Sara was an experienced mom, she hadn’t raised a newborn in several years, and she’d never cared for a medically fragile baby.


“I was afraid,” she remembers.


Thankfully, Sara’s family receives care through the Westside Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic in Denver. Her pediatrician asked if she’d like to enroll in their HealthySteps program, and Sara said yes.


HealthySteps is a unique early childhood program that places a childhood development specialist within a pediatric primary care team. Working together, the doctor and HealthySteps specialist provide integrated care and support parents through the challenging first three years of a child’s life. HealthySteps specialists also connect families to other community resources as needed.


Sara credits her HealthySteps specialist with coaching her through the first anxious months of her daughter’s life and helping her access groceries, clothing and furniture after she moved out of an unhealthy living situation. Today, Sara and her family are thriving, and, at 11 months, Emilee is off oxygen and learning to speak and walk.


“I don’t have the words to explain how grateful I am,” Sara says of HealthySteps. “Just knowing there’s someone there to support you with what you’re going through. It’s life changing.”