About

The Kids Count Program, operating since March 1999, is an early intervention, home visiting program based on the Healthy Families America Model. It is a voluntary program that works with overburdened families who are parenting for the first time. This program is designed to promote positive parent-child interaction, healthy childhood growth and development, and strong, healthy families. In partnership with other community services, this program strives to offer holistic support based on the unique strengths and needs of individual families. Service is provided to parents who are expecting or with a baby of up to 3 months of age. Referrals are made directly to the Kids Count Program and can be made by Public Health Nurses (PHNs) or other community professionals. Families can self-refer.

Program Description

Kids Count is a voluntary, family-centered, home visiting program. Service can begin in early pregnancy and may continue for up to 5 years. Trained Family Outreach Workers (FOW) build trusting, caring relationships with participants while focusing on their unique strengths and needs. Prenatally; information, education and support are provided that focus on healthy pregnancy outcomes for mothers and their babies. This includes preparation for transition to parenthood including possible changes to school or work and planning future pregnancies. Postnatally; the program expands to promote parent/child bonding and attachment, healthy infant/child growth and development, parenting self-efficacy and enhanced family functioning. Throughout the program, participants are coached to deal with a multitude of life challenges to help them positively manage stress, create safe, nurturing environments for themselves and their children and plan for the future.

Participation in Kids Count is voluntary and no fees are charged for this service.

Eligibility Criteria

The Kids Count Program is for first-time parents who are either pregnant or parenting an infant less than 3 months of age at program entry. At the time of the referral, you must live in the Kelowna/West Kelowna area.

Referrals are made directly to the Kids Count Program and can be made by Public Health Nurses (PHNs) or other community professionals. Families can self-refer.

Duration of Services & Service Capacity

The program runs Monday to Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. Your Family Outreach Worker will make every effort to be flexible and arrange home visits to accommodate your family’s schedule during these times. Most visits are about one to one and a half hours long but depend on family needs. The frequency of visits is based on Levels of Service which change over the duration of the program.

• Level One: Weekly visits
• Level Two: Every 2nd week
• Level Three: Once per month
• Level Four: Once every three months or by parent request.

Kids Count can begin during pregnancy and is intended to be a long term service which invites you to stay involved until your child reaches 3 to 5 years of age.

Service Process

Referral, Orientation, and Intake to the Service
Our Program Supervisor will receive the referral and then arrange a home visit to meet with you to discuss the program. You will then be matched with a Family Outreach Worker. The Family Outreach Worker will contact you to arrange a home visit. During this appointment, the details of the service will be explained to you and you will have an opportunity to ask questions. Also, at this time, you will be required to sign Consent to Receive Services as well as Consent to Release of Information form. This form tells what information you have given permission to share and with whom we can share it.

Assessing and Meeting Your Needs
Your Family Outreach Worker will spend time getting to know you, learning what is important to you and any areas of concern. This information will help us develop an Individualized Family Service Plan with you. This will guide your goals while receiving service from Kids Count. As your goals may change over time, your Family Outreach Worker will check in with you about them from time to time.

Staff will give you information and referrals to other community services/resources as needed.

Program Expectations

We value healthy, caring relationships and want to develop these with Kids Count participants. We treat families with respect and courtesy and expect the same of parents. Your Family Outreach Worker will make every effort to schedule regular visits, be on time for visits and call you if she is going to be exceptionally late or needs to cancel. If you are ill or unable keep a visit for some reason, we ask that you let us know as soon as possible.

Contact

Phone: 250.763.8008
Email: Email the Kids Count program

Contact the Public Health Nurse in your area:
Kelowna: 250.469.7070
Rutland: 250.980.4825
West Kelowna: 250.980.5150