In Indiana, a child is abused or neglected every 25 minutes, and most of the time, abuse and neglect can be prevented.  HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies program uses an originally designed outreach model that consists of teams of health care workers which include social workers, registered nurses and community health workers.  These teams are charged with finding pregnant women, determining if the woman is enrolled in prenatal care, and if not, getting them into prenatal care.  The teams are also responsible for providing prenatal health education, support services and linkage to community resources.  This innovative approach is different than public health nursing.  Packaging a select group of interdisciplinary health workers, including community residents, into a team is now a model used in many organizations throughout the nation.

Better Indy Babies (BIBs) works closely with Healthy Families, a program that is part of Prevent Child Abuse America, in order to support at-risk families and provide them with more than education but a resource to lean on.  Poverty, lack of child-rearing education or experience, lack of formal education, and single-parenthood are all risk factors of both infant mortality and child abuse or neglect.

Become an advocate for programs that serve families who just need the comfort knowing that there is support.  Sometimes all it takes is knowing that there is someone there if you need them.  Maybe you can give a child in Indiana a few extra minutes by learning more about BIBs or Healthy Families, spreading awareness of organizations within your community, or donating here.