Selected by the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, HomeSafe is the exclusive entry agency (for newborns to age five and their families) for the Healthy Beginnings program in Palm Beach County. HomeSafe’s role is to bring together community agencies that provide primary prevention and early intervention services.

The three goals of the Healthy Beginnings program are to:

• Prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect
  • measured by reduced infant mortality rates and fewer low- birth weights
• Prepare children to be eager and ready to learn by kindergarten
  • measured by a decrease in abuse and neglect reports (new, substantiated, or repeat)
• Produce healthy birth outcomes
  • measured by higher quality early-care and education programs, access to proper medical and nutritional care, parent/toddler pre-K literacy programs, detected and treated developmental/behavioral/social/emotional needs, decreases in parental depression and family stressors

HomeSafe is responsible for screening and assessing children for developmental delays and mothers for post-partum depression, referring all at-risk individuals to appropriate services. To maximize its impact in Palm Beach County, HomeSafe works closely with the Early Learning Coalition to distribute, oversee and monitor developmental screening services for all children in subsidized child care centers.

Each month in Palm Beach County, HomeSafe’s Healthy Beginnings’ staff serves more than 1,200 families – including at all of the county’s nine maternity wards, homes, apartments, child care centers and other convenient locations.

Growing Smart, the newest component of Healthy Beginnings, tracks the development of children during the first two years of life and informs parents about developmental stages.

HomeSafe’s Healthy Beginnings’ staff uses evidence based assessment and evaluation tools to determine eligibility for services. Highly skilled employees are trained to:

• administer quality screenings and assessments
• provide single-topic parent education
• deliver health care navigation information to Healthy Beginnings’ participants
• link families to the appropriate Healthy Beginnings’ partners and/or provide referrals to 
• suitable services in Palm Beach County

Criteria used to assess and determine eligibility for services include:

1. Participant must be a child birth through age five, OR a newly-delivered mom seeking postpartum depression relief
2. Child has a suspected or known developmental delay, social, emotional, behavioral or literacy concern requiring further evaluation by HomeSafe staff
3. Child does not have an open dependency case with DCF (if open case exists, please defer to child’s Case Manager)
4. Child’s parent/legal guardian must:
   1. state reason for referral on the referral form 
   2. sign the consent form for further evaluation by HomeSafe staff
   3. fax completed referral form to HomeSafe at 561-383-9859

Locations

Home Safe’s Healthy Beginnings’ offices are strategically located across Palm Beach County. Click here to find a location near you.

Contact HomeSafe about the Healthy Beginnings program toll-free at 888-634-7900.