Children First

Children First: Oklahoma's Nurse Family Partnership (NFP)

Mission

The mission of Children First is to empower first-time eligible families to care for themselves and their babies by providing information and education, assessing health, safety and development, and providing linkages to community resources, thereby promoting the well-being of families through public health nurse home visitation, ultimately benefiting multiple generations. Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) Children First Website: Children First.

Vision

The Children First vision is to promote a continuum of healthy pregnancies, healthy babies, healthy families and healthy communities.

Services

A first time mom enrolls prior to 29 weeks of pregnancy. Specially trained public health nurses provide assessments, education, information and linkages to community services to meet needs of the family. Services provided by the nurses are not meant to replace services provided by the Primary Care Provider (PCP). In fact, nurses often work with both the client's and child's PCP to ensure continuity of care and improved health outcomes. Children First services are provided to:

Improve maternal health throughout pregnancy and after the child's birth.
Improve child health and development from birth to age two.
Enhance family functioning and family stability.
Improve maternal life course development.
Decrease the risk of injury, abuse and neglect.

Enrollment

Women enrolling in the Children First program must meet the following:

The participant must be a first time mother.
The monthly household income must be at or below 185% of the federal poverty level - meet the same income eligibility criteria as WIC and Medicaid.
The mother must be less than 29 weeks pregnant at enrollment.

A first time mother is defined as:

A woman who is expecting her first live birth, has never parented and plans on parenting this child.
A woman who is expecting her first live birth, has never parented and is contemplating placing the child for adoption.
A woman who has been pregnant, but has not delivered a child due to abortion or miscarriage.
A woman who is expecting her first birth, but has parented stepchildren or younger siblings.
A woman who has delivered a child, but her parental rights were legally terminated within the first few months of that child's life.
A woman who has delivered a child, but the child died within the first few months of life.

Visit Schedule

The suggested visit schedule is as follows:

Weekly for four weeks following enrollment
Every other week until the baby is born
Every week during the six-weeks after the child is born
Every other week until the child is 21 months of age
Monthly until the child turns 2 years of age

Nursing Assessments

Nursing assessments provided are:

Brief health assessment of client and child
Vital signs of client and child
Client weight and blood pressure
Child weight and height

Fees

No fee is charged.

Days / Hours

Services are generally provided Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 5:00. Hours vary depending on the needs of the individuals.

How to make an Appointment

Services are provided by appointment only. Call one of the below numbers for an appointment.

Contact Information:
Custer County Health Department
3030 Custer Avenue
Clinton, OK 73601
(580) 323-2100

OR

220 N. Bradley
Weatherford, OK 73096
(580) 772-6417