Essex County Programs | Passaic County Programs
The Northern Consortium established the Black Infant Mortality Reduction Resource (BIMRR) Center in 1999 with funding from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services after discovering that Black infants were between two and three times times more likely to die than White infants before reaching their 1st birthday. The BIMRR Center was created to addresses the disparate numbers of infant deaths among Black women through provider and consumer education, outreach, advocacy, and promotion of health disparity agendas. For the past 10 years, the BIMRR Center has hosted Perinatal Health Disparities Conferences to enhance participants’ knowledge of potential contributors to racial/ethnic health disparities during the preconception, prenatal, and postnatal periods and identify practice interventions.
Breastfeeding Task Force
The Breastfeeding Task Force of the Northern New Jersey Maternal Child Health Consortium is comprised of Lactation Consultants, Registered Nurses, and other healthcare providers committed to improving breastfeeding rates. Through the expertise of Task Force Committee Members, information and training on topics related to breastfeeding are provided to hospitals and other community agencies.
The Family Outreach Program works with the staff of pre-schools in Irvington, Orange, and Passaic to provide group trainings and technical support. Program staff ensure the provision of quality childcare for hundreds of children and their families by supporting pre-school staff to learn about education and child development.
The FIMR (Fetal Infant Mortality Review) program explores the causes of fetal/infant mortality through case reviews performed by a multidisciplinary team. The New Jersey FIMR (NJFIMR) program is based on a national model (NFIMR) that is a collaborative effort between the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and HRSA’s Maternal Child Health Bureau. Through a collaborative and systematic review of fetal/infant death cases from the Northern Consortium’s four county target area, recommendations are made on how to address the root causes of infant mortality. Information on bereavement resources and referrals for families who have suffered a perinatal loss are also offered through the FIMR program.
Healthy Families/TANF Initiative for Parents (TIP)
The Essex County Healthy Families/TANF Initiative for Parents (TIP) Program is a home visitation program that assists families of pregnant women and newborns in urban Essex County. The program guides and supports families by providing information on child development, parenting information, and referrals to health and community services. A home visitor will assess the needs of the family and will provide appropriate referrals. Services are free, voluntary and confidential and are provided in the comfort of the family’s home for the baby’s first three years of life.
The lead poisoning prevention initiative consists of two programs: the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPP) and the Lead Education & Outreach Program (LEO). The CLPP program focuses primarily on the health of the child through FREE child/parent/staff presentations on the hazards of lead. The LEO Program helps homeowners, property investors, tenants and families tackle residential lead hazards through targeted community education and Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund assistance. Collectively, the lead poisoning prevention team is devoted to educating the community on lead prevention methods and the importance of lead screening. Both programs coordinate the Passaic/Bergen Regional Lead Poisoning Prevention Coalition, the Hudson Regional Lead Coalition, the Elizabeth Lead Coalition, and the Morris/Sussex/Warren Lead Coalition, which are coalitions that strive to coordinate consumer education and professional abatement efforts to reduce/eliminate lead hazards found within the home.
The purpose of the New Jersey Immunization Information System (NJIIS) Quality Assurance (QA) Division is to ensure that immunization data entered/submitted to NJIIS by providers is accurate and complete when compared to the patient’s clinical data documented in the provider’s medical record. Northern Consortium NJIIS QA staff perform reviews of provider records and submit reports to the NJ Department of Health & Senior Services to improve provider accuracy and ensure implementation of the NJIIS system.
Nuestra Salud (Our Health)
The Northern Consortium and the Hispanic Institute for Research and Development (HIRD) have formed a partnership to implement the Nuestra Salud Project, which targets Hispanic immigrants enrolled in HIRD’s ESL classes and provides five hours of health literacy content during a 40-hour ESL course offered by HIRD. The program utilizes “Expecting the Best” curriculum, which was designed specifically to allow ESL instructors to incorporate health and wellness topics into their existing ESL courses. Nuestra Salud is offered with HIRD ESL classes at three locations: Bergen Community College, Raritan Valley Community College, and Camden Community College.
The Perinatal Addictions Prevention Project provides services for pregnant women and providers of their healthcare. Although 5-11% of pregnant women use alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs during their pregnancies, and more than one quarter of women report being physically assaulted by their partner in their lifetime, many healthcare providers do not screen all pregnant women for substance use or partner violence. PAPP trains healthcare providers to screen for these issues and offers on-site educational presentations for clinical staff on substance abuse prevention, screening, and treatment options, along with provider directories and patient literature. PAPP also provides pregnant women with educational information to support a healthy pregnancy. PAPP staff are bilingual and able to provide services in English and Spanish.
The Northern New Jersey Maternal Child Health Consortium serves as an information and resource center on postpartum depression and perinatal mood disorders for the region (Bergen, Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties). Information and educational sessions are provided to hospitals, healthcare providers, and community members on postpartum depression and emotional well-being.
Professional Education is a core component of the Northern New Jersey Maternal Child Health Consortium. Conferences, clinical seminars, and other training opportunities are provided for physicians, certified nurse midwives, registered nurses, social workers, and other clinicians on a variety of maternal child health topics. Educational activities are provided at a low cost or free of charge and most events offer continuing education credit for various healthcare disciplines.
The Northern Consortium coordinates the collection of data from New Jersey’s electronic birth certificates filed at its member hospitals. The Quality Improvement Committee, composed of physicians, nurses, and public health experts, evaluates this regional data for key indicators of maternal and child health. Based on these regional indicators, recommendations are made for educational events, programs, and other responses. Although some indicators the committee examines are defined by state law, members of the committee also guide the focus to support their hospital’s quality improvement initiatives. Northern Consortium Quality Improvement staff also support member hospital staff who work with electronic birth certificates, providing training in data entry, analysis, report writing, and troubleshooting technical issues within the electronic birth certificate system.
Essex County Programs
Father's Empowered to Learn, Lead, and Achieve Success (F.E.L.L.A.S.)
The F.E.L.L.A.S. Program of Essex County aims to help Essex County fathers and fathers-to-be develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to get and stay involved with their children. Many fathers have little or no involvement with their child’s well being, and children raised without active fathers are more likely to experience issues later in life. Using a comprehensive approach, the F.E.L.L.A.S. Program offers free fatherhood classes, group and individual support, and also a community advisory board to help govern the program. There are no limits on participants’ age, income, employment status, or criminal history, and the program is completely free and voluntary. For more information or to find out about the program, contact us.
The M.Ed Mentors program helps pregnant teens enrolled in the Newark Public Schools enroll in prenatal care and graduate high school. Teens are paired with trained volunteer care managers, who are supervised by a social worker located in the Newark Public Schools. Both the healthcare and educational systems present a complex series of requirements for young, expectant mothers. Teens often have difficulty balancing the demands of healthcare, pregnancy, parenting, and school enrollment. The Northern Consortium identifies barriers to access to care and continued school enrollment and works within the system to address these barriers.
The Northern Consortium created the Irvington Family Development Center (IFDC) in 1998 to support the well-being of Irvington children and their families. The Center provides a unique opportunity for community development through the support of families, the utilization of local providers, and public and private partnerships with local agencies, health facilities, and schools. In 2007, IFDC was designated a Family Success Center (FSC) by the NJ Department of Children and Families. The IFDC is known throughout Irvington as a one-stop resource center for health, social, and educational support of children and families. The Center offers workshops for families that focus on such topics as economic self-sufficiency, health information, safe and affordable housing, parenting, and communication and conflict resolution skills. The IFDC also provides individualized programs to help families reach their goals, such as family success planning, advocacy, and free family-oriented activities. In addition, the Center is able to assist families with applications to public services such as Medicaid, Work First NJ, and NJ FamilyCare. If a family needs services not available at IFDC, we are able to provide referrals for many community agencies. The Center welcomes any individual or family regardless of gender, age, income, race, or citizenship status.
Early Childhood Mental Health "Play, Grow, Heal"
The Play, Grow, Heal program serves Irvington children between the ages of 2 and 5 who are displaying difficult behaviors at home or school. The project also serves the families and teachers of children. Play, Grow, Heal addresses the needs of parents and teachers to better manage difficult childhood behaviors in order to reduce stress in the home or school environment and best help children to learn and grow. The program offers training for parents and teachers to recognize signs that a behavioral evaluation is needed, and offers consultation services to suggest methods of responding to difficult behaviors. For children, the program provides play therapy at convenient times and locations (IFDC offices or the child’s school). Play, Grow, Heal is completely free and no insurance is needed.
The Northern Consortium has partnered with Prevent Child Abuse-New Jersey to create a streamlined referral process to allow healthcare providers and community agencies to refer pregnant women and young families to the array of home visitation programs offered in Essex County, without requiring providers to analyze complex eligibility guidelines for the various home visitation programs. In addition to operating the “Central Intake System,” the Northern Consortium also provides home visitation services in East Orange and urban Essex County through the Healthy Families/TANF Initiative for Parents (TIP) program.
Passaic County Programs
Home Visitation Services
The Northern Consortium provides comprehensive home visitation services for pregnant women and parenting families in Passaic County. Women and families receive regular home visits, free of charge, from nurses or community outreach workers. A streamlined referral process allows healthcare providers and community agencies to refer women to the home visitation system without requiring them to process complex eligibility requirements.
The Nurse-Family Partnership is a free, voluntary program that partners first-time pregnant moms in Passaic County, NJ with nurse home visitors. Regular home visits with registered nurses provide for support, referrals, education, and networking for first time mothers. From helping women have a healthy pregnancy, to coaching families on child development, to empowering families to pursue their heart's desire, nurse home visitors are there for their clients, so their clients can be there for their babies.
Reproductive Health Access and Information Network (RHAIN)
The Reproductive Health Access and Information Network (RHAIN) provides an array of services to women of reproductive age and their partners in Passaic County. Information and Resources are provided to increase awareness and knowledge of the importance of prenatal, preconception, and interconception care. The project works with other community agencies and directly with clients to identify pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and their partners and provide outreach, including connecting clients to prenatal care and other needed services such as housing, health insurance, home visitation, and case management.
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