In an effort to decrease infant deaths, HomeSafe and the Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF) have partnered to ensure that every baby born in Palm Beach County has a safe place to sleep.
“Co-sleeping or placing your child in an unsafe sleeping environment is the leading cause of death in infants,” said Clay Walker, DCF’s local community development director. “We are proud of the partnership with HomeSafe to provide portable cribs and educational material to mothers in an effort to reduce the death rate.”
DCF has purchased 500 portable cribs for HomeSafe to distribute to mothers who do not have a safe place for their newborns to sleep. HomeSafe, as part of the Healthy Beginnings System of Care, visits mothers who have delivered in one of nine birthing hospitals in the county. “As part of the infant risk screen we perform, every mother we talk with is asked if she has a safe place for their child to sleep when they return home. If they don’t, we bring them a portable crib along with a safe sleep video and educational material in their native language,” said Paloma Prata, director of prevention services at HomeSafe.
The partnership between DCF and HomeSafe was fostered with the help of the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, which selected HomeSafe as the exclusive entry agency for children from birth through age 5 and their families for the Healthy Beginnings program. 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.
ABOVE: Portable cribs ready to be given to new parents.
