New and Expectant Mothers To Receive Health Counseling With New CFS Program
Palm Beach County, Fla. (August 10, 2015) The Center for Family Services aims to assist more Palm Beach County families with a new program specifically for new and expectant mothers.
Counseling for Parents and Young Children (CPYC) is the most recent addition to the services and programs offered by the Center for Family Services. Led by Program Supervisor Karen Schneider, LCSW, CPYC provides mobile mental health counseling services to pregnant mothers and parents/caretakers of children from birth to five years old.
“By working with mothers and caretakers at the earliest stages of their child’s development, we believe we can make a more lasting, positive and impactful difference in the family, as a whole,” said Dr. Ted Greer, CEO of the Center for Family Services. “With proper counseling, caretakers and mothers can learn how to cope with the natural stresses that come with parenting and understand how to identify and manage the multiple responsibilities that accompany raising a young, active, healthy child.”
The program is funded by Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County and will work with referrals primarily from Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies and Home Safe. In addition to providing mental health services, the Healthy Beginnings system provides access to healthcare, training, and support with child development, literacy and family support. The program will serve 350 clients annually.
“We partner with the Children’s Services Council to promote healthy births, reduce abuse and neglect, and promote children’s readiness for school. Parenting is a learned skill, and we believe everyone can improve at becoming a parent with support and attention,” Greer said. “Education is shared among families and friends, so we hope to influence other families through the experience of our direct clients.”
About the Center for Family Services of Palm Beach County: The Center for Family Services is a non-profit social service organization whose goal is to end the generational cycle of family violence, protecting the child and strengthening the family. The organization’s wide range of services in the community include an emergency homeless shelter for families with children, Employee Assistance Program, Individual and Family Counseling, a Recovery Program for substance and alcohol abuse and a home-based Family Therapy program. In addition, the agency operates two home-based early education programs, HIPPY (Home Improvement for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) and the Prenatal Plus Program, and the S.A.F.E. Kids program. The S.A.F.E. Kids program specializes in treating victims of various forms of abuse and/or violence and is the only official sexual abuse treatment provider in Palm Beach County recognized by the Florida Department of Health.
For more than 53 years, the agency has been expanding its services in order to meet the ever changing and growing needs of our community. The Center operates eight programs throughout Palm Beach County and serves more than 15,000 individuals annually. The Center is nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation to provide services to families and children, which rank The Center among the elite of family service agencies throughout the country. The Center for Family Services has also received Certification for Excellence from The Center for Non-Profit Excellence. For more information, please visit www.ctrfam.org