Nicholson and Partners Fund HealthySteps Pilot at Hackensack Meridian Health Pediatric Practices

The Nicholson Foundation, the Burke Foundation, and the Turrell Fund are collectively providing a total of $838,489 to support the pilot implementation of HealthySteps, a program of ZERO TO THREE, in three of the Hackensack Meridian Health network pediatric primary care practices. The pediatric clinics are the Pediatric Academic Practice/Pediatric Continuity Program in Hackensack, the Jane H. Booker Family Healthy Center in Neptune, and the Medical Arts Building Pediatrics Practice, also in Neptune.

HealthySteps is an evidence-based, interdisciplinary pediatric primary care program that promotes positive parenting and healthy development for babies and toddlers with an emphasis on culturally diverse families living in low-income communities. Each of the three pediatric practices will benefit underserved families with children under age four by connecting families to resources for assistance with mental health, domestic violence, food, and housing issues as well as guidance on common challenges such as feeding, behavior, sleep and adapting to life with a baby or young child.

The grant funding will support the addition of a full-time clinical social worker trained in the HealthySteps model to the Hackensack University Medical Center practice as well as two HealthySteps specialists added to Neptune’s two locations. These professionals will become integral parts of the primary care team at each location, broadening the teams and allowing inter-professional providers to offer comprehensive support and the highest quality of care. In addition, a data analyst and biostatistician will receive support to study the impact of this interprofessional model of care delivery on important child and parent outcomes, as well as provider satisfaction and burnout.

Read the Press Release