Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Healthy Families America (HFA) graduation ceremony. Healthy Families America is an evidence-based home visiting program that focuses on nurturing relationships and healthy development. Developed over 25 years, and based on extensive and ongoing research, the approach is relationship-based, culturally respectful, family-centered, and grounded in the parallel…
Children’s Friend is once again excited and honored to be named a Best Place To Work in Rhode Island, by Providence Business News. As an organization dedicated to improving the lives of our most vulnerable children, we want to attract and retain the best employees to put our mission into action. To have the…
At Children’s Friend, we have been part of a statewide effort to make sure everyone in Rhode Island is counted in the 2020 census. The census is a constitutionally mandated count of every person living in the country every ten years. You might ask: Why do we have a census? And why does it matter…
Decisions, decisions… It seems we are living in a world where we are all holding our breath on the results of the next ‘decision.’ How much longer are we in the current phase? Will schools open? What will happen with the election in November? As Rhode Island and the country decide how to move forward,…
This summer at Children’s Friend, we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Nurse-Family Partnership program, serving pregnant first-time mothers. This nationally recognized model has more than four decades of research that consistently proves that Nurse-Family Partnership succeeds at its most important goals: keeping children healthy and safe and improving the lives of moms…
Children’s Friend has been named a 2020 Healthiest Employer in Rhode Island through a competition conducted by Providence Business News. On Thursday, August 6th, we will accept our award in a virtual awards ceremony where our ranking within our organization’s size category will be revealed. We first applied for this award in 2019 and…
A long line had formed at Newport Creamery. My daughter and I were midway in the line, waiting on our designated “X” when an older gentleman started talking through his mask to us about how he didn’t mind the wait and it was nice to get to know his neighbors. After telling me that he…
This week, Children’s Friend continued on its “reopening” journey. We welcomed back almost 300 preschool children into our Summer Learning and Enrichment Program. Our summer program is operating out of 9 sites, with reduced classroom capacity, health screenings, enhanced cleaning protocols, and strict safety measures in place. It was great to see more of…
Here on our blog, we’ve been posting frequently about racism and its impact on the children, families, and communities whom we serve and with whom we partner. All over the country and world, we see a heightened response to the ongoing systemic oppression of people who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color – and…
At Children’s Friend, the recent injustices and anti-racism protests spurred a series of scheduled staff conversation circles. This is a time for staff to share their experiences and perspectives on racism, the current climate of our personal and professional communities, and the relationship of COVID with social injustices. So far, we have met eight…
