April 18, 2011

Last week, we were honored to host a visit with Christie Hager, Region I Director of Health and Human Services and Mary Ann Higgins, Region I Administrator for the Administration of Children and Families.  The vision of OHHS is to help provide the building blocks that Americans need to live healthy and successful lives. 

Over 40 families and staff gathered in a standing room only event where they were able to hear about these goals, particularly those focused on inter-agency collaboration, the efforts of the Affordable Care Act and the work to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities.  These goals are at the core of our work at Children’s Friend.  Every day we encounter the myriad of obstacles facing children and families, including poverty, language barriers, lack of education, substance use and difficulty accessing health care.   

Of those that spoke up, we heard from a mother with a child with asthma and the struggles she faces to pay for the medical care that is needed.  Most importantly we heard about her inability to pay for her child’s treatment and how she works to manage this.  The questions highlighted the struggles of the families we support and our efforts to help strengthen families to overcome these hurdles.

The visit ended with a tour of the Head Start classrooms at the center and much to the delight of the children, Director Hager proved herself to be one who enjoyed sand play and painting.

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