Children’s Health Involving Parents (CHIP) of Greater Richmond
CHIP of Greater Richmond enriches the lives of children and the community by providing comprehensive services, in partnership with parents, to improve the overall health, well-being and independence of families. CHIP strengthens families and the Greater Richmond community with a proven model that includes mentoring, education and behavioral health services in the home. The CHIP team teaches parents how to be confident and effective, resulting in children who are health and ready for school. For the 2009-2010 program year, CHIP served 417 families with 816 children. Registered Nurses, Outreach Workers and Mental Health Clinicians completed 4,423 home and office visits to families.
Who is CHIP?
CHIP is a service-based organization that provides health and prevention support to children. Team members at CHIP work with parents to ensure that their children are healthy and ready for school.
What does CHIP do?
CHIP provides prevention services to pregnant women and families with children up to the age of 6 years. CHIP also provides asthma case management for children up to the age of 18 years and transportation support, when needed. Services are provided in the family’s home through a team approach. The team consists of an Outreach Worker, Registered Nurse, and Mental Health Clinician. The team develops a trusting relationship with the family by focusing on the family’s strengths and building on those strengths.
Who does CHIP serve?
CHIP serves Virginia’s families and focuses on children under 6. CHIP is a voluntary program and offered at no cost to families. Referrals are accepted from parents, health care providers and human services professionals. Families are enrolled in the program for an average 1.9 years.
Promoting Self Sufficient Families and School Readiness
The long-term goals for all families are family self-sufficiency and school readiness for the children. CHIP Outreach Workers provide education on parenting and life skills, linkage to community resources, and advocacy for needed resources. CHIP Registered Nurses provide health and developmental assessments, health education, chronic disease management education, dental hygiene education and dental varnishing, and coordinates the family’s health care with community providers. The CHIP team tracks a child’s development. CHIP Mental Health Clinicians provide a social-emotional assessment of the family and a mental health assessment of the primary care giver.
Specific key focus areas include:
- High risk pregnancy case management
- Assessment of child development and referral for early intervention services when indicated
- Preparation for school readiness to include ensuring ongoing health care, dental care, and literacy
- Asthma case management
