(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) — An innovative program that provides parenting education to pregnant women and parents of newborns who receive benefits at Women, Infants & Children (WIC) clinics is expanding to additional counties, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) announced today.

The Baby & Me program will expand next month to Johnson, Pope, and White Counties, bringing the total number of counties offering the program to 18. The seven-month curriculum includes a lesson on essential parenting skills as well as activities aimed at promoting parent and child interactions. Families are also connected through the Baby & Me program to community services and supports as needed.

Baby & Me aims to boost child wellbeing, relieve parental stress, and prevent child abuse or neglect before it ever occurs. Mothers in the WIC program with a total household income up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible to participate, and there is no cost to the family.

“Baby & Me is an effective program that makes a truly positive impact on families, and by extension communities, across our state,” said DCFS Director Tiffany Wright. “The education provided on topics ranging from safe sleep to home safety to monitoring developmental milestones are essential for new parents and help ensure that babies grow and thrive in safe and loving environments. We are thrilled to be adding new counties offering these resources to additional Arkansans.”

“We are thrilled to be able to expand this program which has many positive impacts on Arkansas families,” said Renee Mallory, Arkansas Secretary of Health. “I encourage all eligible families to participate.”

In addition to the new counties, Baby and Me is already available at WIC clinics in Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Crawford, Desha, Drew, Garland, Jefferson, Lee, Lincoln, Phillips, Pulaski, Sebastian, and St. Francis. 

Families interested in participating should reach out to their WIC clinic for additional details. These clinics are located in ADH Local Health Units, and contact information and locations are available online at healthy.arkansas.gov/health-units/. WIC participants in their 3rd trimester or with a child less than 1-month-old are eligible for the program.

Baby & Me began in 2018 and is a collaboration between DHS, ADH, the Arkansas Children’s Trust Fund, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock MidSOUTH Center, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. To date, it has served more than 5,500 families. 

The expansion of Baby & Me aligns with other ongoing efforts to improve the health of pregnant women, new mothers, and babies. Gov. Sanders last year signed an executive order forming a Strategic Committee on Maternal Health to recommend reforms, and in February she signed the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act. This legislation increases provider reimbursements, establishes presumptive Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women, and requires Medicaid to reimburse doulas and community health workers for some maternal services.