Baby program growing in LV

Thursday, May 7, 1998 | 10:02 a.m.

Hillary Clinton wrote "it takes a village to raise a child" -- a concept that is catching on in Nevada.

A new Nevada state program, designed to develop community-based partnerships to support families with infants, is expanding throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

The Family to Family Connection Program is free to parents with infants, 12 months and under. The program provides information about positive parenting skills, networking opportunities within the community, parent-child interactions and growth and development.

There are 13 Infant Support Districts throughout Nevada. Each district has a New Baby Center, a resource center and offers home and hospital visitation.

Barbara Ludwig, statewide director, said the program is funded by block grants and each grant is awarded directly to the agencies working in a specific area to accommodate that area's needs.

Ludwig said the program is a way to recognize the strengths of the community, to look at those strengths and to share them.

The program, which began in January, also offers parent education classes, family support groups and resource lending centers which loan baby equipment, books and toys to families.

"It's a way to get people connected with services that a new parent hasn't needed before," Ludwig said. "Most people don't have extended families here who they can ask.

"It's a family connection so that all parts of the community are involved."

The program plans to have 11 New Baby Centers in the Las Vegas area by July. There are now five New Baby Centers in the Las Vegas area.

Ludwig said the New Baby Centers are basically training centers where specialists work with parents to help enhance individual brain development in infants.

"The first three years of life are the most critical for brain development, and the staff is expert in knowing how the brain develops," Ludwig said.

On Mother's Day, the program will hold an open house from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the New Baby Center at 2125 E. Lake Mead Blvd.