Healthfirst is launching a pediatric care model that embeds community health workers into pediatric primary care settings.
The initiative will place community health workers in safety-net pediatric practices and federally qualified health centers to support developmental screenings, behavioral health services and family resource connections, according to a May 18 news release.
The program will launch at three community pediatrician practices in New York City this year. Healthfirst said the model is designed to support children up to age 6 and address postpartum depression, parenting stress and developmental challenges.
Healthfirst is collaborating with NYC Reach and Boston Medical Center’s Team Up Scaling and Sustainability Center on the initiative, according to the releases. The program combines Healthfirst’s pediatric community health worker model with BMC’s Team Up Model, which integrates behavioral health clinicians and community health workers into pediatric primary care practices.
This year, Healthfirst also plans to pilot a pediatric community health worker training program developed with New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals, the Community Health Worker Institute at Montefiore and the BMC Team UPpCenter. The program will use New York state’s Medicaid Community Health Worker services benefit for children under age 21, which took effect in January 2024.
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