Starting in summer 2018, Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Community Health team has supported a regional effort to better serve children ages 0-5 who are affected by adverse childhood experiences, such as family instability, housing challenges, parental substance use, and food insecurity.  This work, funded with support from NH Charitable Foundation and the Couch Family Foundation, includes working with Pediatric teams and community partner organizations including parent-child centers, family resource centers, WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), to improve engagement of these families and to improve coordination of clinical and community services to ensure that families are well-supported to successfully address the challenges they face.  By helping these families address housing, food, and substance use recovery needs, this work will help reinforce these families capabilities to provide safe, consistent nurturing their young children need for healthy early development.

In summer 2018, this work  began at Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Pediatrics practice in Lebanon.  Valley Regional Hospital, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, and New London Hospital/Newport Health Center have all expressed interest in engaging in this project.