NEON SOCIAL SERVICES & SPECIAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT

NEON’s four licensed social workers provide social work services to the general NEON patient population for six sites. Services are provided on a referral basis from NEON’s providers and staff. Services include information and referrals for community services, patient advocacy and support.

This is a program of the Ohio Department of Health designed as an organized community effort to eliminate health disparities; improve birth outcomes; and improve the health status of women, infants and children in Ohio. The Cuyahoga County Board of Health administers the program in Cuyahoga County. NEON is a recipient of these funds to serve the City of East Cleveland and Warrensville.

The Ohio Moms and Babies First, works to improve birth outcomes and decrease infant death rates. Those eligible for services are high-risk pregnant, African-American teens and women who live in East Cleveland and Warrensville. The family benefits from 

NEON’s MomsFirst program provides perinatal services to the high-risk Cleveland pregnant population. NEON serves pregnant women who are incarcerated, homeless and living in shelters and transitional housing up to the baby’s second birthday. Prenatal and health education topics as family planning, breastfeeding, child development/abuse, mental health, self-esteem, STD/HIV and healthy relationships are discussed. At the jail, the PEP (Practical Education for Parenting) curriculum is used. Inmates are quizzed and certificate for completion is given for this four-to-six week course. Incarcerated participants are seen twice a week until their release, after which ongoing community follow-up and social services are provided (i.e. advocacy within the criminal justice system and community re-entry). Other supportive services provided are health insurance assistance, bus tickets, infant layettes and other resources to take care of their immediate needs and the baby’s. NEON’s MomsFirst staff also provides quarterly consortia at the Hitchcock Center for Women on topics of interest such as substance abuse/smoking cessation, self-esteem, STD/HIV education, relationships (domestic violence) and mental health issues. Upon completion of the community-based program, participants are referred to Bright Beginnings a Help Me Grow program for children 2-5 years of age.

This great program will allow our expectant mothers to take charge of their prenatal care as never before. Making new friends who are experiencing the same things you are at the same time. NEON pregnant women are referred to the Centering Pregnancy program by their health care provider after their initial OB visit. Subsequent visits are in a group of their peers led by a credentialed health care provider and a cofacilitator. Centering Pregnancy group care promotes more provider and patient contact, patient empowerment and learning, self- care, support and friendships among group members and better birth outcomes. During these sessions you will support one another, recieve a physical checkup, recieve snacks/refreshments, have fun interactions/relaxation. All pregnant patients are eligible to participate. Group sessions are held at the Hough Health Center. Contact 216-231-7700 ext. 1010 for further information. NEON's VIP Centering Pregnancy Program "Its All About You: Your Pregnancy and Your Baby"

YAAP is a program funded by the city of Cleveland to provide risk reduction, prevention, counseling, education and protection to adolescents ages 12-25. The goal is to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies. The model used is the prevention intervention RESPECT which is a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) brief counseling intervention. Proposed outcome or benefit to patient is for a behavioral change (i.e. reduce high-risk behavior and use of condoms). Referrals are from NEON’s pediatric and adult providers. Services are provided by individual counseling. Even though the program targets adolescents, all NEON patients are eligible for the intervention. The program has become an asset to the community. Oftentimes, previously counseled patients refer family and friends to the program, leading to new patients for NEON. Contractually, the program is responsible to present minimally two group sessions for parents and community. However, staff is available for community presentations upon request.

The goals of the program are: 1) to increase NEON’s pregnant women and their male partners’ knowledge of the increasing incidence of STDs during pregnancy, thereby influencing their attitudes about having unprotected sex during pregnancy and 2) to provide the CDC-DEBI intervention-SISTA Project groups to NEON’s employees, patients and the general public through community collaborations. The SISTA groups are five-week sessions with topics which include ethnic and gender pride, HIV/AIDS awareness, assertiveness skills, coping skills and behavior self-management.

This program is funded through a grant from the Cleveland Clinic and the Kresge Foundation. It was developed to encourage the engagement and positive development of adolescents in the city of East Cleveland.

NEON’s Mammogram Connection Program seeks to empower women 40 years and older with information and services to receive breast cancer screening. Outreach, education, screening and patient navigation services are core program components with an emphasis on African-American women on Cleveland’s east side and the city of East Cleveland within Cuyahoga County. The project will serve more than 600 women through community workshops and events to share information about benefits of screening, breast exams and availability of accessible screenings. For women who meet the eligibility guidelines, NEON will provide 200 free mammograms. The project will also expand the number of 30-plus hair salons and churches as health awareness hubs for women. For more information, you may contact 216-231-7700 ext. 1148.

NEON'S Daddy Boot Camp is for new dads to join veteran dads (and their babies) to learn how they made it through the first months of parenthood and resurfaced as confident, on-the-job fathers. Here you learn how to handle a baby, find out about the issues you didnt know were important and how to blow off issues you thought were. Some issues that will be discussed include changes in new mom, finding work/home balances, safety issues, introducing pets to baby, feeding and changing, how to calm a crying baby, breastfeeding and many more. In this men-only environment, no question is stupid and no topic is off limits. 

NEON is a PrEP provider organization. PrEP stands for PRE-exposure prophylaxis which means you take a medication before you are exposed to the disease. PrEP is a relatively new HIV prevention strategy. NEON providers have been specially trained to manage your health care with the intentions of preventing HIV. NEON providers are knowledgeable, willing and ready to support individuals who have decided to be prescribed PrEP.