Growing Up Healthy Hotline

Parenting can be challenging, even overwhelming.

The Growing Up Healthy Hotline can help connect you and your family to services you need.

Let us connect you to resources for:

• Food access and nutrition  |  
• Health care and health insurance  |  
• Parent Support and Home Visiting  |  
• Family planning  |  
• Pregnancy and newborn health  |  
• Children with special health care needs  |  
• Many other services

Nutrition and Food Support

Women, Infant and Children Program (WIC) helps you buy healthy food for you and your family. It's a free nutrition program for:

• People who are pregnant
• People who are up to 6 months postpartum or 12 months, if breastfeeding
• Children under the age 5, supported by parents and caregivers (including foster parents and grandparents ).

Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is a nutrition education and meal reimbursement program helping providers serve nutritious and safely prepared meals and snacks to children and adults in day care settings.

The Farmers' Market Nutrition Program provides coupons to women, infants and children through the Women, Infants and Children Program and to seniors through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. Coupons are used to purchase locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables at farmer's markets during the summer and fall. The program runs from June 1 - November 30.

Home Visiting and Parent Support

Home Visiting and Parent Support: As parents, we all need a little support. Babies don't come with an instruction manual. Family support programs are voluntary programs provided at no cost to your family that will give you family support through visits in your home by a family support provider. Your family support provider will provide information and support about parenting, your child's health and development, walk you through healthy coping strategies for stressful parenting situations, and connect you with any needed services in the community (such as health care, job training).

Health Insurance for Children and Families

NY Medicaid pays for a wide range of services, depending on your age, financial circumstances, family situation, or living arrangements. These services are provided through a large network of health care providers that you can access directly using your Medicaid card or through your managed care plan if you are enrolled in managed care. Some services may have small co-payments, which can be waived if you cannot afford them.

NY State of Health, the Official Health Plan Marketplace, is a way for people to shop for, compare and enroll in health coverage. Also, apply for assistance that could lower the cost of health coverage

Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

Find an Early Intervention Program in your county for therapeutic and support services for eligible infants and toddlers.

Resource Directory: For Children with Special Health Care Needs is for the families of children and youth who have a serious illness or long-lasting condition for which they need extra health care and support services. In the directory you'll find programs to help your family obtain and pay for the special services you might need.

Family Planning. Infertility. HIV/STD. Pregnancy.

Find a family planning program in your county. The program provides comprehensive, confidential family planning and reproductive health care services to all women, men, and adolescents regardless of ability to pay or immigration status.

Get support for in-vitro fertilization through the New York State Infertility Reimbursement Program or find an approved NYS IRP provider.

Health Care Before, During and After Pregnancy

Certain steps should be taken before conception or early in pregnancy to maximize health outcomes. Learn how to stay healthy before you're pregnant.

Several major risk factors are associated with poor pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight and infant mortality (deaths). Some of these risk factors include late or no prenatal care, cigarette smoking, alcohol and other drug use, being HIV positive, spacing of pregnancies, maternal age, poor nutrition and socieconomic status. More information on prenatal care.

A new parent? The Parent Guide: Starting Life Together (ccf.ny.gov), for children and their caregivers has information to help you through the first five years of your parenting journey.

Health Services for Newborns and Infants

All babies born in a New York State hospital will have their hearing checked. Hearing is very important. Your baby needs to hear sounds to learn how to talk and learn about the world. Hearing is very important in the early months to prevent possible problems with language or schoolwork.

Immunization is one of the most important things you can do to protect your children. Protect your children. Get their shots on time. Learn about shots, or vaccines, for your child.

*Texting Terms and Conditions

When you opt-in to the service, Growing Up Health Hotline will send you a message to confirm your signup. Growing Up Healthy Hotline SMS campaigns are sent to opted in subscribers to connect New York residents with new and existing resources; Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies. Text "HELP" To GROW11 for help.

You can cancel this service at any time. Just text "STOP" to GROW11. After you send the message "STOP" we will send you a reply message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive messages from us. To rejoin the SMS texting service, just follow the same sign-up process you used before, and you will begin receiving messages once more. To learn more, see information below about Privacy and Data Use.

We are not responsible for any delays in receiving SMS messages, as delivery depends on the effectiveness of your network operator. T-Mobile® is not liable for any messages that are delayed or not delivered. For all questions about the services provided by this short code, you can contact 1-800-522-5006.)

Privacy and Data Use

All information provided through the GUHH texting feature is kept strictly confidential. No personal data or user responses collected through this service will be shared with any third party, including affiliates or business partners. Information submitted by users is not transferred or disclosed for any purposed outside of providing the requested assistance.