City's Baby University Nearing 150 Clients

  • Tuesday, April 4, 2017

The city's Baby University program operated by Signal Centers is nearing 250 clients, Donna McConnico told the City Council on Tuesday.

The council approved $250,000 for the program for the upcoming year.

It started out with 75 client spots in the East Lake area and those were quickly filled. The program has been operating for 18 months.

Elizabeth Cotellese, director of the program, said it has now expanded to Alton Park.

She said the group is working with pregnant teens at Howard High School with a goal of helping them finish school and abstain from further pregnancies until they graduate.

She said 28 teens who became pregnant are still at Howard.

City Councilman Larry Grohn said he was concerned that the staff caseload is at 1-25. He said he would like to see more staff helping to handle the load of cases.

Councilman Yusuf Hakeem praised the program, calling it "money well spent." He added, "I don't think we can find a better example" of the positive things going on in Chattanooga. 

Ms. McConnico said the program has had a number of graduates. She said as clients become stable they are seen less frequently.

Many of the referrals come from current clients, it was stated.

The case workers are helping many couples where the father is still in the picture, Ms. Cotellese said.

 

 

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