Hanscom AFB  Military and Family Support Center

The New Parent Support Program is a team made up of nurses, social workers and home visitation specialists who offer support and guidance by helping parents:

• Build strong, healthy bonds with their infants and toddlers that will lay the foundation for their social and emotional development
• Manage the demands of parenting, especially when impacted by deployments and other military operations
• Remain flexible and responsive when navigating daily life
• Build a strong support network
• Respond to infant and toddler behavior sensitively and be attuned to their developmental needs
• Find services in the local community in time of need

Learn more about the New Parent Support Program and contact your installation New Parent Support Program office to find out what’s available at your installation.

New Parent Support Program staff are child development professionals, including registered nurses, clinical social workers, and para-professionals trained in the delivery and practice of established home visiting models. The program is supervised and monitored at the installation level by the Family Advocacy program manager.

The program is available to military families who are expecting a baby or have children age 3 or younger. Marine Corps eligibility includes families with at least one child under 5.

Contact your installation New Parent Support Program office or Family Advocacy Program office.

There is no New Parent Support Program at Hanscom AFB.

Family Advocacy staff members provide outreach and prevention services to military families. Services are tailored to each family's unique circumstances and can help with adaptation to military life, preparation for parenthood, enhancing parenting skills, single parent issues, couple communication, coping with divorce, and stress management. Family Advocacy offers parenting and couples classes, community resource connections and referrals, domestic violence/child abuse training, and a breast pump loan program. Family Advocacy staff members understand the impact military life can have on families, including deployments and separation from family and friends, and can assist families in coping with these special situations.

In addition, the Family Advocacy Program identifies, reports, assesses, and treats family maltreatment by providing clinical intervention for victims, offenders, and other family members. Family Advocacy can assist in navigating the court system and can serve as a liaison with Child Protective Services.

Family Advocacy can also work with individual couples to help prepare them for impending parenthood
as well as managing expectations and stress after baby is born.

The Airman & Family Readiness Center offers a Bundles for Babies class in support of expecting parents.

Bundles for Babies is an all-day class covering many topics related to pregnancy, birth and infant care and safety. It is managed by the Air Force Aid Society Officer at the Airman and Family Readiness Center and taught by representatives of many on and off-base agencies. All service personnel may attend. Please call 781-225-2765 to register.