Parent Infant Care Center
What is PIC-C?
The Parent Infant Care Center (PIC-C) is a comprehensive program
designed to meet the needs of teenage parents and their infants
and toddlers. PIC-C is managed by the CARRI Program (Children
at Risk: Resources and Intervention) which is operated by University
Behavioral Health Care, an integrated service delivery system
of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. PIC-C
is a collaborative effort between UMDNJ, The School Based Youth
Service Program, and the New Brunswick Public Schools.
Who Participates and How?
During and academic school year, approximately eighteen student
parents and their children are enrolled in the PIC-C. Most of
the mothers and some of the fathers attend New Brunswick High
School. However any student parent enrolled in the New Brunswick
School District can participate in the program. They must have
a child between the ages of six weeks and thirty months and have
a need for day care. Except in cases of multiple birth, only one
child per family is permitted to attend PIC-C.
Student parents who use the child care program are required to
participate in specified programs and activities in addition to
their regular academic studies. These include daily cooperative
maintenance of the center and participation in peer support groups
focusing on child development, parenting skills, and life issues.
The goal of these programs is to guide the development of skills
that will positively impact on the difficult, dual task of being
a parent and a student.
Our Mission
While infants and toddlers are given care that is an ongoing
model of both nurturing and developmentally stimulating interaction,
their parents are also nurtured and provided with a variety of
support services. Case management, individual and/or family counseling,
developmental guidance, transportation, assistance for medical
problems and appointments, and academic tutoring are all available.
The PIC-C mission is to support student parents so that they can
attain the following goals:
- Complete high school in order to move toward economic self-sufficiency.
- Delay a second pregnancy in order to attend to their own and
their first child's developmental needs.
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