Social Services

Adolescent After-School Program
This program is part of the comprehensive health, education, and support services we provide for young adults between the ages of 13 and 21. Through a youth-driven model, we promote primary health care, support abstinence choices, and offer family planning and pregnancy prevention services, HIV/STD testing, health education, counseling, case management, referrals, academic support, and college preparation. Mary’s Center works to help adolescents make responsible decisions and realize their full potential in partnership with their families.

Early Intervention Program
The Early Intervention Program provides education, service coordination, advocacy, psychosocial support, home visits, and translation/interpretation services for parents of children up to three years old with disabilities or developmental delays and who are eligible for the D.C. Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program. We help all families enroll their children in daycare, preschool, or public school programs. Mary’s Center hosts weekly playgroups for all parents and their children in the community, with a special emphasis on children ages 0 to 5 years who are at risk of developmental delays. The program also facilitates a support group called Somos Unidos for Spanish-speaking parents of children with disabilities.

Entitlement Benefits Assistance (Bilingual Health Access Program)
Mary’s Center’s Bilingual Health Access Program (BHAP) works in partnership with the city’s Office of Public Benefits to help families apply for disability benefits, Medicaid, food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the District of Columbia’s Children Health Insurance Program. Our staff gathers and translates all necessary documents for enrollment and helps families complete their applications in a timely manner. Outreach workers spend numerous hours in community settings educating the public about the advantages and the process of enrolling in public benefit programs.

The BHAP staff speaks Amharic, English, and Spanish.

Family Support Programs
Mary’s Center’s bilingual family support team addresses social and emotional needs of clients and seeks to help them and their families strive for self-sufficiency. We help families to access available services such as housing and food programs, education, financial assistance, employment, and legal and mental health services. Additionally, the staff ensures continuity of care by serving as liaison between physicians, mental health professionals, and other community service agencies.

Home Visiting Program
Mary’s Center’s home visiting program, also known as Healthy Start Healthy Families (HSHF), provides intensive, long-term home visitation services to pregnant and post-partum women and their families. An interdisciplinary team of outreach workers, assessment workers, family support workers, a registered nurse, an in-home mental health provider, and education specialists ensures that clients receive quality, comprehensive medical care and support services along with education and advocacy services. HSHF serves D.C. residents until the child reaches five years old. HSHF combines the Healthy Families America home visiting model--a national movement to prevent child abuse and neglect—and the federal Healthy Start program, an initiative to reduce infant mortality. HSHF’s mission is to partner with families to ensure that their children are healthy, safe, and ready to learn.

Mental Health Counseling
Mental health therapists provide one-on-one active case management and multiple linkages to other Mary’s Center programs and mental health services that focus on the integration of physical and mental health activities.

Resources and Referrals
Mary’s Center links clients with community resources and advocates for them. When necessary, we find the assistance needed in their native language so that clients can become more independent. These referrals include housing and food programs, education, financial assistance, employment, and legal services. Also, trained staff facilitates clients’ visits to outside specialists by helping with their appointments and requesting interpreters.