The Help Me Grow (HMG) Model is celebrating a milestone anniversary in 2022 – having spent the past 25 years helping children and families in Connecticut and across the country thrive.
The HMG Model is an early childhood system building model that partners with families to identify their priorities and needs related to their children’s health and development, connects them to helpful community-based services, and provides ongoing support.
The HMG Model started as a pilot program in 1997 in Hartford, Connecticut after being developed by Paul H. Dworkin, MD, who is now the executive vice president for community child health at Connecticut Children’s. It expanded statewide in 2002. The first HMG system outside Connecticut launched in Orange County, California in 2005.
Currently, the HMG Model serves children and families in 119 systems across 30 states and Washington D.C., guided by the Help Me Grow National Center team based at Connecticut Children’s.
In its anniversary year, the HMG National Center plans to further its family-centered approach by pilot testing a new framework to advance goal concordant care through the implementation of the HMG Model. To learn more about this important work, visit the Help Me Grow National Center blog to read a reflection on the past 25 years co-authored by Dr. Dworkin and HMG National Center Executive Director Kimberly Martini-Carvell.