TBEARS Center for Gulf Coast Environmental Health

Services

 ***

IMPORTANT NOTICE: It is with great regret that we must inform you that the Tulane Building Early Relationships Support and Services (TBEARS) Program will end on December 31, 2018.  We will continue to seek funding and hope that this will be a temporary closing. Please see this resource flyer for a list of local agencies that may be able to treat young children, families, and parents. 

In the case of a psychiatric emergency involving your child, please call Metropolitan Crisis Response Team , who can provide triage and emergency appointments. The phone line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the phone number covers all parishes. If your child is in danger and needs immediate medical attention and MCRT is unresponsive, you should call 911.  In the case of a psychiatric emergency involving adults, please contact the Metropolitan Crisis Response Team, in Region 1, or the JPHSA Mobile Crisis Services, in Jefferson Parish. 

Thank you for having given all of us at TBEARS the opportunity to provide care to your child and family.  It has been our pleasure and honor to serve you.

***

Tulane Building Early Relationships Support & Services (TBEARS) has offered a range of support services for all families with a child less than two years old. We have worked with families from all types of professions, family make-up, and ethnicities. We have supported single parents, working parents, grandparents, first time parents, foster parents, unemployed parents, experienced parents, same sex parents, parents of multiples, parents of NICU babies, and everything in between. We strive to collaborate with each family to understand their family values and culture, and provide support that matches their individual needs.

Here is what some of our families said about our services:

“It was very helpful to have someone listen and care and help us with what we are going through. Also, we were given a lot of resources”

 “My second child was different from my first. I liked how I could contact the TBEARS provider at any time, that she asked about me as a mother and not just about the baby, and that she was very flexible with my changing schedule”

“Suggestions of soothing techniques, breastfeeding guidance, techniques for dealing with anxiety, support that my baby truly was out-of-the-norm fussy so I wasn't crazy or a bad parent, just dealt a difficult hand”

“The list is endless! Having a sounding board, the TBEARS provider normalizing any issues I was experiencing, tips she shared on how to soothe baby, answering general questions about child development. If I had to highlight the most beneficial part, it would be having a sounding board and having someone support me”

 “TBEARS was the lifeline I needed. Before the TBEARS provider came, I was feeling desperate”

Here is a summary of the services that we offered from 2013-2018:

TBEARS Warmline

Parenting an infant or toddler can feel very isolating, stressful, overwhelming and/or confusing. Our warmline was created for just this reason. We set up a phone line for anyone to call in with parent- or infant-related questions or to feel heard and receive support. We answered the warmline during regular office hours, 9-5 CST Monday-Friday. If we missed a call, we would call back within 24 hours Monday-Friday and 48 hours on weekends.

TBEARS Home Visiting 

At the heart of TBEARS services is our home visiting program. Our providers are here to support you. In the past, we have gone into the home and met with the caregiver and other people who have played an important role in caring for the baby. Families have told us that, although sometimes apprehensive at first, home visits provided the least distraction and stress for the family. As one mother said, “Having the TBEARS provider come to our home ensured that I could comfortably open the door in my pajamas and attend to my baby in my own home as her needs arose, while doing something nurturing and necessary”.

Home visits also afforded the TBEARS provider the benefit of seeing the baby in her own home with the people who love her most. A home visitor  called to set up a visit and typically spent anywhere from 1-2 hours working with the caregiver and baby. Most families found that their concerns were resolved within 3 to 4 home visits, although other families might have opted to continue to meet with their TBEARS provider for longer.

TBEARS Clinic Visits

Families sometimes feel it is more comfortable or convenient to meet with our staff in our clinic setting. Our offices are located in the Tidewater Building on Canal St. In the past, we have scheduled sessions in this location during regular business hours.

TBEARS Group Sessions

We offered groups in two locations in the New Orleans metropolitan area to provide support and answer any developmental, emotional, or relational questions parents may have. The groups covered topics in parenting, infant and child development, safety, and relationship support.

TBEARS NICU Support

TBEARS staff have supported families in the NICU at Tulane Lakeside Hospital via phone and in-person sessions, as desired. We have also supported families as they transition their baby home from the NICU.

Community Connections 

We have provided trainings and consultation to programs that provide services to infants and their families as well as the providers who care for infants.

Our areas of expertise include: