Amanda van Scoyoc

On Wednesday I went on my first intake visit with Healthy Families. An intake visit is the first visit with a young mother. Roca gets a referral from either a school or hospital and then schedules a time to meet with the young woman, usually in her home. Before the intake, Roca only knows that the young woman may be in need of Healthy Families services.

At 2 PM, I drive with Eloisa to the address of the young woman on her list. We end up in a part of East Boston that neither of us has been to before, and we park in front of a condo with the address. Inside the building there were 4 or 5 apartments and Eloisa knocks on doors and loudly says “Sandra, is Sandra here? We are looking for Sandra.” She has learned from experience that she must take charge of finding the young women. She opens a door to the wrong apartment and a small child points upstairs. A mother emerges behind the child and says in Spanish that Sandra’s apartment is one floor above.

Inside of the apartment it is dark and noisy. The TV is on as well as a lullaby. Sandra and her mom sit on the couch and we sit down as well. Sandra does not smile or look at us at first. Sandra’s mom asks if she can make us a cup of coffee or a cup of tea. She smiles at us and seems grateful that we have come. The baby is in the corner of the room sleeping in an electrical swinging bassinet that plays the same 2-minute tune throughout the visit. Although the baby is only a few feet away and signs of the baby are everywhere (in Sandra’s still puffy stomach, the music in the air, the toys on the floor, the fact that at 2PM Sandra is at home,) Eloisa doesn’t mention the baby. The focus of intake visits is the new mother. The baby is only mentioned in the question “when did you give birth.”

Sandra’s mom is very proud of her child and boasts that Sandra has always been such an independent young woman. She wants to help Sandra move out of the house and into an apartment with her 18-year-old boyfriend. She is OK with signing the papers so they can get married if that is what Sandra wants. Living in the house is tight. Sandra has three younger brothers.

In an attempt to give Eloisa and Sandra some privacy, Sandra’s mom and I walk over to the sleeping baby. Hovering over it, she says how wonderful it is to have a new baby in the house again. It makes her want a new one of her own. I say how beautiful the baby is. She says that the baby is a good baby just like Sandra was. She says Sandra only had to push seven times to get her out. I don’t know what to say to this so I say, “It must be in your genes. You must be so proud.” We stand around the baby not saying anything and then Sandra’s mom says something about dishes and walks into the adjoining kitchen. I return to the couch with Sandra and Eloisa and we don’t mention the baby again.