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Children Served by the Grow Clinic
The Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center is an outpatient program that treats children diagnosed with Failure To Thrive (FTT).
By "Failure To Thrive" we mean, children who show:
- Shortened attention spans
- Increased risk of illness
- Persistent growth failure and emotional problems
- Delayed learning and language skills
- Impaired fine and gross motor skills
Since the clinic was founded in 1984, more than 1,650 FTT children have graduated from our program. In 2006, over 203 children were served in the clinic. The following are some of our findings:
- Average time of successful treatment is 18 months.
- The average new referral is much younger and more acutely ill than ever.
- About 10% of our children are homeless and live in shelters.
- 85% of our children depend on publicly paid health insurance.
- The referral rate has doubled in the last 5 years
- 10%-20% of children newly referred to the Grow Clinic were less than 2500 grams at birth (low birth weight), and 89% of the children referred were less than 24 months of age.
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The Grow Clinic serves a diverse patient population, mostly low-income families from some of Greater Boston’s poorest communities, including Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, South Boston, and the South End. Recent census data for these neighborhoods shows that:
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- 68% of the population lives below 100% of the poverty level and nearly all live below 200% of the poverty level;
- 55% of residents are African-American, 24% are Hispanic, and 17% are Asian (includes Asian Indian and Middle Eastern). African Americans are at much higher risk of infant mortality than other ethnic groups, due in part to poor nutritional status of mothers and babies.
The Grow Clinic's intensive efforts to educate and reach out to community health centers have resulted in earlier intervention for FTT children, thus greatly increasing their chances of getting better and reducing the risk of hospitalization from 50% in 1984 to 5% in 2006.
In 2007 our food pantry served 11,005 Families; that’s 49,592 people.
The success of the clinic depends on outreach services that are not reimbursed by insurance companies or government programs. Therefore, the survival of the clinic depends on private donations to fund essential outreach services to our clients in addition to medical
care.
Services Provided at the Grow Clinic
- Medical treatment
- Nutritional assessment and counseling
- Social worker assessment
- Developmental assessment
- Home health education
- Family advocacy
- Speech pathology services
- Legal counseling
- Food Pantry
- Clothing Pantry
- Taxi service provided 2 ways if needed
- Camperships
The Grow Clinic for Children
Boston Medical Center
725 Massachusetts Ave. Mezz SW
Boston, MA 02118
Phone: (617) 414-5251
Fax: (617) 414-7047
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