County health staff propose lactation support and in‑jail home‑visiting pilot using Parents as Teachers funding

Cascade County Public Health staff told the Board of Health they are working with the county jail to provide lactation education, breast‑pump access and milk‑pickup logistics for lactating people who are incarcerated.

Megan, the family health public health nurse, said the program would provide inmates who are lactating with electric multi‑user breast pumps and storage and would arrange milk pickup and delivery to the infant’s caregiver. “So if a mother gets booked into jail and she is actively lactating, she will have the opportunity to be able to express milk,” Megan said, noting current jail practice often leaves families dependent on a friend or family member to bring a pump.

Public health staff also said they applied for a Parents as Teachers special‑project grant for up to $50,000 to support weekly in‑jail visits by a PATH home visitor and concurrent visits with caregivers in the community, modeled after a Reno program. The department said the $50,000 award would be a one‑year pilot to test service delivery and data collection; staff noted the Reno program is still gathering outcome data but reported positive participant feedback.

Presenters said jail‑based services would require additional background checks and training for home visitors and coordination with jail staff for safe provision of services. County staff said they could implement the project at a modest scale within existing staff capacity if the grant is awarded but would not immediately hire new personnel for a one‑year project.

Ending: Staff said they will return with program details and outcome data if the grant is awarded and asked the board to support coordination with the jail and county officials.