Child & Family Health

The Child & Family Health Division includes programs and services to promote a healthy family. Programs and services include linking families to needed community resources such as medical providers, healthcare, parenting programs, and other assistance. Education promotes healthy food choices and nutrition, understanding childhood immunizations, and discussing environmental risks to families. Programs include Childhood Lead Screening, WIC, and Breastfeeding to promote healthy families.

WIC (Women, Infants & Children) Nutrition Program

Phone: 309-679-6076

Good nutrition is very important to pregnant women and to children. Breastfeeding, as nutrition, can also be very beneficial to babies. WIC is a federally funded program that provides nutrition education, health assessments, and supplementary food vouchers to income-eligible pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women and to families with infants and small children. Good nutrition is essential to healthy families.

To learn more or make an appointment, view WIC page.

Milk Depot for Mother’s Milk                   

Call for appointment: 309-679-6076

The Peoria City/County Health Department is an official Milk Depot for Mother’s Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes. The Milk Depot is a convenient drop off station, so busy moms with extra breast milk are spared the task of packaging and shipping their donor milk to the milk bank. Human breast milk is important for nutrition of babies, especially premature babies, with mother’s milk being the gold standard.

The Mother’s Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes is a human milk bank service that safely collects, screens, processes, pasteurizes, and dispenses human breast milk. The milk bank helps babies, particularly those with medical conditions in hospitals, and helps mothers who cannot supply enough of their own breast milk. For information on Mother’s Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes, visit www.milkbankwgl.org.

Childhood Lead Screening Program

Phone: 309-679-6076

Lead poisoning can be especially harmful to children and to pregnant women. Effects can lead to lower IQ, learning disabilities, and stunted growth, as well as other problems. Children should be tested for lead poisoning at 9 to 12 months of age and again at 18 to 24 months of age. Lead screening tests for children are currently free at the Peoria City/County Health Department.  Remember, no child is safe from the damages of lead poisoning. During the COVID-19 response and limited access to the health department building, all lead testing for children will be referred back to the physician to arrange.

For more information on screening eligibility ages, view Childhood Lead Screening Program page.

Healthy Family Topics & Videos

Learn more about becoming a Healthy Family with information on important topics in health and safety for babies, children, teens, parents, and the whole community. We never stop learning. Watch fun and interesting videos, view pictures, and read articles of interest. Find out about Safe Sleep for Baby, the importance of folic acid in your diet, and breastfeeding, as well as other important topics.