History.
Any Baby Can was founded in 1982 in San Antonio, with the mission of providing support, crisis assistance and advocacy for families of children with special health care needs. Any Baby Can has provided a safety net for families of critical and chronically ill children in South Central Texas. On a daily basis we meet with families in crisis, respond to their immediate needs and provide quality case management that leads to stabilization and a plan of care. With offices in Austin, Kerrville and San Antonio we serve thousands of families annually across a 21 county geographic area.

The initial funding for “Project Any Baby Can” came from the Texas Planning Council for the Developmental Disabilities, as a three year “seed money” grant. It was awarded to the San Antonio Coalition for Children, Youth and Families. Over the next several years, the project was transitioned to Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital auspices, and that remained the governing and physical home of Any Baby Can for a decade. Even at this time, however, there was a large degree of independence assumed by a Board of Managers which ultimately became a Board of Directors when self-incorporation of the agency and a move to facilities in the medical center of San Antonio occurred in 1992.

From the perspective of program development, Any Baby Can has received numerous awards and accolades to acknowledge the innovative and timely creation of quality case management and essential “wrap around” services. With a “Know a Baby Who Needs Help?” outreach campaign, the agency rapidly reached intake numbers of more than 500 families annually. Some of the most important support services remain today, including the Crisis Fund, Family and Friends intergenerational respite component, crisis counseling, sibling support groups, resource libraries, and funeral assistance. The age of children was expanded from birth to three years old, to the present age of pre-term through twelve years old. A wide range of developmental problems, disabilities, serious illness and at-risk premature complications have always been evidenced in the caseload. From the beginning, Any Baby Can was fortunate to have focused on the development of a management information system which would both yield individual information on outcomes for each child, and provide aggregate reports regarding the needs of families in general. Too often, Any Baby Can was “filling the gaps” in services because inadequate resources existed in programs which should have served as support and safety net functions for families of special children.

Any Baby Can was designated a national “President Point of Light” and challenged to expand, with the help of the Texas Department of Health, to one additional urban and rural site. To accomplish this mission, Any Baby Can established an office in Austin, as well as a “Small Community Outreach Unit of Texas” (SCOUT) in Kerrville. The bilingual case management, crisis assistance, and family support programs at each site continue to form the heart of the agency. In the arena of prevention programs have expanded that reflects the philosophy of Any Baby Can. We advocate for healthy communities and children first, avoiding occurrences of primary and secondary conditions in all children.

The Austin affiliate entered into a merger with CEDEN agency on April 1, 2000. The new organization, entitled Any Baby Can Child and Family Resource Center, expanded and enhanced the agency’s ability to offer support and prevention programs in the Austin area.

The San Antonio office opened its new 10,000 square foot facility in June, 2000. The stucco and stone country house environment with a toddler playground was significantly funded by an $800,000 grant from Kronkosky Charitable Foundation.

With offices in Austin, Kerrville and San Antonio we serve literally thousands of stressed families annually across a 21 county geographic area. In addition to these daily encounters, we also play a critical role in advocating and assuring that the systems on which our babies and families depend are working. Most recently we have been in the forefront in efforts to restore the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits to children.

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