An implementing agency must be a community-based organization with a community leadership board and established relationships with all relevant service organizations in the community to facilitate a family’s awareness of and access to formal social supports. Examples of implementing agencies include local nonprofit organizations, health departments, or health care providers.
Implementing Family Connects
Implementation last updated: 2020
The information in this profile reflects feedback, if provided, from this model’s developer as of the above date. The description of the implementation of the model(s) here may differ from how the model(s) was implemented in the research reviewed to determine this model’s evidence of effectiveness. Inclusion in the implementation report does not mean the practices described meet the HHS criteria for evidence of effectiveness. Similarly, models described here may not all have impact studies, and those with impact studies may vary in their effectiveness. Please see the Effectiveness button on the left for more information about research on the effectiveness of the models discussed here.
Prerequisites for implementation
Staffing requirements
Staff include nurse home visitors, a nurse supervisor, a medical director, a data manager, and a program support coordinator who recruits families in the hospital, schedules visits, and conducts follow-up calls. Family Connects International also requires that program sites include a community alignment specialist to identify community resources and align the program with those resources. Family Connects International recommends but does not require that sites include a program director to provide administrative oversight and program management.
Sites must incorporate consultation or support from the local department of social services. Family Connects International encourages consultation from a mental health professional.
Staff education and experience
Nurse home visitors and nurse supervisors must be registered nurses with an active license in their state. Family Connects International recommends but does not require that nurse home visitors and data managers hold a bachelor’s degree and that nurse supervisors and program directors (if applicable) hold a master’s degree. Community alignment specialists must hold a bachelor’s degree, although a master’s degree is preferred, and program support coordinators must hold a high school diploma, although a bachelor’s degree is preferred.
The medical director must have a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathic Medicine in pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology (OBGYN), family medicine, or psychiatry and expertise in OBGYN/midwifery, infant or maternal mental/behavioral health, and/or pediatrics. The medical director must collaborate with specialists in those areas outside his/her area(s) of expertise.
Supervision requirements
Nurse supervisors meet with nurse home visitors weekly for case review and supervision. Family Connects International recommends a ratio of one supervisor for four to eight home visitors.
Staff ratio requirements
Family Connects International recommends nurse caseloads of six to eight new cases per week, depending on the community’s birth rate. Nurses also keep space in their schedules to conduct follow-up visits or calls with families visited in past weeks, as needed.
Data systems/technology requirements
To collect and monitor clients’ health data, program sites must use the Family Connects database, composed of a nurse database and post-visit database (described under Service Delivery Forms). Computers or tablets that access the database must use encryption software that is compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy regulations. The database must be stored on a HIPAA-compliant server designed to house electronic protected health information.
Other computer software may include MySQL, Symantec End Point Protection, Symantec/PGP encryption, Cisco Any Connect VPN (virtual private network), printers, and commonly used applications such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat products.
Implementation notes
The information contained on this page was last updated in July 2020. Recommended further reading lists the sources for this information. In addition, the information contained in this profile was reviewed for accuracy by Family Connects International on February 25, 2020. HomVEE reserves the right to edit the profile for clarity and consistency.