The Family Connects* model aims to intervene with families early to help them address health concerns and access support to reduce potential disparity gaps later, especially among families that are part of historically marginalized groups. Families in need might be unaware of local resources and how to navigate various systems to access services. Thus, registered nurses working as Family Connects home visitors provide free check-ups to mothers and babies during the early postpartum period and help connect families to local resources.
Family Connects is a universal model built on the premise that all families can benefit from postpartum nursing support or referrals. The model is designed to serve all families in a community, including families with surrogate, adoptive, and bereaved parents. The model’s aim to achieve population-level results is informed by a socioecological framework in which communities’ beliefs, practices, and environmental structures influence the choices, and thereby the actions, of the communities’ families. Similarly, communities are influenced by their state’s context, and each state is nested within a broader setting of national influences. Thus, Family Connects International (FCI) works at the national, state, community, and family levels to support newborns and their families.
*The model began in 2008 as Durham Connects—a pilot that served Durham County, North Carolina. As part of subsequent replication, the model was renamed Family Connects to reflect its larger service area. The model has not changed between the pilot and replication.