For Providers
The Family Connects model is an evidence-based, universal approach to supporting newborns and their families.
The Family Connects model was developed in Durham, North Carolina and was born out of community need. In 2001, the Duke Endowment approached the director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy and challenged them to improve child outcomes and specifically to reduce childhood abuse and neglect in Durham. The Family Connects (formerly Durham Connects) model was piloted in 2008, creating a replicable model that could be used in other communities.
The Durham Connects program was studied in two rigorous randomized controlled trials, the results of which have been published in highly-regarded journals including Pediatrics and the American Journal of Public Health. Observations by researchers found that by the time a baby was six months old, when compared with those who did not receive a Durham Connects visit, families participating in Durham Connects had:
- Greater community connections
- Better utilization of quality childcare
- Higher-quality parenting behaviours
- Enhanced home environments
- Improved mother mental health
- Reduced emergency medical care for infants
Why it works
Through Family Connects, all families in a community have the opportunity for a trained, registered nurse to visit them at home. The program provides between one and three nurse home visits to every family with a newborn beginning at about three weeks of age, regardless of income or demographic risk. Using a tested screening tool, the nurse measures newborn and maternal health and assesses strengths and needs to link the family to community resources. Helping parents connect with their infants helps them for life and community-wide eligibility is the only route to population change.
Return on Investment
Family Connects offers communities the opportunity to maximize investment in population health and prevention. Based on the findings, researchers estimate that for cities of a similar size averaging about 3,187 births a year, an annual investment of $2.2 million in nurse home visiting would result in a community health care cost savings of about $7 million in the first two years of a child’s life.
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