Smart Start and Family Connects International, an evidence-based universal newborn home visiting program, collaboratively launched a 3-year pilot program in eight counties to serve families of newborns. Participating counties include Watauga, Ashe, Henderson, Polk, Cumberland, Hoke, and Robeson.
Families served received access to comprehensive support to ensure healthy development of their newborn. Funded by the federal Preschool Development Grant, the pilot sites combine the benefits of the Family Connects model with local Smart Start partnerships who have key community relationships and the ability to coordinate locally. The pilot sites were chosen in part because they were able to offer a regional approach (covering multiple counties) with a rural focus as accessing health resources in rural areas can be challenging.
Within the first seven months of launching the Family Connects-Smart Start Pilots, over 1,000 families were served.
These pilots create change by meeting families where they are, at a vulnerable time after the birth of a baby. Nurse home visitors share valuable information with families about the care and development of their newborn, create critical connections to resources in their community, assess and offer social-emotional support to families, and share mental health resources. Referrals are made for children and families to agencies and programs in their community. In fact, 98.7% of the families whose needs were assessed during a completed visit over the past year had some type of need identified by the nurse
The Family Connects -Smart Start Pilots also make a difference at the community level by identifying health and medical trends or resource gaps and working with the local cross-sector Community Advisory Board to determine solutions. By utilizing Family Connects as a home visiting model while leveraging the impact of the Smart Start network, children and families are receiving the support they need to thrive, right from the start.
