The Community and Clinical Connections for Prevention and Health Branch (CCCPH), Division of Public Health is excited to announce the official launch of www.breastfeednc.com, a new,  equity focused website designed to provide comprehensive information and resources to support breastfeeding mothers, fathers, and their families across North Carolina.

Breastfeeding is a crucial aspect of maternal and child health, offering numerous benefits for infants and mothers alike. With the launch of www.breastfeednc.com, our aim is to create a user-friendly platform that empowers and educates mothers, fathers, families, and healthcare professionals on the importance of breastfeeding and the resources available to facilitate successful breastfeeding journeys.

The website offers a wealth of valuable features and resources. Visitors will find evidence-based educational content covering a wide range of breastfeeding topics, including benefits, techniques, common challenges, and overcoming barriers. We have also made sure to include information specifically tailored for fathers, highlighting the significance of their involvement in breastfeeding and providing guidance on how they can support their partners throughout the breastfeeding process.

Additionally, www.breastfeednc.com features a comprehensive directory of breastfeeding support services and lactation consultants throughout North Carolina. This local support directory allows users to easily find nearby support groups, clinics, and professionals to access the assistance they need. We have also provided downloadable guides, brochures, and infographics that offer practical information and tips to expand knowledge and understanding of breastfeeding.

We invite you to explore the newly launched www.breastfeednc.com. We believe that your support and collaboration are essential in promoting the importance of breastfeeding and ensuring that families have access to the resources they need.

In addition, we have put together a toolkit to support the promotion of the new site and support for families.

• The Resource Toolkit has a summary of important resources available on the site. Please feel free to download and print or share as needed.
• The Media Toolkit has ready-made images and copy points for newsletters, blog posts, or text messages to make it easy for you to cut and paste. Please share it widely!

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What: A webinar on the basics for advocating for increased investments in the universal newborn nurse home visiting model Family Connects.

Who: Melea Rose Waters, MSW, is the Senior Policy Director at Family Connects International.

When: July 12, 2023 – 2PM EST. Open to Community Partners Within the FCI Network.

The time to plan for sustainability of your Family Connects program is today. One strategy to sustainable funding is through advocacy with policymakers. Advocacy is the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal by influencing policymakers on the local, state, and federal levels of government. Effective advocacy is focused, informed, and strategic.

Join us to learn about the fundamentals of advocacy. We will discuss the difference between advocacy and lobbying, effective advocacy strategies, engaging policymakers, developing your messaging, and taking action.

Objectives:

Participants will be able to:
1. Define three key differences between advocacy and lobbying;
2. Recognize and apply the four parts of developing messaging for policymakers; and,
3. Select at least three action steps you can take to advocate for your Family Connects program.

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Melea Rose Waters, MSW, is the Senior Policy Director at Family Connects International. Through her role at FCI, she aims to increase investments in the
Family Connects Universal Newborn Home Visiting Model by influencing policymakers, actively collaborating with stakeholders, and building the capacity of partners to advocate for resources on the local, state, and federal levels of government. She has over a decade of experience advocating for children and families on the local, state, and federal levels of government, in addition to nearly ten years of working directly with families who were involved with child welfare.
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Greetings Community Partners!

Thank you so much for attending our 3^rd Roundtable Discussions on Medicaid on April 5^th, 2023. A special thanks to our amazing guest speaker, Gretchen Hammer from the Public Leadership Group. It was exciting to hear all our partners great questions around Medicaid! If you have any more questions about Medicaid reimbursement or would like to inquire about services, feel free to reach out to Gretchen Hammer at gretchen.hammer@publicleader.org.
See below for for the recording and the visual slides that were shared during these discussions.

Video Recording


Visual Slides (PDF)


Visual Slides (PPTX)

I wish you wonder, joy, and a bit of your OWN childhood folded into your everyday.

For me, tree climbing has been a fun way to get a fresh perspective, literally, and share one of my favorite pastimes with my kids.

Embrace these days,
Sherika

Sherika Hill, PHD MHA
Executive Director, Family Connects International

FCI is launching our first Family Connects Nursing Awards, and we will announce one winner each day in honor of Nurses Week!

Monday May 6th

The award for “Good Catch” goes to Shannetta Barnes from Family Connects Chicago! For identifying an infant with respiratory distress during the constraints of a virtual visit and directing the family to the Emergency Department, where the infant was hospitalized for RSV. Your assessment and advocacy resulted in a good catch that may have saved this child’s life.

Tuesday May 7th

The award for “Leader of the Year” goes to Kathryn Kaintz from Family Connects Chicago! For ensuring the success of the Family Connects Chicago program at Rush University Medical Center, supporting nurse education and professional development, and role modeling exemplary patient care.

Wednesday May 8th

The award for “Preceptor of the Year” goes to Megan Wilkin from Family Connects Oregon. For providing an outstanding orientation experience and role modeling exemplary patient care for new Family Connects nurses.

Thursday May 9th

The award for “Rising Star” goes to Jessica Orozco from Family Connects Chicago. For providing outstanding patient care, supporting you teammates, and leading the design of a poster to present Family Connects scholarship at a national conference.

Friday May 10th

The award for “Lifetime Achievement Award” goes to Paula Wright from Family Connects Durham. For your lifetime of service to families as a nurse and foundational contributions to the Family Connects Model and Family Connects Durham as a nurse leader. We are proud to honor your achievements, which continue to impact families across the country.

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FCI Centralized Data System 2.0 (2023 Migration Plan)

We are ready to begin the project to migrate to a new Salesforce platform to better support community partners and FCI operations, and ultimately enable us to better serve families.

Many of you attended one of the informative webinars held May 9-11. That should have given you a frame of reference for what is coming over the next nine months. We will begin work on this project in early June and started it with a formal project Kick Off.

View the Kick Off visual slides (PDF) used in this formal presentation.

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Pre-Launch Information Session, May 11, 2023

Click here to review the slides used in the meeting.

This was an informational webinar about FCI plans to migrate from our existing instance of our data system using Sales Cloud licenses to a new environment using Health Cloud licenses for streamlined charting and optimal HIPPA compliance.

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April 25-28, 2023 | Greensboro, NC

The Smart Start Conference is the nation’s largest conference devoted to early education systems and strategies. The conference provides advanced professional development for early education leaders committed to improving the quality of and access to early childhood services for all children ages birth to five. It is intended for professionals who support families, for professionals who support those who work with children, and professionals engaging in early care and education systems change.

Fain Barker, PhD and Sherika Hill, PhD from Family Connects International attended the conference and met with many of the participants.

To read more about the conference, please click here.

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Fain Baker (left) and Melea Rose Waters (right) from FCI visited with several State Legislators today. Pictured with Fain and Melea is Rep. Frances Jackson, PhD (center) from Cumberland County. Thank you to all the Representatives that made themselves available for open discussions on FCI and the benefits of the Family Connects program.

To learn more about Rep. Frances Jackson, PhD, visit the NC General Assembly website: Click Here