Program in south Arkansas provides free nurse visits to mothers with newborns

Jodi Wahba on January 5, 2024

Pictured: Family Connects Union County Director of Women’s Services, Alison Stone, and Family Connects Home Visitor, Heidi Klappenbach (Source: https://www.arcf.org/give-smart-blog/following-baby-back-home/)

“They don’t really feel like just nurses coming out to your house,” Rosson said. “The way they speak is more encouraging, and they just make sure you’re OK,” Family Connects Union County participant Hannah Rosson shared in a recent story that ran in both the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the El Dorado Times “Program in south Arkansas provides free nurse visits to mothers with newborns.”

Family Connects Union County, located in El Dorado, Arkansas, is a certified Family Connects partner and nurses have been providing visits in their community since 2019. Arkansas state house Representative Julie Mayberry introduced HB 1103 in 2023, which directs the state Department of Health to establish a universal newborn home nurse visitation program and required health plans to cover the services offered by the program.

Read the full story here: https://www.eldoradonews.com/news/2023/dec/27/program-in-south-arkansas-provides-free-nurse/

Learn more about Family Connects Union County: https://www.arhomevisiting.org/modelname/fcuc/

FCI Voices: The Importance of Universal Home Visiting for Newborns and Their Families

Jodi Wahba on December 19, 2023



Universal Home Visiting for newborns and their families is our priority at Family Connects International. We have made it our mission to strengthen connections for families with newborns and link them directly to health and community care resources. This is made possible by our community partners across the county. But why is universal home visiting important for families and their newborns? We have asked one of the experts at Family Connects International to explain in their own words the importance of home-visiting care. In this post for our blog series “FCI Voices for Universal Newborn Care”, we will learn from our Nurse Manager and Acting Chief Nursing Officer about the benefits of home visiting for newborns and their families.

Bonnie Hepler, RN, MSW, MSPH, PhD, is our new Nurse Manager and Acting Chief Nursing Officer. Bonnie began at FCI as a Senior Nurse Trainer and was recently promoted.

Here are Bonnie’s thoughts on postpartum home visiting for families with newborns:

“Postpartum home visiting plays a crucial role in supporting families and their newborns. In fact, most high-resource countries across the globe offer some form of universal, in-home support for families with newborns. These visits are invaluable in navigating the physical, emotional, and lifestyle adjustments that come with a new baby. A caring and knowledgeable nurse can help identify and prioritize referrals in collaboration with families as well as help normalize some questions people experience postpartum. From identifying respiratory distress in infants exposed to viruses such as RSV and flu to reminding parents they are doing a great job, every family deserves to feel supported, safe, and seen during the postpartum period”.
-Bonnie Hepler, RN, MSW, MSPH, PhD

FCI’s mission is made possible because of the support, dedication, and drive of both our community partners and the staff here at FCI. Bonnie is one of the many who share that commitment to newborns and families nationwide and utilizes her expertise in nursing to equip our FCI network to deliver quality care year-round.

“I am committed to ensuring that nurses in the FCI network embody excellence and equity in their clinical practice. My passion lies in ensuring that all of our nurses not only possess the knowledge to adeptly support the physiologic processes during the postpartum period but also embody a humble and supportive approach when interacting with families during home visits. It is my belief that a combination of expertise and empathetic care is pivotal in creating a positive and inclusive healthcare experience for every family. My hope is that we can provide nurses with the tools to ensure Family Connects interactions feel helpful and healing in a period that is often associated with trauma and uncertainty”.
-Bonnie Hepler, RN, MSW, MSPH, PhD

Thank you, Bonnie, for this insight! Visit our website to learn how you can help ensure essential connections for equitable outcomes for every newborn and stay up to date on the strides our community partners and FCI team have made to make our mission possible.

Mechanisms of change in external implementation support: A conceptual model and case examples to guide research and practice

Jodi Wahba on September 18, 2023

Please read an article written by our own Renée I. Boothroyd: Mechanisms of change in external implementation support: A conceptual model and case examples to guide research and practice

The Center for Implementation does great work with implementation support providers and those who support them.  This article is foundational for building on the momentum in the field and creating definition around what implementation specialists actually do.

The article is featured as a critical thought leader in implementation practice in the upcoming September 2023 issue of Implementation in Action, a monthly bulletin for implementers and intermediary organizations who are seeking to apply implementation science in a thoughtful and systematic way. The bulletin goes out to over 9000+ implementers worldwide.

Join the Maternal Mental Health Nonprofit Nation Map

Jodi Wahba on September 15, 2023

Are you a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing maternal mental health care services? If so, The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health invites you to get on the map by joining the Maternal Mental Health Nonprofit Nation listserv to connect, ask each other questions about any issue (from service delivery to nonprofit governance), learn about funding opportunities, and more. Joining the listserve also places your non-profit on the Community-Based Organization map.

 

Registration Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IGR6Q5vPRbyUD9m7V8lnQQ#/registration

The Center of Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation

Jodi Wahba on September 15, 2023

November 6 – 8, 2023
The Center of Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation invites you to join our upcoming free virtual conference: Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Equity from the Start

This FREE, virtual conference is specifically geared towards IECMHC consultants, supervisors, managers, consultees, parents, leadership, and funders, but all are invited to attend. Join us to access a range of presentations related to implementing infant & early childhood mental health consultation and promoting justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion for infants, children, families, and the workforce.

Join us for:

  • Over 50 professional learning sessions
  • Opportunities to connect with other individuals in the field of IECMHC
  • On-Demand access through February 6, 2024.
  • Register today! Spots are limited.

NHVRC Model Profile

Jodi Wahba on August 22, 2023

Click here for more information on NHVRC

Family Connects is designed to support whole-person, integrated health for all families of newborns at a moment of life-changing transition. Family Connects nurses are trained to carefully assess newborns and mothers and to discuss concrete next steps to address opportunities and concerns, including seeking immediate medical care when necessary. They work together with families and build from identified strengths to connect them to community resources that meet their needs and preferences. Family Connects nurses also keep the whole family in mind, recommending appropriate mental health services or medical care for other family members as needed—and they follow up to make sure families’ needs are met. Family Connects aims to reach at least 60 to 70 percent of families with newborns in each community it serves.

What is the model’s approach to providing home visiting services?

Who is implementing the model?

Home Visitors
Family Connects was implemented by 129 full-time equivalent (FTE) home visitors in 2022. Home visiting providers are Registered Nurses with up-to-date professional licenses, who function within the state’s Nurse Practice Act and are trained to provide newborn, caregiver, and family health and psychosocial assessments. Full-time home visitors typically enroll six to eight new families per week.

Supervisors
Family Connects was implemented by 29 FTE nurse supervisors in 2022.
Where is the model implemented?

Family Connects operated in 35 local agencies across 16 states in 2022.

The NHVRC is a partnership of James Bell Associates and the Urban Institute. Support is provided by the Heising-Simons Foundation and previously was also provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundations. For a detailed methodology, see the 2023 Home Visiting Yearbook.

Families Served Through Evidence-Based Home Visiting in 2022

18,879

home visits provided
including 7,529 virtual visits

17,696

families served

[

FC New Orleans Launches!

Jodi Wahba on August 10, 2023

FC New Orleans had their launch event on August 1, 2023! They held a press conference at the Greater New Orleans Foundation and invited New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell and District B council member, Lesli Harris to share their excitement with the Family Connects program.

Link to article online: https://www.nola.com/news/new-orleans-families-with-newborns-will-receive-free-at-home-visits-through-new-city-program/article_4c6fffb6-3149-11ee-8277-332fd5caf0f3.html

 

*Click on the images for larger versions. 

Vote For FCI At SXSW EDU 2024

Jodi Wahba on August 8, 2023

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The SXSW PanelPicker is a two-step online process that gives our attendees a significant voice in Conference programming (presentations, panels, workshops, etc.) for SXSW and SXSW EDU. FCI is listed under SXSW EDU for 2024.

SXSW is March 4-7 in Austin, Texas. Read more about the PanelPicker process here.
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FCI recognized as a best practice for safe postpartum transitions to home!

Jodi Wahba on August 8, 2023

Family Connects International is being recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and AIM (Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health) for safe postpartum transitions to home! FCI was recognized as a change leader that: Utilize perinatal navigators, case managers, social workers, and postpartum home visiting programs where available to liaise with community resources and to ensure referral loops get closed.

Click here to download the Postpartum Discharge Transition Change Package (PDF).

Note: FCI is recognized on page 18 of the PDF.