English Parents, caregivers and newborns in Marion County:
You are eligible for visits by a nurse at no cost, regardless of income or background.
Three Weeks
Visits are scheduled around 3 weeks after birth
For All
Helping all families regardless of income or background
No Cost to Recipients
As an eligible recipient, you will not be charged
Registered nurse
All visits are made by highly-trained nurses
Family Connects eligibility criteria:
Families must live in Marion County. Family Connects will be coming to Polk County soon!
Schedule your visit today: 503-373-3781
Visits are conducted by a highly trained nurse, and begin about three weeks after birth. Nurses can answer all kinds of questions.
Join our Community Advisory Board
Are you a parent interested in providing input to strengthen the Family Connects program?
Email Lisa Harnisch for more information.
What can Family Connects do for you?
Research shows that when families use Family Connects, parents feel less anxious, they learn about quality childcare options available to them, and their babies need less emergency care at hospitals.
For parent and Baby:
- Mother health check
- Baby weight check
- Breast- or bottle-feeding support
- Postpartum depression support
- Help with bathing, diapering and swaddling
- Safe sleep information
- What to do if your baby cries a lot
For Family:
- Child care options
- Back-to-work support
- Financial resources
- Parent support groups
- Family-planning advice
Family Connects FAQs
FAQs (English)
- Download English FAQ here, or see below:
Research shows that families who participate in Family Connects are less anxious, learn more about child care resources, and their babies need less emergency care at hospitals. When parents feel supported and confident in the care of their newborn, they connect better with the infant.
The program is not intended to replace well-baby visits or other home visits—in fact quite the opposite, as the nurses are trained to make sure well-baby visits are scheduled and on the calendar.
We encourage in-person visits at your home or another mutually agreed-upon location. This gives our nurses the best opportunity to provide you with customized services for you and your baby. Special modifications can be made at the time of scheduling if you have concerns about COVID-19 or if an in- home visit would be difficult in your personal situation.
The Family Connects visit is entirely covered by insurance. You do not have to pay for any Family Connects visit.
Yes! As of January 1, 2023, we are able to offer Family Connects visits to all families with newborns, regardless of insurance coverage.
The Family Connects visits are covered by your baby’s insurance, not the caregiver’s insurance. This means that it doesn’t matter which insurance the caregivers have or don’t have because only the baby’s insurance is billed.
Absolutely.
You will still be eligible for a home visit when you and your baby are ready to go home. Additionally, there are two other nurse home visiting programs available through your county that your family may qualify for: Babies First! and CaCoon. Both of these nurse home visiting programs are long-term visiting programs and may be more appropriate for your situation.
As the program rolls out across the region, and amid a pandemic, we are starting with just a handful of communities before scaling up. Oregon will be the first state to implement this model statewide, so it is important to roll out the program slowly to identify and work through any issues that arise.
Marion and Polk Family Connects visits are only offered to individuals living within these two counties. Polk County is not currently offering Family Connects visits; however, visits will be offered in the future. Oregon is rolling out the Family Connects program across the entire state in stages. You can check to see if your county is currently covered at the Oregon Health Authority Family Connects Oregon website.
No, you need to reside within Marion or Polk counties to receive the Family Connects services from Family Connects Marion and Polk. The region where you live may actually be served by a Family Connects program in your county. You can check to see which other counties are currently being served by a Family Connects Oregon program at this website.
Yes, you are actually encouraged to participate in other home visiting programs—Healthy Families Oregon and Early Head Start are two examples of such programs. During the Family Connects visit, however, the nurse only conducts the Family Connects visit, as it is specifically a nurse home visit. They cannot combine other home visiting programs in the same visit, although families can be referred to other programs for additional support and visits.
Information is shared with Family Connects International to monitor how the Family Connects program helps families and to evaluate the program. In addition, the data is used to refer families to local agencies for identified needs.
It depends on the referral. At the end of each visit, the nurse discusses with families the next steps on how to access referrals (this includes talking about who will initiate contact to each referral).
Family Connects nurses themselves do not help clients sign up for WIC, but they can help refer you to WIC.
Family Connects nurses are not required to report the presence or use of alcohol, tobacco or other legal drugs in the home if their use does not pose a potential harm to the child. However, if the substances are accessible to the child or present a safety risk, Family Connects nurses are mandatory reporters and are legally obligated to notify ODHS.
FAQs (Español)
- Descargue las preguntas frecuentes en español, o vea a continuación:
Las investigaciones muestran que las familias que participan en Family Connects están menos ansiosas, aprenden más sobre los recursos de cuidado infantil y sus bebés necesitan menos atención de emergencia en los hospitales. Cuando los padres se sienten apoyados y confiados en el cuidado de su hijo recién nacido, se conectan mejor con el bebé.
El programa no pretende reemplazar las visitas de bienestar del bebé u otras visitas domiciliarias; de hecho, todo lo contrario, ya que las enfermeras están capacitadas para asegurarse de que las visitas de bienestar del bebé estén programadas y en el calendario.
Recomendamos que las visitas en persona sean en su hogar u otro lugar decidido por ambas partes. Esto brinda a nuestras enfermeras la mejor oportunidad de brindarle servicios personalizados para usted y su bebé. Se pueden hacer modificaciones especiales en el momento de programar la visita, si tiene inquietudes sobre COVID-19 o si una visita en el hogar sería difícil en su situación personal.
La visita de Family Connects está totalmente cubierta por el seguro. No tiene que pagar ninguna visita de Family Connects.
¡Sí! A partir del 1 de enero de 2023, podemos ofrecer visitas de Family Connects a todas familias con recién nacidos, sin importar de su seguro médico.
Las visitas de Family Connects están cubiertas por el seguro de su bebé, no por el seguro de la persona que lo cuida. Esto significa que no importa qué seguro tengan o no tengan los cuidadores del niño porque solo se factura el seguro del bebé.
Absolutamente.
Seguirá siendo elegible para una visita domiciliaria cuando usted y su bebé estén listos para irse a su casa. Además, hay otros dos programas de visitas domiciliarias de enfermeras disponibles a través de su condado para los que su familia puede calificar: ¡Los bebés primero! y CaCoon. Ambos programas de visitas domiciliarias de enfermeras son programas de visitas a largo plazo y pueden ser más apropiados para su situación.
A medida que el programa se implementa en toda la región, y en medio de una pandemia, estamos comenzando con solo algunas comunidades antes de ampliarlo. Oregón será el primer estado en implementar este modelo en todo el país, por lo que es importante implementar el programa lentamente para identificar y resolver cualquier problema que surja.
Las visitas de Marion y Polk Family Connects sólo se ofrecen a personas que viven dentro de estos dos condados. El Condado de Polk actualmente no ofrece visitas de Family Connects; sin embargo, se ofrecerán visitas en un futuro próximo. Oregón está implementando el programa Family Connects en todo el estado por etapas. Usted puede verificar si su condado está actualmente cubierto en el sitio web Family Connects Oregon de la Autoridad de Salud de Oregón aquí.
No, debe vivir en los Condados de Marion o Polk para recibir los servicios de Family Connects de Family Connects Marion y Polk. La región en la que vive puede ser atendida por un programa Family Connects en su condado. Usted puede verificar qué otros condados están siendo atendidos actualmente por un programa Family Connects Oregon en este sitio web.
Sí, en realidad recomendamos que participe en otros programas de visitas domiciliarias: Healthy Families Oregon y Early Head Start son dos ejemplos de dichos programas. Sin embargo, durante la visita de Family Connects, la enfermera solo realiza la visita de Family Connects, ya que es una visita domiciliaria específica. No pueden combinar otros programas de visitas domiciliarias en la misma visita, aunque las familias pueden ser referidas a otros programas para apoyo y visitas adicionales.
La información se comparte con Family Connects International para monitorear cómo el programa Family Connects ayuda a las familias y para evaluar el programa. Además, los datos se utilizan para referir a las familias a las agencias locales para cubrir las necesidades identificadas.
Depende de la recomendación. Al final de cada visita, la enfermera analiza con las familias los siguientes pasos sobre cómo conseguir la recomendación (esto incluye hablar sobre quién iniciará el contacto con cada recomendación).
Las enfermeras de Family Connects no ayudan a los clientes a inscribirse en WIC, pero pueden ayudarle a ponerse en contacto con WIC.
Las enfermeras de Family Connects no están obligadas a informar la presencia o el uso
de alcohol, tabaco u otras drogas legales en el hogar, si su uso no representa un daño
potencial para el niño. Sin embargo, si las sustancias están al alcance del niño o representan
un riesgo en su seguridad, las enfermeras de Family Connects son informantes obligatorias y
están legalmente obligadas a notificar a ODHS.
Family Connects is starting in Marion County.
The program is initially focusing on those who live in Marion County. Our goal is to reach all families in Oregon over time.
