Family Connects Texas recently celebrated its second birthday, and the program is striding forward, full steam ahead with plans for growth. We are so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish over the last few years serving families at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center, and we are committed to serving even more families in the years to come. We have a bold goal: to make sure that all babies born in Austin/Travis County have the best possible start in life.
“We really enjoyed our nurse home visit with Family Connects, and our nurse was fantastic! She provided wonderful resources, and a lot of important information for parents. Even though we already have a two-year-old, there were a lot of things that we learned from our visit, and we were impressed that the nurse checked on the health of the family in general. We would definitely recommend a nurse home visit with Family Connects for all parents.”
— Brandon C.
It takes a village to raise a baby, and for many families in Austin, Family Connects is that support structure. In just a few short years, we’ve made great progress on our goal to serve families in Austin. Already we have:
- Served over 1,300 families in Austin/Travis County
- Successfully connected 78% of families who indicated a need with support services, from food assistance programs to family support groups to lactation consulting
- Addressed some need or concern — either during the nurse visit or through a outside connection — for 95.4% of families
- Ensured 99.8% of newborns and 97% of new moms were on track with well visits to their physician
- Fully transitioned to a televisit model to keep all families safe during COVID-19
Over this next year we are focused on increasing the number of families served. We aim to serve over 2,000 families by our next birthday — and we’re working directly with local physicians to make this happen.
We are excited to announce the launch of our Physicians Advisory Council who will work closely with the Austin Public Health and United Way for Greater Austin Family Connects team to help the program grow. The council will be chaired by Dr. Jack Louis, and the first advisory council meeting is set for December 10. With help from this incredible council, we will hit our goal of 2,000 + families by next fall, and begin services at a second hospital site in 2021.
With the support of our partners and our community, we are bringing resources to parents and caregivers when they need it most. Together we are building an Austin that’s better for everyone, starting with our littlest Austinites.
Will you help make sure that family support is the norm in our community? Here’s how you can help:
- Spread the word: tell your friends and family about Family Connects
- Ask your doctor about Family Connects to increase awareness
- Visit our website to learn more about Family Connects