NJ now offers new ‘game-changing’ benefit for families with newborns

👶Family Connects NJ allows in-home nurse visits to new moms and newborns

👶It is part of First Lady Tammy Murphy's labor of love to reduce mortality rates

👶 It is currently available in five NJ counties, with plans to expand every year

For the past six years, Tammy Murphy has dedicated herself to helping reduce the maternal mortality rate in New Jersey.

One program that has emerged from her labor of love is Family Connects NJ.

The Inspiration

When her husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, came into office in New Jersey in 2018, the state ranked 47th nationwide for maternal health because of its high maternal mortality rate, the first lady said.

As parents of four children, they felt this was something she could dive into. What she thought was going to be a short-term project has grown into a labor of love for the past six years, she said.

“I have grown this from internally working together with two departments and agencies to now there are 21 departments and agencies engaged,” said Murrphy, who is a candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by Bob Menendez.

More than 2,000 partners on the ground are helping and working with Murphy to make sure they are trying to be as effective and aggressive as they can be.

“The good news is that we’ve gone from 47th in the country to 27th in the country. The bad news is that the entire challenges that we face have to do with inequities in care,” she said.

If you are a black mother in New Jersey, you are seven times more likely than a white mother to die from maternity-related complications, and if you are a black baby in New Jersey, you are three times more likely than a white baby to die before your first birthday, she said.

“Knowing that this is really due to bias and all sorts of challenges in the state, we have been tackling this landscape across every aspect. We are looking at transformational change across everything from the Department of Corrections to Environmental Protection, to transportation, to housing, to Workforce Development. Every piece of this puzzle has to be focused on how we can fix this challenge in order to move the needle," Murphy said.

Nurture NJ was created in 2019 to help improve maternal health in the state. Murphy said as part of it, she and her partners took a year to create a strategic plan that has over 70 steps that would take the state from 47th in the country to a point where it will be the safest and most equitable state in the country to deliver and raise a baby.

As part of that strategic plan, universal nurse-home visitation was one of the suggestions.

Family Connects NJ

Family Connects NJ is the most important piece of the more than 60 pieces of legislation that Gov. Murphy has signed in this area, in the first lady’s opinion.

She said the program is important because it’s universally available, meaning it doesn’t distinguish between financial availabilities or status.

“This program is available to every mother who delivers, whether it’s in a birthing center or a hospital, whether the mother delivers a stillborn child or whether the child is adopted,” Murphy said.

Family Connects allows parents and caregivers of a newborn to receive an in-home nurse visit within the first two weeks of birth. Murphy said if a family wishes, they can request up to three visits.

Each of those visits can last anywhere from 90 minutes to two and a half hours, a very thorough visit.

The trained nurse will be able to check up on the health of mom and baby, screen for potential post-natal complications, answer any questions, and even connect the family to resources they may need.

Where is Family Connects NJ available?

The program rolled out in five New Jersey counties in January 2024. Those counties included Essex, Middlesex, Mercer, Cumberland, and Gloucester, and will expand to additional counties on an annual basis.

The anticipated schedule for expansion is as follows:

Phase 2 (January 2025): Somerset, Sussex, Passaic, Hudson, Bergen, and Ocean counties

Phase 3 (January 2026): Camden, Salem, Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, and Monmouth counties

Phase 4 (January 2027): The final counties of Union, Hunterdon, Morris, and Warren will launch their services. By this time, Family Connects NJ will be available everywhere in the state.

Why the phased-in approach?

Murphy said they wanted to make sure they’re not launching too quickly, in case they either are unable to provide the nurses to the families that are in need or to see if they come across better practices and newer lessons.

“This is an evidence-based model so we know it works, but we want to make sure that we are being as careful and as diligent as we can to really move the needle,” she said.

How can families sign up for Family Connects NJ?

Families can sign up for the program on the website, www.familyconnectsnj.org.

A team member will then contact them to schedule their appointment and answer any pre-visit questions they may have.

Families are encouraged to enroll prenatally.

Murphy also said that if Family Connects NJ nurse visits are not currently being offered in a family’s county, they can still connect to help through one of New Jersey’s county-based Connecting NJ hubs.

Why is this program a game-changer?

Murphy said Family Connects NJ is a game-changing program because it helps reduce the inequities in healthcare.

“There’s a lot of moments in time where a family might actually need a service and yet there may be some stigma connected with it. They might be embarrassed because it’s a government resource, or for whatever reason they don’t want to be seen to be getting a helping hand. So, this is really fantastic in that respect,” she said.

The program enables a nurse to ensure that bad outcomes are being prevented down the road. Besides saving lives, Murphy said this will help bring healthcare costs down in the long run.

Having an in-home nurse also reduces the stress among new moms about having to get to a doctor’s appointment with a newborn.

Over the maternal deaths that happen, over 52% of those happen post-delivery, Murphy said. This program ensures a nurse will see a mom and an infant early on to make sure they are healthy.

“It’s going to be great for the families. It’s going to be great for our healthcare system because it’s going to avoid difficulties down the road and expensive healthcare costs for our state and beyond,” she added.

Robyn D’Oria, CEO of Central Jersey Family Health Consortium, said Murphy did a wonderful job outlining the Family Connects program at a press conference with the consortium’s nurses last week.

“Having been a nurse in the maternal child health space my entire career, I can honestly say that I agree with first lady Tammy Murphy that our universal home visiting initiative is a game changer for New Jersey. We often believe that when the family is discharged from the hospital, that all their needs have been met but when I transitioned from the hospital to the community, I realized how wrong I was,” D’Oria said.

She went on to say that the program assists all families in accessing supportive services in the community while promoting a safe home environment and positive parenting behaviors to decrease risks to the newborn as well as the entire family.

“Our experience to date, as shared by those who have participated in Family Connects shows that all families, regardless of income, immigration status, or type of medical insurance, have benefitted from this program,” D’Oria said.

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