Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Durham Connects is a universal nurse home-visiting program that connects families, community agencies, and healthcare providers to give babies the best environment for development. Through this program, all new parents in Durham County are eligible to receive a free a nurse visit when their babies are between 3-4 weeks old. During the visit, the nurse answers parents’ questions and connects the family with community support services to meet their needs. After the initial visit, if further assistance is needed, the family can receive up to three additional visits from the Durham Connects nurse.

Robust studies of the program have identified a range of benefits and the program is expanding into more communities. A randomized control trial identified both process and impact outcomes of the program and found a reduction in emergency care visits, overnight hospital stays, greater community connection, more positive parenting behaviors, greater participation in higher quality child care, lower rates of anxiety in mothers, and higher quality home environments. A cost-benefit analysis determined that for every $1 spent in the community, Durham Connects saved $3. Encouraged by these findings, the program is expanding across the country. There are currently seven communities in urban and rural settings that offer Family Connects ( the name of the program outside of Durham) to parents of newborns.

Developing and using program data is integral to efficiently and effectively connecting parents with the right support resources in the community. While positive parent and child outcomes are the end goal, setting program goals, collecting program data, coordinating data sharing between various community resources, and measuring the effectiveness of program operations are necessary to attain positive child and family outcomes.

This brief describes the development and use of three forms of program data: 1) a database of community agencies which includes services provided and up-to-date assessments of program capacity; 2) referral data to identify trends in new parent demand; and 3) requested services data to identify gaps between parents’ needs and available programs, and when appropriate to justify increases in funding or reallocation of existing funds. Informed by experience from the development of the Durham Connects and the Family Connects programs, this brief discusses the process, challenges, and efficiencies of developing and using these data.