The Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey

The Partnership for Maternal and Child health of Northern New Jersey (The Partnership) is a not for profit organization which main goal is the improvement of the maternal and child health needs in the region. Not only does it provides services to pregnant women and their babies, but also services/programs to the rest of their families. These services can include referrals to food pantries, workshops, job readiness support, fatherhood support and activities for families.

As stated before The Partnership’s main goal is the improvement of the maternal and child health needs in the counties they serve. In order to obtain clients to be assisted, the Partnership utilizes outside referrals from agencies such as hospitals, clinics, the New Jersey Child Protection and Permanency, and other facilities that service women which is then delivered to Central Intake. Central Intake’s job is to increase screening, referrals and/or linkage of pregnant women and women of child bearing age to needed services within the counties.

Central Intake links pregnant and women of childbearing age to the appropriate services within the Partnership or organizations in the counties of New Jersey using the Single Point of Entry Client Tracking System (SPECT). Based on the needs of assessment that the clients request such as parenting courses, transportation, care management or referrals for resources, clients are referred to the Health Start program at the Partnership. Other clients who do not qualify or seek other services are directed to other programs within the Partnership or other agencies that would assist them such as Healthy Families, Parents as Teachers, etc.

Problems with this system:

Clientele are unaware that they are being placed in a system that would assist them in obtaining resources that they can utilize

Community health workers and home visitors are unsuccessful reaching clients, phone numbers are disconnected, etc

Clients forget why they are being called, long time duration between client and services

No follow up is given from hospitals, clinics, etc regarding if information is still the same for clients

Solution:

Creating a system where clients are constantly reminded and follow up is taken to make sure correct information is provided for clients to be connected to these services.