C7 - Family Navigator Program: Successful connections beyond barriers

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Full Description: Since 2016, the Family Navigator Program (FNP) at the Mailman Center for Child Development in Miami, FL has been offering complimentary services, funded by a generous donation from the Taft Foundation, to families of children and youth with special health care needs and disabilities living in South Florida. This successful and effective family support program serves a diverse population of families who face health inequities due to immigration status, race, and language.
Through an interactive presentation, we will walk participants through our process and lessons learned over the past 5 years in developing this much needed initiative, discuss certain barriers to connection we have encountered, and share proposed solutions and future projects to address those barriers and grow the impact of the FNP. We will invite attendees to join in a lively discussion and sharing of ideas while reflecting on the past in order to shape the program’s future.
With the aim of empowering, supporting, and educating families, the FNP navigators provide vital peer support, refer families to community resources, and assist in the application for federal, state, and local programs. We have realized the importance of identifying and analyzing the barriers families face in terms of connection to proper resources in the community, including some dynamic, static, and systemic barriers.
The FNP is proud to partner with other like-minded agencies including the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), and the Mailman Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. In order to best advocate for our clients, we recognize the importance of interprofessional collaboration in achieving success as a program.
After several years, we found further need to address family support services in our community. This resulted in the innovative web-based FNP training program, where staff are trained at trusted community organizations to deepen and sustain the extension of these essential navigation services.
Our Advisory Committee and staff are composed of a diverse group of individuals, including University faculty, community representatives, parents and siblings of individuals with disabilities, physicians, medical students, and self-advocates. This program is rooted in connections across health and community systems at all levels, which promotes improved care and services that can be offered to the families we serve. Aligned with the AMCHP’s mission of improving the health of women, children, youth, and families, including those with special health care needs, we too strive to improve the health of such populations by coordinating care and connecting to services at an individual and community level.

Abbreviated Description: The Family Navigator Program (FNP) at the Mailman Center for Child Development in Miami, FL has been offering services to families of youth with special health care needs and disabilities living in South Florida. This successful and effective program serves a diverse population of families who face health inequities due to immigration status, race, and language. We will walk participants through our process and lessons learned in developing this initiative, discuss certain barriers to connection we have encountered, and share proposed solutions and future projects to address those barriers and grow the impact of the FNP. Aligned with the AMCHP’s mission, we strive to improve the health of this population by coordinating care and connecting to services at individual and community levels.