Every one of us works at Nurse-Family Partnership with the same goal – reaching families and ending poverty. When people ask me, “what keeps you up at night?” my answer is always the same, “the families who don’t receive Nurse-Family Partnership and how their kiddos are going to be doing in school and at age 15 and throughout life.” This month, together we reached an all-time high of 33,468 families currently being served! Our thanks to each and every one of you. We know this is hard work.
There are over 380,000 babies born annually to first-time moms living below the poverty line and we reach 3-4% on an annual basis. To position Nurse-Family Partnership to collectively make an even greater impact on population health and poverty we have been listening to you and know that you need secure funding, improved technology and program expansion to meet the needs of our communities.
For more than 90% of you, the reauthorization of the federal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program is an essential funding element. With bipartisan support, MIECHV has helped improve the health and well-being of families across the country. In our ongoing advocacy efforts to support reauthorization of MIECHV we were proud to have an amazing NFP mom testify before Congress in March. A confident and poised Rosa Valentin, at 16 the youngest NFP mom to testify before the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee, shared how NFP changed the trajectory of her and her daughter’s lives for the better. During the hearing, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell said after Rosa’s testimony, “Your grace, courage, maturity is something to be marveled at.”
Additional advocacy efforts are
happening in states across the
nation. We were excited to
have nurses, clients, staff
and supporters take to their
state capitols in Arizona,
New York, Texas and Utah
to educate lawmakers and
advocate for NFP. Please
reach out to us so we can help make this happen in
every state.
Using the media to share the important work our nurses are doing to help moms find their path to success is also an excellent way to build support for NFP. Every week there are numerous stories shared in local and national press recognizing the hard work and strength of our NFP moms. Keep up the great work!
We know that to sustain NFP, keep NFP moms engaged and support nurses’ efficiency, we need to increase the use of technology. We have heard from our nurses and moms that they need more options to connect. To respond to this need we have introduced the use of telehealth. Telehealth gives nurses the flexibility to provide additional support to high-risk moms as well as better address scheduling issues due to illness, safety or inclement weather. This technology helps us keep our moms engaged and in the program until graduation. Out of our 265 agencies, 59 have started telehealth and 159 are taking steps to begin telehealth. And while there are always challenges, we are hearing a great response that it is helping families stay connected, helping nurses understand the immediate needs and serving as an additional touchpoint. Make no mistake, telehealth will never substitute for the personal visit, but it does help us all stay connected when the in-person visit is not feasible or when a family is really doing well and only wants a touchpoint. Our families and nurses have asked for this option and phone calls were part of the original NFP trials!
Thank you to each and every one of you for your relentless support of families in need. Happy National Nurses Week and Mother’s Day!
Helping You Break the Cycle
of Poverty in Your Community
from Roxane White
Help us break the cycle of poverty.
Make a gift TODAY.
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