Families, Nurses, Members of Congress Salute Model Program's Success in Preventing Abuse, Promoting Health; Photo Available 3/12/2004
From: Geri Reinhart, 202-737-2622 ext. 119 or GeriR@lisboa.com , for Nurse-Family Partnership News Advisory: Editor's note: High-resolution photos supporting the following story are available for free editorial use at http://www.wirepix.com/newsphotos/USN/ ------ Finding: More children under the age of five die from child abuse and neglect than from any other single cause of death for infants and young children (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.) Finding: A money-saving, early intervention program reduces child abuse and neglect by 79 percent. For more than 25 years, the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) has trained nurses to make home visits with low-income, first-time mothers from early pregnancy through the child's second birthday. Experts call this time a rare "teachable moment." As the creator of NFP, Dr. David Olds, puts it: "There is a magical window during pregnancy... it is a time when the desire to be a good mother-and raise a healthy, happy child-creates motivation to overcome incredible obstacles including poverty, instability or abuse, with the help of well-trained nurses." Sens. Arlen Specter, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barbara Boxer, federal and state policy makers and Dr. Risa Lavizzo- Mourey, president and CEO of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) spoke at the Nurse-Family Partnership National Forum on March 11., in Room 902 of the Hart Senate Office Building, U.S. Senate. Presented by NFP and RWJF, and co-hosted by Sens. Ted Stevens, John Warner, Arlen Specter, Tim Johnson, Dianne Feinstein, and Barbara Boxer, this national forum focused on distinct perspectives on how NFP improves public health and safety. The program effectively promotes child and family health, child development, mental health and substance abuse prevention, while also helping to alleviate the burden on our health and criminal justice systems. NFP is the most rigorously tested program of its kind, and it has the strongest research findings to prove that most child abuse and neglect can be avoided. Randomized controlled trials- the most rigorous type of research-have shown that, supported by regular nurse visits, NFP mothers are less likely to abuse or neglect their children, have subsequent unintended pregnancies, or misuse alcohol or drugs; and they are more likely to transition off welfare and successfully maintain stable employment. As a result, their babies grow up healthier and are less likely in adolescence to commit crimes, use tobacco or alcohol, and engage in sex. One youth who leaves high school for a life of crime and drug use costs society $1.7 to $2.3 million. In contrast, the average three-year cost to establish a Nurse-Family Partnership program to serve 100 families is $844,000. A 15-year follow-up of participants in Elmira, New York, the longest running site, found that with NFP training, families headed by mothers who were low-income and unmarried at registration experienced: -- A 79 percent reduction in child abuse and neglect from birth to the first child's 15th birthday -- A 30-month reduction in welfare dependency by first child's 15th birthday -- A 44 percent reduction in behavioral problems among mothers due to alcohol and/or drug use -- A 69 percent reduction in arrests among the mothers over 15 years following birth of their first child -- A 51 percent reduction in alcohol consumption among adolescents by their 15th birthday -- A 54 percent reduction in arrests among adolescents by their 15th birthday -- A 56 percent reduction in emergency room visits for injuries and ingestions by child's 2nd birthday. For more information about the Nurse-Family Partnership, a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, visit http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org. For media requests, and for more information about the Nurse-Family Partnership National Forum, please call Geri Reinhart at 202-737-2622 ext. 119. ------ The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grantmaking in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to quality health care at reasonable cost; to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse -- tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs. |