Nurse-Family Partnership - ColoradoGives.org

Nurse-Family Partnership positively transforms the lives of vulnerable babies, mothers and families.

Testimonials

"NFP is based on the ground-breaking work of David Olds, professor of pediatrics, psychiatry and preventive medicine at the University of Colorado, Denver. The program is validated by almost 40 years of research demonstrating improvements in the health of first-time mothers and their children. One of the program's first evaluations in Denver determined that participating women were less likely to smoke during pregnancy and interacted more with their babies who demonstrated greater language and mental development than non-participants. According to another evaluation, the program helps prevent child mistreatment, neglect and associated injury. Even by the age of 19, teens who received home visits as children were less likely to be arrested, gave birth to fewer children and used Medicaid less frequently than their counterparts who did not benefit from NFP"….

-Colorado Health Foundation, Prevention: Strong Investments in Colorado's Health (Supplement of the Colorado Health Report Card), March 2012

"One successful example of early intervention is home visitation by childcare experts, like those from the Nurse-Family Partnership. This organization sends nurses to visit poor, vulnerable women who are pregnant for the first time. The nurse warns against smoking and alcohol and drug abuse, and later encourages breast-feeding and good nutrition, while coaxing mothers to cuddle their children and read to them. This program continues until the child is 2.
"At age 6, studies have found, these children are only one-third as likely to have behavioral or intellectual problems as others who weren't enrolled. At age 15, the children are less than half as likely to have been arrested."

-Nicholas Kristof, "A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug," The New York Times, January 7, 2012

"We're all better off if we make the investment upfront. I would rather see us be involved early and have it be an educational situation, as opposed to no involvement and then become part of the criminal justice system."

- Patrick Perez, sheriff of Kane County, Illinois; member, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, as quoted in USA Today, Apr. 14, 2010

"Nurse-Family Partnership has a successful track record of helping low-income, first-time mothers and their children improve the long-term health, well-being and life-prospects. The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation is a proud supporter of NFP's efforts to dramatically scale its proven program to achieve ever greater national impact."

- Nancy Roob, President and CEO, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, July 16, 2009

"In the case of early childhood intervention and particularly in the Nurse-Family Partnership program, we actually have solid, rigorous, experimental-based evidence that demonstrates that this is a program that generates not only benefits to participating children and their families... but real economic returns that are a payback to society for making those investments."

- Lynn A. Karoly, senior economist, RAND Corporation, October 6, 2006

"In identifying the Blueprints programs, the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence reviewed over 650 programs with published research in peer-reviewed literature - only six-percent of these programs clearly worked, or even appeared promising. It's unethical and irresponsible for government agencies to promote programs that have never been evaluated or evaluated and found to be ineffective or harmful - particularly when the lives of children and family members are at stake. We fully support and endorse Nurse-Family Partnership as a model effective program."

- Dr. Delbert S. Elliott, director, Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado, to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Law Enforcement Conference, August, 16, 2006