WASHINGTON, D.C. – A team led by Rhode Island Kids Count has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant to start a program that will pair at-risk, first-time mothers and fathers with nurses who will visit them at home during pregnancy and through their baby’s first two years and provide health and parenting education and other support services.
The Rhode Island Nurse-Family Partnership Initiative will be the first state program of its kind in New England. It will be based at Children’s Friend & Service, in Providence, and will initially focus mostly on families in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls.
“This nationally recognized program has been proven to be effective at improving the health and development of children and their parents,” said U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who supported the grant application along with the rest of the state’s congressional delegation.
“Adjusting to the challenges of parenthood can be difficult for everyone, especially when resources and support are scarce,” said U.S. Sen. Sheldon A. Whitehouse. “By ensuring that the assistance of a nurse is available to those who need it, this program will help new parents provide loving and stable homes for their children.”
Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Kids Count, said the grant would provide an opportunity to leverage public and private investments “so that we can make real progress in reducing the child abuse and neglect rate among infants and toddlers in our state.”
According to Kids Count, as of last Dec. 31, there were more than 1,000 infants and toddlers under the age of 3 in the care of the R.I. Department of Children, Youth and Families. Children under age 1 are the fastest-growing segment of the child welfare population, the nonprofit said, with a 70-percent increase in the number of complaints from 2000 to 2007.
“This initiative will bring critical supports to first-time parents in our most at-risk communities,” said David Caprio, executive director of Children’s Friend. “This cost-effective, well-tested prevention model will put children on a path to healthy development and will save costs in the long run by keeping more children out of the child welfare system.”
As part of the project, the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center, which is affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the program, including process, outcome and cost-benefit analyses.
Rhode Island Kids Count will lead the planning process and support the infrastructure development necessary for the widespread adoption, implementation and maintenance of the Nurse-Family Partnership model. Other partners include DCYF, the R.I. Department of Health, the R.I. Department of Human Services; and the Nurse-Family Partnership National Service Office, a nonprofit based in Denver.
For more information about the Nurse-Family Partnership model, go to www.nursefamilypartnership.org.
