8 Takeaways From New Nurse-Family Partnership Study!

Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP) pairs first-time mothers with a registered nurse for ongoing home visits aimed at providing the best start for their children during the earliest, most developmentally critical years. NFP is an international, community health program, widely researched and recognized for increasing health care access and improving health outcomes.

“Backed by over 40 years of scientifically-proven outcomes for families, Nurse-Family Partnership changes the future for the most vulnerable babies by providing first-time mothers trusted support and guidance,” said Betsy Delgado, Vice President of Mission and Education Initiatives at Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana. “Our Goodwill NFP has served 4,200 families and looks forward to continuing that two-generation impact in the new year.”

Recently, Pediatrics – a leading, peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics – published an 18-year follow-up of participants in a randomized, clinical trial of Nurse-Family Partnership.

This study found that Nurse-Family Partnership significantly improved the cognitive functioning and academic performance of 18-year-old youth born to high-risk mothers with limited psychological resources to cope with poverty. Here is a list of key takeaways from the survey:

1. Over the 18-year period, Nurse-Family Partnership saved the government $17,310 per family in public benefit costs, resulting in a net savings of $4,732 in government costs (in 2009 dollars).
2. The youth study found that youth – whose mothers had participated in nurse home visits during pregnancy and until their child’s second birthday – had improved cognitive outcomes compared to youth in a control group.
3. The outcomes for youth at age 18 included: improved math achievement scores, receptive language abilities, working memory, and ability to accurately read others’ emotions.
4. The nurse-visited youth were three times as likely to graduate from high school with honors compared to the control group.
5. Also, at age 18, the proportion of nurse-visited youth receiving supplemental security income (SSI) for disability was 64.2% lower than that of the control group.
6. Nurse-visited female children born to all mothers participating in Nurse-Family Partnership, as a trend, had fewer convictions at age 18 than female children in the control group.
7. An additional 18-year study of high-risk mothers who had participated in nurse home visits during pregnancy until their child’s second birthday were more likely to get married over the 18-year follow-up period and had higher rates of cohabitation than the control group.
8. At the 18-year assessment, nurse-visited mothers had spouses who were employed 14 months more than those in the control group.

In summary, these studies have found that Nurse-Family Partnership is successful in reducing welfare use, improving children’s cognitive development and academic achievement and increasing family self sufficiency.

To enroll in Goodwill's Nurse-Family Partnership, a woman must be less than 28 weeks pregnant, qualify for pregnancy Medicaid, live in one of the 29 counties we currently offer services, and be a first-time mom.

To refer someone today, please visit goodwillindy.org/health.