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Nurse Family Partnership home-visiting program serves first-time moms in Monterey County; officials cite positive outcomes
Summary
Monterey County public-health officials described the Nurse Family Partnership program, which pairs public-health nurses with low-income first-time mothers from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday, outlined eligibility and referral routes, and cited national and local positive outcomes and expansion since 2018.
Mia introduced Ella Harris, director of public health nursing with the County of Monterey Health Department, to describe the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) home-visiting program.
Ella Harris said NFP is an evidence-based national home-visiting program that pairs a public-health nurse with a low-income, first-time mother during pregnancy and remains engaged through the child’s second birthday. The county’s NFP program has operated in Monterey County since 2018 and expanded to cover South County; local staff recently increased from four to five public-health nurses.
The briefing included program-reported outcomes from national studies highlighted in the presentation: a 48 percent reduction in child abuse and neglect, a 56 percent reduction in emergency-department visits for accidents and poisonings, a 79 percent reduction in preterm delivery for women who smoke, and an 82 percent increase in months employed for participating parents. Harris described typical home visits as client-centered sessions that last about an hour and said eligibility requires being a first-time mother who is pregnant at enrollment. Referrals are accepted through the health department and an electronic referral form on the county website; Harris also named Loretta Franco Espinosa as the supervising public-health nurse to contact for questions.
Harris said local graduate numbers are modest but growing and that many referral pathways (WIC, OB providers, community events, and word-of-mouth from program graduates) are used to reach eligible families. The county encouraged providers and community members to refer pregnant first-time mothers to NFP and shared contact pathways for the health department’s public-health bureau.
The briefing closed with thanks and an invitation to viewers to consult the health department website for the electronic referral form and more information.
