The Health Authority has been awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Kellogg Foundation to implement the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) in Detroit. NFP is an evidenced-based program that improves the outcomes of infants by strengthening the capacity of first-time parents to prepare for child birth and care for the child in their first years of development.

The Health Authority has been awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Kellogg Foundation to implement the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) in Detroit. NFP is an evidenced-based program that improves the outcomes of infants by strengthening the capacity of first-time parents to prepare for child birth and care for the child in their first years of development.

“We are honored to bring the Nurse Family Partnership to Detroit and augment other community health efforts to improve outcomes for infants in vulnerable populations,” explained Chris Allen, Health Authority CEO. “As has been noted in the past, and with personal experience working with the Family Road program at the old Hutzel Hospital site, when parents are properly prepared, from the perspective of personal health and parenting skills, the outcomes for children are much greater. Our community needs to make a concerted effort to reduce infant mortality in Detroit and Wayne County.”

Together with the Wayne County Child Health Access Program (WCHAP), the Health Authority will strengthen its involvement with maternal and child health, Allen said. “There are several gaps in the services provided for people in the health care safety net, from maternal health through gerontology. In order to achieve our goal of enhanced health and wellness for people in the health care safety net, the Health Authority will explore programs like NFP that will fill these gaps.”

The NFP will impact two neighborhoods in Detroit, one on the Eastside and one on the Westside. NFP uses the skills of registered nurses who have added training in the NFP protocol to form relationships with low income first-time mothers early in their pregnancy designed to help women and their families connect with medical and socio-environmental resources. The NFP program is able to reduce the impact of poverty and improve the lives of disadvantaged young families by counseling and connecting with job and hiring resources and helping family members obtain needed skills to succeed. The bond formed between the nurse and mother serves to improve prenatal care follow- through, be more aware of danger signs, improve care-seeking for primary care needs, plan for delivery and return to a safe home environment. Infant mortality is reduced in families receiving NFP and mothers have better success in planning next pregnancies.

The Detroit NFP will establish a partnership with the Wayne State University School of Medicine Midwifery Program, which has been a progressive force in Detroit maternity care. “Nurse midwives, which currently work exclusively in the hospital environment, will now be able to work with their patients in their home,” Allen said. “In a sense, NFP will reinvent the historic role of nurse midwives in Detroit.”

The Detroit NFP team will consist of five registered nurses and a nurse supervisor. The Michigan Department of Community Health and NFP National Service Office will consult on the project, which plans to engage 125 families from pregnancy through two years after the infant’s birth.

Specific goals of the program are:

  • Improve pregnancy outcomes through improved prenatal care.
  • Improve children’s health and development by helping parents provide sensitive and competent care giving.
  • Help parents develop a vision for the future, plan subsequent pregnancies, complete education/job training, and find employment

For more information on the NFP Detroit program, contact Chris Allen at 313-871-3751.