November 2009Vol. 10, No. 9Pennsylvania's Nurse-Family Partnership Initiative: Lessons Learned
In times of economic distress, investing funds in proven preventive programs, such as nurse home visitation, becomes even more essential. A recent report from Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), Growing What Works: Lessons Learned from Pennsylvania's Nurse-Family Partnership Initiative, draws on P/PV's experience working with Pennsylvania's Nurse-Family Partnership initiative (a nurse home-visiting program) to offer lessons learned about implementing models statewide. After citing the research supporting the program and some of the fundamentals of successful program replication, the report provides recommendations on:
- Choosing the right agency
- Ensuring the program is well received and integrated into the community
- Creating a community of practice
- Closely monitoring results
- Engaging local administrators
- Investing in evaluations
The report concludes by stating that successful replication requires deliberate support from all key players to ensure sites are adhering to the model, which is critical to the success and future expansion of the program. In addition, the report notes that the Nurse-Family Partnership initiative has saved the State approximately $317 million over the past decade.
The report, by Jennifer Collins Stavrakos and Geri Summerville with Laura E. Johnson, is available on the P/PV website:
www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/299_publication.pdf (1,661 KB)