BRING NURSE-FAMILY PARTNERSHIP TO YOUR COMMUNITY
Are you currently working on a funding proposal to implement Nurse-Family Partnership in your community? Contact Network Development so we can help you develop a strong proposal!
Want to bring the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program to your community? The NFP National Service Office (NSO) is here to help you get started. With the support of an NSO network development specialist and the manager of nursing implementation, you will benefit from lessons learned through decades of replication at hundreds of local NFP programs across the country.
The Nurse-Family Partnership Model is based on nineteen essential model elements. Adherence to these elements provides a reasonable expectation of replication of the outcomes of NFP’s initial randomized-control trials. At NFP, this is commonly referred to as model fidelity.
WHO IMPLEMENTS NURSE-FAMILY PARTNERSHIP?
An NFP program can live within a variety of different types of organizations and will typically serve moms in a local service area. Some of the most common Network Partners (NPs) include hospital systems, public health departments, community-based nonprofits, visiting nurse associations and even universities. Importantly, NFP requires that an organization be known in the community as a successful provider of prevention services to families in need.
An NFP program can launch with a minimum of two nurse home visitors and one supervisor, however the majority of NPs begin with four to eight nurse home visitors. The NSO network development team can help you determine the right size team for your community.
Starting a new Nurse-Family Partnership site is both exhilarating and daunting. The model is the gold standard for a reason! The knowledge, experience and support of our network development specialist made all the difference in our successful launch. – Margaret Clark, MPA, Senior Program Director, Every Child Succeeds, Cincinnati OH
PLANNING FOR NURSE-FAMILY PARTNERSHIP
Implementing NFP is more than just sending a few people to a training- it is really like starting a small business! You’ll be fundraising, managing a budget, building community partnerships, hiring highly skilled staff, and continuously improving your program to meet the complex needs of the new families you serve.
Your network development team will equip you with tools and guidance for developing your program’s plans around staff and client recruitment and retention, designing your program infrastructure, building community support, planning for long-term sustainability, creating community linkages and integrating NFP into your community’s continuum of care.
Planning for a new program implementation can take three to eight months, depending on the amount of staff time dedicated to planning, experience employing nurses and implementing home visiting programs, and your existing network of referral partners and champions.
BUDGETING
While there are expenses related to nurse education, physical supplies and other supports, the primary driver for your NFP budget will be nurse salaries. The total cost can vary based on local salaries and the size of your program. Your network development specialist will provide you with a budget template and guidance for developing a budget to adequately support your NFP program.
FUNDRAISING
Your organization will also be tasked with raising money to fund the program sustainably. The NFP NSO requires that you have at least one year of guaranteed operational funds, with a reasonable and realistic plan for at least three years of funding. Nurse-Family Partnership programs draw from a variety of funding sources – federal, state, county/local and private dollars. The NFP NSO Policy and Government Affairs team advocates for sustained and increased funding nationally. Additionally, government affairs managers work at the state level to secure new and continued funding for Nurse-Family Partnership programs. The bulk of the responsibility of fundraising, however, lies in the hands of the individual network partners.
If you are writing a grant for NFP, please connect with us as soon as possible to ensure that your grant proposal aligns with the NFP model.
FINDING CLIENTS
Establishing a referral network will be a key task for your program. For a four-nurse team, you will need approximately 36-40 qualified (first-time, at-risk, before the end of the 28th week) referrals per month.
SEEING CLIENTS
Once you are deemed ready to implement by the NFP National Service Office and have hired your Baccalaureate prepared nurses, they will participate in a comprehensive education of the NFP model. They’ll attend face-to-face education in Denver, and immediately begin to enroll clients. Nurses reach a full caseload of at least 25 and no more than 30 clients in about nine months. This timing allows nurses to integrate into practice information learned during education. A gradual building of caseload promotes fidelity to the model, nurse retention, client retention, and achievement of key NFP program outcomes.
The guidance and support from the NSO through this process was simply the best. From a project management standpoint: the collaboration, work and thoughtfulness made this process an easy one for me – I only wish all of our partners guided implementation like NFP! – Bryan Johnson, Senior Director of Strategy & Innovation, Metropolitan Family Services, Chicago IL
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL SERVICE OFFICE
The National Service Office functions effectively as the NFP program’s nonprofit corporate office. The NSO is responsible for ensuring network partners abide by the nineteen model elements, thus preserving model fidelity. The NSO, in conjunction with the Prevention Research Center, continually evaluates the data received from network partners to improve the model so that it continues to help transform communities. The NSO offers common services and tools benefiting hundreds of NPs. This makes it possible for NPs together, as a large collective network, to utilize shared developed expertise, take advantage of economies of scale, and realize benefits that would otherwise be cost prohibitive or impossible alone. When your agency is approved to implement the NFP model, you become part of this national NFP network. You will employ the nurses and staff and ensure you successfully implement the program in your community – and the NSO will use its experience and resources to help you succeed.
Contact us today to discuss Nurse-Family Partnership in your community!