Auditor General DePasquale Visits Lehigh Valley Nonprofit, Learns About National Program to Prevent Child Abuse
Auditor General DePasquale Visits Lehigh Valley Nonprofit, Learns About National Program to Prevent Child Abuse
ALLENTOWN (Oct. 30, 2017) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale met today with top officials of the Nurse-Family Partnership, a national program designed to reduce child abuse and neglect and improve the lives of first-time, low-income mothers.
In addition to staff and board members for the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) of Bethlehem, DePasquale met with Dr. David Olds, who founded the national program. The visit was part of DePasquale's tour following his 80-page "State of the Child" special report, which found that Pennsylvania's child-welfare system is broken.
"What I learned today is that there is hope," DePasquale said. "While the child-welfare system is reactive to abuse and neglect, the Nurse-Family Partnership is proactive in preventing maltreatment from ever occurring."
Nurse-Family Partnership’s model calls for each qualified young mother to be paired with a registered nurse, who works with her from early pregnancy through the child's second birthday. The nurses provide education, emotional support and more for the mothers.
Among those who spoke with DePasquale were two mothers who have been through the program and the nurses who worked with them.
"This program model is heavily research based and has been proven to help break the cycle of poverty and child abuse," DePasquale said. "Prevention is truly one of the best ways to save children's lives.
"I wholeheartedly agree with something the nurses in the program say: 'It's easier to build a healthy child than to fix a broken adult.'"
NFP receives $11.9 million each year in state funding, an amount unchanged since its introduction to Pennsylvania during the 1990s. There are more than 20 NFP sites in Pennsylvania that serve mothers in 48 counties.
In the Lehigh Valley, NFP works with 250 families each year.
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