More than 930 families have graduated from the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program since it launched locally in 2009, including 25 families that celebrated completing the program at NFP’s annual graduation event in August.
The graduation, held at the Jefferson Community Center in Eureka, was attended by dozens of program participants including newly enrolled families, families that are partway through the program and recent graduates.
NFP, a program of the Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS), is an evidence-based, voluntary prevention program that provides nurse home visitation services to income-qualifying, first-time parents. Nurse-Family Partnership pairs a registered nurse with clients on or before week 28 of pregnancy, who works with them through the child’s second birthday.
Senior Public Health Nurse Alice Olliff, who previously worked as a Public Health Nurse serving pediatric hospice clients in San Diego, joined NFP in 2010. She currently works with 25 different families throughout the county and meets with them regularly in-person and through Telehealth. “From my own experience as a teen mom, I cannot emphasize enough how much that support means to a first-time parent as they navigate the care for themselves and their child,” she said. “This is the reason I am passionate about this program – I truly believe it makes a difference.”
Supervising Public Health Nurse Kathryn O’Malley, who has been with NFP since it began, shares a similar passion for the program saying, “In my 39 years of nursing, working with Nurse-Family Partnership and being witness to families building the lives and future they envision has been the most rewarding job.”
O’Malley added that research consistently proves the NFP program succeeds at its most important goals: keeping children and moms healthy and safe and assisting them in creating the lives they want for themselves.
Olliff agrees and said she encourages anyone curious about the program to learn more and see if they qualify. “We take clients up to week 28 of their pregnancy. The program is voluntary and really guided by the participant,” she said, adding, “We really try to support each family to reach a goal that is important to them.”
To learn more about the program, visit humboldtgov.org/NFP or email nursefamilypartnership@co.humboldt.ca.us.
Humboldt County DHHS’s Nurse-Family Partnership team gathers for a group photo with the Tooth Fairy at a summer graduation event for participants who recently completed the program.
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