Florida Healthy Start Announces Expansion of Nurse-Family Partnership Funding

Florida Healthy Start administers the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) in 12 Florida counties as a result of a funding increase.

This year, The Florida Legislature approved funding to support the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program in nine additional counties. This increase expands the funding from three to twelve counties. The Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions (FAHSC) administers the NFP program through a contract with the Florida Department of Health (DOH) with direct services available at Healthy Start Coalitions in each of the 12 counties where the program is now available.

FAHSC harnesses the power of over 30 years as a leading nonprofit in the state of Florida to improve the lives of families through services developed to meet the needs of pregnant and post-partum women, fathers, infants, and young children up to age three. In addition to the Healthy Start program, FAHSC supports 32 Healthy Start Coalitions throughout the state with services such as the NFP program where specially trained nurses regularly visit young, first-time parents-to-be beginning early in the pregnancy and continuing through the child’s second birthday.

NFP empowers first-time parents to transform their lives and create better futures for themselves and their babies. New parents develop a close relationship with a nurse who becomes a trusted resource they can rely on for advice on everything from safely caring for their child to taking steps to provide a stable and secure future.

Marisa Mowat, the executive director at Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough, where they’ve implemented the NFP program for 10 years and are thrilled to receive the funding to continue, explains that “The data shows that NFP is undoubtedly effective—with a 48% reduction in the likelihood of child abuse or neglect and an 82% increase in employment, among many other remarkable positive impacts. It’s seeing the impacts on families firsthand, as we do here in Hillsborough, which provides the most convincing evidence that this program is invaluable.”

The Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions