ENROLLED
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 161
BY REPRESENTATIVE SMITH
A RESOLUTION
To commend the Nurse-Family Partnership in Louisiana on its twentieth anniversary.
WHEREAS, the Nurse-Family Partnership, or NFP, is a program that operates with
the assistance of local partners in forty-one states, including Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the NFP has amassed an impressive record in helping first-time, low-
income mothers and their babies improve pregnancy and birth outcomes, as well as in
outcomes pertaining to child development, welfare, and familial economic self-sufficiency;
and
WHEREAS, through this program, specially educated registered nurses visit women
regularly in their homes during their first pregnancy, and the process continues until the
child's second birthday, thus improving the baby's development during the pivotal first one
thousand days of life; and
WHEREAS, the leadership of NFP chose to offer the program for public investment
only after evidence of enduring impact and cost savings had been produced and after they
had confidence that the essential elements of the program could be reliably reproduced; and
WHEREAS, all in all, studies suggest that the NFP improves prenatal health; reduces
childhood injuries; reduces subsequent pregnancy and birth rates; increases the intervals
between first and second pregnancies and births; increases maternal employment; reduces
women's use of welfare programs; improves children's mental health; increases children's
school readiness and academic achievement; and reduces costs to government and society;
and
WHEREAS, similarly, economic studies of NFP suggest that for higher-risk families
the societal benefit is $5.70 for every $1.00 invested, with the bulk of that savings accruing
to government; and
Page 1 of 2 HR NO. 161 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, data from a follow-up study to the NFP trial study in Elmira, New York,
which was conducted fifteen years later, showed long-term positive effects for families that
had participated in the initial study; and
WHEREAS, in the three randomized controlled trial studies of NFP, study
participants have exhibited, in at least one study, a forty-eight percent reduction in child
abuse and neglect, a fifty-nine percent reduction in arrests among children, and seventy-two
percent fewer convictions of mothers; and
WHEREAS, the NFP program has served more than 20,000 vulnerable Louisiana
families since 1999 and is inspired by a vision of a future where all children are healthy,
where families thrive, where communities prosper, and where the cycle of poverty is broken;
and
WHEREAS, on Monday, May 20, 2019, the NFP program will celebrate its twentieth
anniversary.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the Nurse-Family Partnership in Louisiana
on its twentieth anniversary and does hereby commend the individuals who operate this
wonderful program which has been of great benefit to women and children in Louisiana.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Page 2 of 2