Leaders of the Charleston/Berkley/Dorchester Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) site today gathered with community leaders to discuss the program's progress since it enrolled its first mother last August. NFP is a nationally recognized evidence-based public health program. The group discussed the importance of NFP, the benefits it is bringing to the areas served and heard from a client currently enrolled in the program.

NFP is one of the oldest and most rigorously evaluated home-visiting programs in the nation.  Registered nurses work with low-income, first-time mothers to improve maternal health, promote healthy child development and achieve economic self-sufficiency. The program is completely voluntary for the mother and employs local nurses. NFP also encourages participation from the father and other members of the family. The program currently operates six sites serving nine South Carolina counties, including Charleston, Berkley and Dorchester.

"Our team has worked hard over the last year to build a site that is responsive and meets the needs of our clients from the three counties we serve," said Lib Hinson, NFP site administrator, Charleston Berkeley Dorchester Nurse Family Partnership, South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (DHEC) - Region 7. "We have collaborated closely with organizations throughout the community, including all three local First Steps organizations, to spread the word about Nurse-Family Partnership so mothers in need can benefit from the proven program."

The Charleston/Berkeley/Dorchester site, which is implemented by South Carolina DHEC - Region 7, employs four NFP nurse home visitors and a nurse supervisor. Each nurse home visitor is assigned 25 clients. To date, the site has served 122 clients, welcomed 56 babies and conducted more than 1,329 home visits.

"Our site covers a big area. Because of this, our team has worked to build a Nurse-Family Partnership site that has strong ties to the community and is able to meet the needs of the mothers, babies and families," said Victoria Manigault, nurse supervisor, Charleston Berkeley Dorchester Nurse Family Partnership, South Carolina DHEC - Region 7. "We will continue building our program to meet the rigorous program standards established for Nurse-Family Partnership. This will help ensure we generate the outcomes we know this program produces."

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