DENVER, CO (December 3, 2019) — Nurse-Family Partnership ® (NFP) – a national program serving first-time moms and their children living in poverty – is pleased to announce that California State Assemblymember Jim Patterson (R-23, Fresno) is one of two California recipients of the 2019 Force for Good Public Policy Award. The award recognizes elected officials for making a difference for families in poverty.
In his role as a member of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee for Health & Human Services, Assemblymember Patterson was critical in crafting state budgets with bold investments in evidence-based home visiting programs to lift families out of poverty. The 2019-20 state budget signed by Governor Newsom on June 27 increased funding for home visiting by more than $55 million annually through the CalWORKs Home Visiting Program and the California Department of Public Health Home Visiting Program.
Assemblymember Patterson was highly supportive of Governor Newsom’s initial investment for home visiting programs in the 2019 state budget, meeting with Nurse-Family Partnership families to hear their stories and advocating for increasing the state’s investment. The new funds budgeted for home visiting programs through CalWORKs and the California Home Visiting Program will enable Assemblymember Patterson’s home district in Fresno County to expand the Nurse-Family Partnership programs to more families in need.
“We are greatly appreciative of Assemblymember Patterson’s support for expanding funding for essential programs for vulnerable moms and their children throughout California, including evidence-based, home visiting programs like Nurse-Family Partnership,” said Toni Panetta, Southwest Region government affairs manager for Nurse-Family Partnership National Service Office. “His great efforts will truly be a ‘force for good’ in his community, and in the lives of the families that will be positively impacted as a result.”
Nurse-Family Partnership was established in California in 1996, and has since served more than 28,000 vulnerable families. Nurse-Family Partnership is a two-generation intervention proven to lift families out of poverty. Outcomes from rigorously designed, randomized control trials show that families who enrolled in the program achieved higher earnings compared to families that were not enrolled. According to a study by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, every $1 invested in Nurse-Family Partnership can yield up to $4.10 in return for the highest-risk families served in California. The program currently operates in 20 counties in the state.
The Force for Good Award is named after founder Dr. David Olds, who described the impact of Nurse-Family Partnership as a “force for good that changes the future for two generations.”