Senator Squadron Brings Deputy Mayor Buery, Maternal Home Visiting to Senate Pre-Natal to Pre-K Hearing

Squadron, Colleagues, Gather City, State, Advocates To Call For Universal Maternal Home Visiting at Senate Hearing

NEW YORK – State Senator Daniel Squadron, along with Senate colleagues, gathered State and City officials, including Deputy Mayor Richard Buery, Human Resource Administration Commissioner Steven Banks, Department of Mental Health and Hygiene Director of Nurse-Family Partnership Roberta Holder-Mosley, as well as early childhood experts, providers, and program participants to highlight the importance of delivering effective social services programs for high-risk families from pre-natal to pre-k, including maternal home visiting. The officials and experts testified at a joint-hearing called by the State Senate’s Social Services and Children and Families Committees, Chaired by Senators Carlucci and Avella, convened at Henry Street Settlement in Squadron's district at his urging.

 "We've heard statistic after statistic on the real impact maternal home visiting programs have and, unfortunately, how few eligible families we're serving," said State Senator Daniel Squadron. "The pre-natal to pre-k years are incredibly important to development. We need universal access for children and families throughout the state to programs like Nurse Family Partnership. I thank Deputy Mayor Buery, Commissioner Banks, the City and State, Chairs Carlucci and Avella, and colleagues for continuing this important conversation."

“Parent engagement is critical to a child’s development and that is especially true as they embark on their academic journey,” said New York City Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives Richard Buery. “With more than 65,000 students enrolled this year, Pre-K for All’s success is due in large part to our pre-k outreach team’s strategic grassroots campaign to reach parents and our centralized enrollment process.”

“We thank our partners in the Senate and Assembly for the opportunity to highlight the vital services that HRA provides to low-income New Yorkers and their children under the age of five. We know that these services are assisting families to move toward self-sufficiency and improved long-term outcomes for our clients, especially for children,” said HRA Commissioner Steven Banks.

"The Department provides a substantial range of services from pre-natal to pre-K, including Nurse-Family Partnership, which demonstrates the significant and beneficial outcomes that result from investing in parents and children. We thank Senator Squadron for his dedication to Nurse-Family Partnership and maternal home visiting programs, and look forward to our continued collaboration,” said Roberta Holder-Mosley, Director of Nurse-Family Partnership at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 

Squadron has long pushed for universal home visiting, including Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), a nationally-proven, evidence-based program that links high-risk, first-time mothers with a nurse home visitor from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday. NFP is proven to save government thousands of dollars by the time the children of its clients reach age 18. There are approximately 2,800 families currently enrolled in NFP in New York, of the 40,000 eligible new moms each year.

Maternal home visiting programs have significant evidence-based impacts, including broad improved pregnancy and child health development outcomes. NFP has reduced infant mortality by 63%, child maltreatment by 32%, crime and arrest by 48%, reduced behavioral problems by 67% at age 6, and reduced language delays at 21 months by 50% in participating families. Healthy Families New York, another maternal home visiting program, has also reduced low birth weight by 50% in participants and a 49% reduction in confirmed child protective services reports. NFP has also shown a significant reduction in Medicaid payments and is estimated to have a $5.70 per taxpayer dollar rate of return.

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