NYC Expands Help at Home for New Parents

More low-income families in New York City are now eligible to enroll in a prenatal and early childhood initiative that pairs them with registered nurses for home visits, offering “small moments of guidance and medical insight” that can be invaluable.

Ana Maria Ramirez, a registered nurse with the program, discussed these and other benefits of the Nurse-Family Partnership outside the East Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center during a Friday press conference.

“You can’t measure the value of a listening ear for a mother’s frustrations — or being able to stop all the noise and anxiety around them by reminding them that their baby is their motivation — or teaching how to play with their baby, or take care of themselves while they navigate a major change in their body and mind,” Ramirez said.

City officials and local residents are spotlighting an initiative known as Strong Foundations, a $20 million expansion of the Nurse-Family Partnership that has been active since 2003. This collaboration between the Administration for Children’s Services and the Department of Health provides Medicaid-eligible mothers with postpartum mental health support and guidance on breastfeeding and safe sleep from pregnancy through the child’s second birthday. The program prioritizes new mothers in families facing barriers to stable housing and health care, as well as those who have had contact with the criminal justice or child welfare systems.

“All parents deserve access to high-quality prenatal and perinatal care.”

— New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani

Under this recent expansion, parents with more than one child are now eligible for home visits. The initiative will also provide funding for additional training and employment opportunities for mental health professionals and early childhood staff.

“All parents deserve access to high-quality prenatal and perinatal care,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a press release. The new offerings, he added, “will ensure that all New Yorkers, and particularly those who face structural barriers to care, are provided with the re

The Nurse-Family Partnership has supported more than 25,000 expectant parents over the past two decades, and city officials emphasize its vital role for families in Black and brown neighborhoods, where health care access is frequently limited.

“We will use this program to help increase higher rates of breastfeeding, childhood immunization, and more importantly, make sure that our families keep growing nice and healthy,” Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Helen Arteaga said.

On Friday, a mother who completed the program two years ago described to the gathered crowd how nurse Ramirez helped her manage her first pregnancy while she lived alone in a family shelter, “struggling with loneliness and depression.” Jackie Rodriguez shared her story alongside her 2-year-old daughter. The toddler, wearing a pink dress, played with a wooden toy maze as her mother spoke about the loss of her own parents a few years prior.

“I always thought I would have my mom with me, and facing pregnancy without most of my family, in a difficult housing situation, was really overwhelming,” Rodriguez said. “It’s amazing to know that more families like mine will be able to benefit from the program.”

In addition to connecting more parents with registered nurse visits, the health department intends to utilize the funding over the next three years to boost staffing at the city’s five perinatal and early childhood mental health clinics. They also plan to establish a fellowship for health care providers to assist families with young children through a “culturally sensitive and trauma-informed” approach.

“I always thought I would have my mom with me, and facing pregnancy without most of my family, in a difficult housing situation, was really overwhelming. It’s amazing to know that more families like mine will be able to benefit from the program.”

—Jackie Rodriguez, mother who participated in Nurse-Family Partnership

The Nurse-Family Partnership operates in most U.S. states, and national assessments have shown improvements in maternal mental health and fewer language delays among children in the program compared to those who did not participate. Mothers also showed a decreased reliance on food stamps and achieved better economic mobility.

However, experts remain divided regarding the program’s effectiveness in curbing child maltreatment. Certain studies have indicated that home-visiting initiatives had a negligible impact on reducing child hospitalizations and injuries.

In the city, Luisa Linares, deputy commissioner for the Family Services division of the Administration for Children’s Services, noted that the agency heard directly from parents of young children that they wanted access to community-based prenatal care without the fear of child welfare intervention. She characterized Strong Foundations as a national model demonstrating “that city agencies can work together to do right by families.”

“Supporting families and connecting them to prenatal early childhood services outside child welfare, extremely makes sense,” Linares said. “We will improve caregiving and child health outcomes, promote child well-being and ensure healthier families and stronger communities.”

Nurses in the program do more than assist women with pregnancy and postpartum care or provide necessities like diapers and Pack n’ Plays, said Dr. Alister Martin, commissioner of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Martin’s mother, a Haitian immigrant, served as a nurse in the program and formed lasting bonds with her patients, attending their graduations and quinceañeras long after the program concluded.

“She would often share pieces of her work with me — how it felt to sit down with undocumented and mixed-status families to help them navigate social services, or to answer that first call from a new mom trying to escape an abusive situation, or to be a mentor for young women who are exploring their ambitions to go back to school,” Martin said at the press conference.