$20M Plan Sends Nurses Into Homes of Expecting Parents, Amid NYC Maternal Health Crisis
- New York City is investing $20 million over three years to expand the Nurse-Family Partnership, a program that pairs registered nurses with expecting parents on Medicaid or WIC. The goal is to double the number of families served to 3,000 per year.
- The expansion broadens eligibility so parents who already have children can enroll, not just first-time mothers, and allows enrollment later in pregnancy. The funding also supports new mental health clinics and a fellowship for early childhood clinicians.
- Community advocates have raised concerns that the funding source, the Administration for Children's Services, could deter families from participating due to fears of child welfare involvement, though officials say ACS will have no role in the program.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced his first major public health initiative: a $20 million investment to expand the Nurse-Family Partnership, a program that sends registered nurses into the homes of expecting parents struggling to make ends meet.
Called the "Strong Foundations" initiative, the plan would transfer $20 million over three years from the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene under the city's preliminary fiscal year 2027 budget. The program pairs nurses with expecting parents who receive Medicaid or WIC benefits, focusing on diet, nutrition, and parenting skills to support healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.
The announcement, made on February 27, 2026 at an East Harlem community health center, comes as the city grapples with persistent maternal health disparities. NYC sees approximately 24 maternal deaths annually, and 75% of Black maternal deaths have been ruled preventable, compared to 50% of white maternal deaths.
What the Expansion Includes
The Nurse-Family Partnership has served more than 25,000 expecting parents in New York City since the program was first adopted in Jamaica, Queens, in 2003. The program was originally created by David Olds, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado, in the 1970s and has been credited with curbing high maternal and child mortality rates nationwide.
Under the expansion, roughly $8 million will go toward broadening NFP eligibility. Previously, the program was limited to first-time mothers who were up to 28 weeks pregnant. Now, families who already have children will be able to enroll, and women can sign up through their third trimester. Officials expect these changes to double the program's capacity from approximately 1,500 to 3,000 families per year.
An additional $10 million will increase staffing and capacity at the city's five perinatal and early childhood mental health clinics, which currently serve about 900 patients annually but are expected to reach up to 1,200 with the new funding. The initiative also creates a three-year fellowship to build a pipeline of clinicians trained in "culturally sensitive and trauma-informed" care for families with young children.
"This program is putting families first and those that are in need the most," Deputy Mayor Helen Arteaga Landaverde told reporters.
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How Nurses Make a Difference in the Home
In the program, registered nurses visit expecting parents regularly, taking into account the family's home environment while working one-on-one with clients on parenting skills, nutrition, and overall wellness. Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin described one nurse's impact by saying, "She was a year-round Santa Claus, delivering things to each family she met with. But it went beyond the gifts. She delivered connection. She delivered health education."
Sascha James-Conterelli, director of NYU's nurse-midwifery program and a member of the New York State Maternal Mortality Review Board, emphasized that the nurses build real relationships with families. "They're not blindly going in and giving some prescriptive type of advice, like, 'oh, eat healthy or eat better,'" she said.
Mimi Bhatt, a nurse-midwife at NYU's Rory Meyers College of Nursing, agreed: "The ethos of NFP is trust. The nurse develops such a trusting relationship with this family over time."
Concerns About ACS Involvement
Not everyone is cheering the initiative without reservation. Because the $20 million is being transferred from ACS, some community advocates worry the connection could discourage families from participating. Joyce McMillan, founder and director of JMACforFamilies, was blunt in her criticism: "What they're doing is buying a doorway for reports," she said, suggesting families may fear that nurses could funnel information to the child welfare system.
City officials have pushed back on those concerns. An ACS spokesperson clarified that "ACS does not have a role in the administration of Nurse Family Partnership," calling the approach an "upstream" strategy designed to prevent ACS involvement by connecting at-risk families to support from home visiting nurses and mental health resources.
Federal Funding Threats Loom
The city's investment also comes against a backdrop of federal uncertainty. The national Nurse-Family Partnership organization has voiced deep concern about $700 billion in proposed Medicaid cuts in the federal budget, warning that even provisions not directly targeting pregnant women and children could force states to slash funding for evidence-based home visiting programs. With more states turning to Medicaid to sustainably fund programs like NFP, those cuts could undermine progress in maternal and child health across the country.
The city's preliminary budget still needs to be approved by the City Council, with a finalized budget due by the end of June 2026 and implementation set for July 1.
What Nurses Need to Know
This expansion represents a significant investment in nursing roles that go beyond traditional clinical settings. For nurses in New York City, particularly those in community health, maternal-child nursing, or public health, the Strong Foundations initiative could mean new job opportunities and expanded scope of practice. The fellowship component also signals a growing demand for nurses and clinicians with specialized perinatal and early childhood mental health training.
At the same time, the story highlights a tension nurses in home visiting programs often face: balancing trust with families against the perception of surveillance, especially in communities that have had difficult experiences with child welfare agencies. How nurses navigate that dynamic can make or break a program's effectiveness. And with proposed federal Medicaid cuts threatening funding for home visiting programs nationwide, nurses working in these roles should be paying close attention to policy developments at both the city and federal level.
🤔 Have you worked in a home visiting program like the Nurse-Family Partnership? What has your experience been building trust with families, and do you think expanding the program will make a real difference for maternal health in NYC? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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