Here’s what I want to know. Why aren’t there more programs like this one?



(If you have trouble with the link, just search for an article entitled “Swamp Nurse,” by Katherine Boo).

This story, which first appeared in The New Yorker, profiles a social program known as The Nurse-Family Partnership. The program helps low-income, first-time mothers to become better parents by providing them with nurses who mentor them through the first two years of their children's lives.

The story focuses on the efforts of nurse Luwana Marts. Chances are, by the time you finish reading this article, you’ll feel that Marts is a true hero of the Louisiana swamps. Boo reports that it took Marts 14 years, while raising her sons and working as a nurse assistant, to earn her bachelor's degree in nursing. Marts chose to work with teenage mothers because she was one of them herself. As she says in the article, "I know there were government programs ... designed to help girls in my situation, but back then, especially if you were black, you didn't hear about them."

Well, it isn’t all that easy to find resources for parenting today, either. Most programs to help at-risk moms and kids are either hard to find, or difficult to get into, or underfunded to the point that only a small percentage of needy moms and kids are helped.

Now, I don’t mean to suggest that programs such as the “Swamp Nurse” effort are the only answer. We shouldn’t attempt to keep children in their families of origin at any cost. If the child is in any danger or will suffer emotionally by staying in its family, adoption may be the answer. But women shouldn't be forced to choose adoption due to poverty or lack of a helping hand.

Most experts agree that if a child can stay with his or her original family, that’s preferable. It makes sense to try to preserve families first, and I think this is one terrific attempt.

If you want to learn even more about the Nurse-Family Partnership, you can read this Q&A with the article’s author.