2007-2008 FRN Outcomes
Family
Relief Nursery is a member of the Oregon Association of Relief
Nurseries and participates in annual evaluations by an independent
research firm.
The 2007-2008 evaluation of Oregon relief nurseries showed the following:
Outcome: Reduced risk factors
- Children from families
with four or more risk factors for abuse and neglect are more than 10
times likely to be abused than those with no risk factors.
-
Parents
who participated in Relief Nurseries had significant reduction in the
number of risk factors. Families entered Relief Nurseries with an
average of 11.4 risk factors per family. After 12 months, that number
had decreased to eight risk factors.
Outcome: Improved parent-child interaction
- The
frequency of positive parent-child interactions increased over time,
with 52% of parents showing regular, positive interactions with their
children at intake, compared to 61% at the first follow-up assessment.
- For
families participating at least 12 months, 56% demonstrated consistent
positive interactions when they began Relief Nursery services, compared
to 80% after one year of Relief Nursery services.
Outcome: Increased self-sufficiency
- The
number of families who were employed doubled after 12 months in Relief
Nursery services. When they first received Relief Nursery services, 91
percent of families were at or below the poverty level. After six
months, this number decreased to 53 percent
Outcome: Increased engagement in reading
- When
they started Relief Nursery services, only 24% of parents read to their
young children several times per week or more per week; however, after
participating in the Relief Nurseries for at least six months this
increased to 52%.
- For
families participating at least 12 months, 19% read to their children
several times per week or more at program entry. This number increased
to 64% at the 12-month assessment.
Outcome: Keeping families safe
- 98.4% of Relief Nursery children had no subsequent involvement with Child Welfare. This means no founded abuse reports and no foster care placements.
Outcome: Positive health and decreased health care costs
After 12 months of Relief Nursery services:
• Percentage of families linked to a primary health care provider increased from 68% to 76%
• Percentage of families using the emergency room for routine medical care decreased from 50% to 35%.
Outcome: Keeping families together
- 100% of foster care placements for Relief Nursery children ended in reunification.