Invest In Kids (IIK) knows—based on evidence and experience—that investing in young children and families is the best way to strengthen communities today and for future generations. As the bridge between research and practice, IIK leverages the power of evidence-based programs to make the largest possible difference for Colorado children and their families. Two programs implemented by IIK are of great interest to the Elsa & Peter Soderberg Charitable Foundation: Nurse-Family Partnership and Child First.

Nurse-Family Partnership® connects highly trained RNs with first-time pregnant people, caregivers' and their babies beginning in pregnancy. Through a relationship-based program, NFP empowers people to transform their lives and create better futures for themselves and their babies. With over four decades of research, NFP has consistently proven its effectiveness in meeting its goals: providing improved pregnancy outcomes, promotion of child health and development, and the encouragement of economic self-sufficiency for families.

Child First® is IIK’s newest evidence-based program. With a dearth of mental-health services available in Colorado, the Children’s Hospital Colorado announcing a Mental Health State of Emergency in May 2021, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the time seemed ripe to bring CF to Colorado. This two-generation model works with young children and families, providing intensive, home-based services that support families in building strong, nurturing relationships that heal and protect young children from the devastating impact of trauma and chronic stress. 

In 2021, the EPSCF provided a pilot grant to take the successful Referral Express and Central Hub (REACH) project state-wide. Tested in the Denver Metro area, the vision for REACH was to create a central hub where outreach and referrals could be handled with the goal of interrupting inefficient, inconsistent, and duplicative systems of case-building. At the time, activities such as outreach, partnership building, case finding, referral tracking, and program messaging were taking supervisors and nurse-home visitors away from their core duties serving children and families. At the same time REACH was expanding state-wide, IIK would build the awareness and recruitment for their new Child First program.

This work had an immediate impact on families in Colorado. Child First launched services in July 2021, and the program served 199 children and their caregivers in the 2021-22 program year. Child First in Colorado started with 32 staff members from four implementing agencies, consisting of two community mental health centers and two non-profit mental health agencies. The REACH program allowed IIK to build a strong and reliable referral base and to invest in key community partnerships and processes. IIK was able to increase the number of children served by 83% from our first to last quarters of the project.

Unfortunately, IIK was not immune to the nursing workforce crisis that worsened during the pandemic. IIK was forced to shift the focus of REACH to nurse recruitment. At the project midpoint, IIK reported an unprecedented 16% turnover rate between October 2021 and March 2022 which increased to 23% by the end of the one-year pilot project.

Addressing Workforce Challenges

The success of the REACH expansion made clear how dire the workforce issues are across the state. REACH’s success in increasing of the number of eligible families referred to IIK’s programs for critical support highlighted the urgent need to attract and retain first-rate professionals in the early childhood fields of public health nursing and mental health. Qualified workforce and the ability to serve clients are inexorably linked. REACH efforts combined with the impact of the pandemic on an already fragile safety net system has caused providers to experience unprecedented challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified professionals. Through partnership with local providers and broader collaboration with community partners, IIK decided to develop their first ever Workforce Initiative, FORRCE (Finding Opportunities in Recruitment and Retention for our Colorado Experts). Through FORRCE, IIK seeks to support local communities to identify and handle the issues that impede high-quality implementation, and currently the most significant issue to address is the workforce.

In May 2023, EPSCF provided seed funding for this new, innovative workforce initiative and looks forward to reporting on IIK’s evidence-based process to addressing the current workforce shortage impacting their programs.