Thursday, March 27, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY - Gov. Miller's "Family to Family" program was praised by a judge and social work professionals but attacked by some individuals and conservative family groups during a hearing Wednesday.
"It teaches young parents what it's like to be parents and studies show it results in a dramatic reduction in child abuse," Washoe County Family Court Judge Chuck McGee told a joint Senate-Assembly subcommittee reviewing the Division of Child and Family Services budget.
"A study in Denver shows the number of children killed by being shaken was reduced," McGee said.
"Family to Family Connection" is embodied in the governor's Healthy Families Protection Act, aimed at helping new parents adjust to the demands of newborn babies.
The initiative links new parents with resource centers, volunteers and others in local communities to help support the change in lifestyle childbirth brings.
But it was condemned as a "threat to the integrity of the family" by Janine Hansen of the conservative Nevada Families Eagle Forum.
"Gov. Miller's 'Family to Family' program would be better titled 'government intrusion into the family,"' Hansen said, adding that it creates a new social welfare voting constituency by recruiting newborns and their parents while still in the hospital.
The $13 million initiative will be orchestrated by 57 paid employees statewide but will utilize the efforts of volunteers and provide a network between hospitals, resource centers and support groups.
Sally Martin of the University of Nevada, Reno's cooperative extension said proper nurturing at birth to three years is essential for healthy brain development.
"A baby's caregivers are critical mechanics in this development," Martin said.
Often new parents experience a crisis when they carry a vulnerable, demanding new baby home and try to properly care for the infant, she said, adding that programs like "Family to Family" assist in the transition.
"Intensive home visitation programs for high-risk families have resulted in significant improvements in the parents' attitudes, reducing maltreatment of children and fewer emergency room visits," Martin said. "Prevention costs less than treatment."
The families involved in the program volunteer for assistance and generally come from low-income families with a history of child abuse or neglect or domestic violent situations.
"It's not uncommon to walk into a home and find a 15-year-old mom with no electricity and with a new infant," Martin said. "Those are the kinds of situations we see."
Community social programs and volunteers teach these parents how to become self-sufficient by helping them set goals and learn alternative behavior, Martin added.
Cheryl Dinnell, a Sparks mother who volunteers with the Nevada Parent Network, said community support proved essential following the birth of her third child who was born with disabilities.
"I felt at a loss in a community where I didn't know another soul who knew about how to handle this sort of situation," Dinnell said through tears. "I was so grateful for programs that provides the resources I needed.
"As a result I became a volunteer to help other people survive."
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