The nurses help women improve their health, making it more likely that their children will be born free of neurological problems. Several rigorous studies indicate that the nurse home visitation program reduces the risks for early antisocial behavior and prevents problems that lead to youth crime and delinquency, such as child abuse, maternal substance abuse, and maternal criminal involvement.
Recent evidence shows that nurse home visitation even reduces juvenile offending.
When the program focuses on low-income women, the public costs to fund the program are recovered by the time the first child reaches age 4, primarily because of the reduced number of subsequent pregnancies and related reductions in use of government welfare programs. By the time children from high-risk families reach age 15, the cost savings are four times the original investment because of reductions in crime, welfare expenditures, and healthcare costs and because of taxes paid by working parents. Another effective intervention is to enlist caring, responsible adults to work with at-risk youth in need of positive role models. Among its many objectives, JUMP seeks to discourage use of illegal drugs and firearms, involvement in violence and gangs, and other delinquent activity and encourage participation in service and community activity. The JUMP national evaluation will play an important role in expanding the body of information about mentoring.