Guilford Child Development started the first NFP site in North Carolina back in 2000 and has operated it from inception. NFP now operates in seven more counties in NC.

Early History and Recent Growth (from national NFP website)

As an undergraduate student in Baltimore in the early 1970s, David Olds was moved by what he observed while working in an inner-city day care center. He realized that the care he and others were providing at the center was often too little and too late - that helping parents and children much earlier in their lives was the best, and really the only, way to alter the effects of multiple generations of behavior.

Dr. Olds' passion to help young children and families get a better start in life led to research that is ongoing after more than 30 years.

Dr. Olds and his colleagues developed a home visitation program for first-time, low-income women, who receive visits by a registered nurse starting during pregnancy and continuing through the child's second birthday.

Three separate clinical (randomized, controlled) trials conducted in 1977, 1988 and 1994 demonstrated that this program reduces the risks for early antisocial behavior and prevents problems associated with youth crime and delinquency, such as child abuse, maternal substance abuse and maternal criminal involvement.

In each of the trials, the research showed that the program improves pregnancy outcomes, improves the health and development of children, and helps parents create a positive life course for themselves.