Rep. Stanley Requests Additional Funding to Provide Services to Premature Infants

June 29, 2016
The Honorable Karen E. Spilka, Chair The Honorable Brian Dempsey, Chair
State House, Room 212 State House, Room 243

Senator Sal N. DiDomenico Representative Stephen Kulik
State House, Room 208 State House, Room 238

Senator Viriato deMacedo Representative Todd M. Smola
State House, Room 313-C State House, Room 124

Re: Project Newborns Exposed to Substances: Support and Therapy,
Line Item 4800-0038
Fragile Beginnings Program, Line-Item 4800-0038

Dear Conference Committee Members:

We are writing to express our gratitude for the inclusion of funding for the Fragile Beginnings Program and Project Newborns Exposed to Substances: Support and Therapy (NESST) in the Senate FY17 Budge. JF&CS is thrilled to have the Legislature’s support of this program and is eager to continue providing services to premature infants and their families throughout the Commonwealth. We respectfully request that the Conference Committee adopt the Senate’s recommendation to provide $150,000 for Fragile Beginnings to support medically complex and premature infants and $100,000 for Project NESST to support programing for substance exposed newborns.

For over 150 years, JF&CS has helped people of all faiths, races, and ages with the challenges of life. A caring presence in over 100 communities they serve, JF&CS are proud to be the place that new mothers, young families, people with disabilities, fragile elders, and the chronically poor can turn to for vital and personalized services.

Fragile Beginnings is a unique combination of services dedicated to improving the lives of premature infants and their parents through direct support and education, plus connections to community resources and each other. Project NESST integrates our growing understanding of families affected by substance use with JF&CS’s expertise in perinatal home visiting, infant/parent mental health, and hospital-to-home transitions for parents with vulnerable infants. Fragile Beginnings has served as a model for Project NESST’s work with babies born substance exposed and their families – work that supports the Commonwealth’s efforts to combat opiate addiction.

In 2015, Fragile Beginnings and Project NESST supported over 160 families and 320 mothers and infants in Massachusetts and trained well over 1,000 professionals and paraprofessionals across the United States. An appropriation of $150,000 for Fragile Beginnings and $100,000 for Project Newborns Exposed to Substances: Support and Therapy (NESST) in line-item 4800-0038 will enable JF&CS to expand its critical specialized programming to these very vulnerable infants and their families.

We urge you to include this critical funding in the FY17 Budget Conference Committee Report.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,
Thomas M. Stanley
9th Middlesex

Michael Barrett
3rd Middlesex

Jennifer L. Flanagan
Worcester & Middlesex

Brian M. Ashe
2nd Hampden

Danielle W. Gregoire
4th Middlesex

Frank I. Smizik
15th Norfolk

Kay Khan
11th Middlesex

Timothy J. Toomey
26th Middlesex

Elizabeth A. Malia
11th Suffolk

Tom Sannicandro
7th Middlesex

John H. Rogers
12th Norfolk

Brian A. Joyce
Norfolk, Bristol & Plymouth

John J. Lawn
10th Middlesex