FAQ's about Crisis Nursery Care

How did Crisis Nurseries begin?

The concept of Crisis Nursery care was developed in the 1960’s though a grassroots movement, and has now become an effective prevention tool for child abuse and neglect.

The Saint Louis Crisis Nursery started as a simple concept with one home providing services to the community. In its first year the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery cared for 274 children, currently the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery serves over 5,000 children every year and has developed into a community coalition with five locations.

How successful are Crisis Nurseries?

A report from the National Respite Coalition in 2002 showed the following outcomes of Crisis Nursery programs:

A significant decrease in child maltreatment reports
Reduction in overall family stress
Caregivers avoid leaving their children in unsafe or inappropriate situations
Less utilization of out of home placements or longer-term care
An increase in parenting capacity, family stability and improved attitudes towards their children

At the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery:

99% of Children whose families remain involved with the Crisis Nursery do not experience abuse
99% of Crisis Nursery Children remain in their natural home

Who typically partners with Crisis Nurseries?

Crisis Nurseries are successful because of the community partnerships that support them. Many Crisis Nurseries are partnered with hospitals, Children Trust Fund, Junior League, universities, or United Way. This is one example of a Crisis Nursery's partnerships.

Are Crisis Nurseries foster care?

No, they are not. Crisis Nurseries are a prevention tool so children do not need to be removed from their homes, meaning they are primary prevention. Crisis Nursery maintain the parental child bond and provide crisis intervention so the family unit may remain intact.

What services do Crisis Nurseries provide?

Every Crisis Nursery provides a variety of services determined by the individual family and community needs. Services which may be provided by Crisis Nursery programs, or other community agencies through collaborative agreements, include the following:

Parenting Classes
Crisis Intervention
Developmental Assessments
Family counseling
Individual Counseling
Service Coordination (Case Management)
Access to medical services
Home management training
Employment training
24 hour help lines
Substance abuse prevention counseling
After care services- including home visits

Who Pays for Crisis Nursery care?

State and Local Funds as well as Community foundations support Crisis Nurseries. Some of the more common partners are DCF, DCHC (for homeless families), DVA (for children of veterans), DOC, FEMA, Office of Elder Affairs (for those children in crisis being parented by their grandparents), United Way, Children’s Trust Fund, State Universities, local and State Hospitals and others. Below are two links that show how local, state and federal funds are used to support Crisis Nurseries across the U.S.

Do Crisis Nurseries save states money?

Yes, providing crisis intervention and keeping families intact reduces the number of children entering the system which saves the government money while reducing the stress on over burdened systems. In a study by the ARCH National Respite Network of 4 Crisis Nursery's completed in 2006, children who had received Crisis Nursery Care are at least 50% less likely to have substantiated child abuse reports then children who did not receive Crisis Nursery services.

Crisis Nurseries have been proven effective over the past 40 years in providing primary prevention services to combat child abuse and neglect. We are committed to providing this vital service to the Commonwealth to support them in reaching the goal set by the Casey Foundation of reducing out-of-home placements by 50% by the year 2020.