Welcome to the first Kansas Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (KS MIECHV) Program e-newsletter!  This monthly newsletter is intended to keep you up to date on the KS MIECHV program by providing program news and information.   Topics may include program updates, upcoming professional development opportunities, and information about families served.     

MIECHV began in 2010 as a 5-year federal initiative as an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration and partnership at the federal, state, and community levels to improve health and development outcomes for at-risk children through evidence-based home visiting programs offered on a voluntary basis to pregnant women and children birth to age five.  MIECHV is designed to (1) strengthen and improve programs and activities carried out under the Title V - Maternal & Child Health Program; (2) improve coordination of services for at-risk communities, and (3) to identify and provide comprehensive services to improve outcomes for families who reside in at-risk communities.  The Kansas MIECHV program is administered by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and led by Dr. Deborah Richardson. Funding is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

The KS MIECHV program targeted two high need communities: urban Wyandotte County and rural Southeast Kansas (including Montgomery, Cherokee, and Labette counties). Three evidence-based  home visiting program models (Parents as Teachers, Healthy Families America, and Early Head Start) delivered by eight different organizations are involved in the targeted counties. In Wyandotte County specifically, a Promising Approach, Team for Infants Endangered by Substance Abuse (TIES) has  also been implemented. Coordinated, centralized outreach and referral systems in all of the counties are active partners as well. 

Local Programs and Implementing Agencies:

In Southeast Kansas:

Early Head Start - SEK - CAP

Healthy Families - Kansas Children's Service League (KCSL)

Parents as Teachers - Coffeyville USD 445

Parents as Teachers - SE KS Education Service Center

My Family (Central Outreach & Referral System) - Four County Mental Health Center, Labette Center for Mental Health, and Spring River Mental Health and Wellness. 

In Wyandotte County:

Early Head Start - Project EAGLE

Healthy Families - KCSL

Healthy Families - Unified Government Public Health Dept.

Parents as Teachers - Kansas City, KS USD 500

Parents as Teachers - Turner USD 202

TIES - Children's Mercy Hospital

Connections (Central Outreach and Referral System) - Project EAGLE

MIECHV prioritizes data-informed practice and accountability of programs to a state and federally approved Benchmark Plan. KDHE contracts with the University of Kansas - Center for Public Partnerships and Research and the Juniper Gardens Children's Project to ensure data reporting, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement requirements are met. 

In just over two years, from implementation through January 1, 2014, the MIECHV program has served 552 families and 478 infants and children in Wyandotte County and Southeast Kansas counties. Current year (Year 3) data indicates 343 families and 308 infants and children are active in MIECHV services. Outreach efforts continue to enroll families in MIECHV home visiting programs. 

The annual MIECHV federal report was submitted in October 2013. HRSA has reviewed and accepted the annual report. Kansas was commended for timely submission and the thorough completion of data reports. A big THANKS to agencies and their data managers for their timely data submissions.  

Jared Barton and Tom Ball with the KU-CPPR data team are currently holding individual meetings with the home visiting agencies to review the data reports, ensure data quality, and provide other technical assistance. 

MIHOPE (Mother and Infant Home Visiting Program Evaluation), the federal cross-site, nationwide evaluation of MIECHV is well underway in both Wyandotte County and Southeast Kansas communities. In Kansas, Early Head Start, Healthy Families, and Parents as Teachers agencies are included in this evaluation, which is separate from the state-level evaluation activities. 

At recent local MIECHV team meetings, Kathy Bigelow from the Juniper Gardens Children's Project presented the CQI plan and strategies for agency-level implementation of CQI processes around screenings. To facilitate the process, an Excel document with a graphical representation of data was shared with agency administrators and data managers. 

The Kansas Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (KECCS) Plan serves as the State's early childhood framework and focuses on building collaboration and coordination among early childhood stakeholders. In August 2013, Kansas was awarded a new three-year grant to implement a coordinated statewide expansion of developmental screening and referrals across early childhood support systems. To achieve this, Kansas will expand upon existing state and local infrastructures to increase screenings for infants and toddlers in early health care and education settings including home visiting. In the first year, the  KS-MIECHV communities will be among the first areas of focus. The KS-MIECHV and KECCS initiatives serve as an important collaborative for Kansas to first implement comprehensive use of developmental screeners in high-risk communities and ultimately the state.

In September through December 2013, state-level home visiting and early childhood stakeholders as well as representatives from the  Wyandotte County and Southeast Kansas MIECHV partners drafted the beginnings of a strategic plan to guide a future vision, goals and strategies for the system of maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting in Kansas. In the coming months, work will continue to finalize the strategic plan in the effort to foster state infrastructure and sustainability of a coordinated, integrated system of quality home visiting services.