Kansas MIECHV Newsletter
Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood 
Home Visiting Program


  


Welcome to the MIECHV monthly newsletter. We hope you will find the content informative. Our website is expected to launch Fall 2015.  
 
In This Issue
State Level Activities
Access to Healthcare for Domestic Violence Survivors
Home Visitor and Interpreter Follow Up Workshop
Local Program News
Did you know?
Upcoming Activities and Dates
Past MIECHV Newsletters

Key Contacts 
________________
 
State MIECHV Lead:
Debbie Richardson, Ph.D.
Program Manager
Maternal & Child Health Home Visiting
Bureau of Family Health
Kansas Department of Health and Environment
785-296-1311

MIECHV Benchmark Reporting, Performance Management & Evaluation:
Teri A. Garstka, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Center for Public Partnership & Research
University of Kansas
785-864-3329
 
MIECHV CQI:
Kathy Bigelow, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Professor
Juniper Gardens Children's Project
University of Kansas
913-321-3143
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Quick Links  
State Level Activities

 To ensure a family-centered Home Visiting system, input is being gathered from parents and families in MIECHV communities.   KU-CPPR is currently reaching out to program and outreach supervisors and coordinators to identify families who are currently enrolled or graduated, families that enrolled but did not complete the program and families that were referred, but did not enroll. The resulting information will be used to refine messaging and service delivery so that it truly reflects a family-friendly, family-centered approach at all points of contact. Thank you in advance for your assistance in identifying families.

Access to Healthcare for Domestic Violence Survivors

 A major change in policy that has a dramatic impact on survivors of domestic violence and their ability to buy health insurance for themselves and their families was implemented April 29, 2015. Survivors of domestic violence may now apply for health insurance through healthcare.gov at ANY TIME. They do not need to wait for Open Enrollment. They qualify for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) because they are survivors of domestic violence.  Learn more about this Special Enrollment Period for survivors of domestic violence at HealthCaresAboutIPV.org.

 

Home Visitor and Interpreter Follow Up Workshop
 

 Connections: Connections: Building Skills and Knowledge for Cross-Cultural Home Visits is a half day workshop for both home visitors and the interpreters they use in their work. Home visitors and interpreters will work collaboratively to learn about cultural considerations such as culture bias in screening and assessment and interpreting technical language. This workshop builds upon best practices and ethical considerations in interpreting covered in the previous workshop, Bridging Linguistic and Cultural Barriers through Interpretation. Activities focus on building practical skills for working with culturally and linguistically diverse clients, and include opportunities to role play interpreted sessions, work with specific instruments to identify cultural obstacles and more. The workshop will be scheduled for late summer/fall. For more information, please contact Adam Brazil (brazila@ku.edu) or Stephanie Christenot (sac625@ku.edu).

Local Program News

 

 Connections is always looking for ways to improve their referral process and ultimately increase the number of families served. To improve the electronic referral process, Connections recently created a new email address (Connections@kumc.edu) to receive referrals from service providers and community partners. The new email address should be easier for providers and partners to remember and ensure referrals are received by the appropriate person(s). The Connections Referral Form was also updated to a "fillable" format so information may be typed directly into the form.  Referral forms may still be faxed to Connections at 913-281-2680.  For more information, contact Connections at 913-321-9999 or Connections@kumc.edu.

 

Submitted by Amy Rhodes, Connections Connections Marketing and Recruitment, Project Eagle, Wyandotte County.
 

 

Did you know?
  • In year 4, each of the four major screening tools (depression, substance abuse, child development, domestic violence) had screening rates over 90%.
  • The rate of referral for domestic violence services is 2 times greater in year 4 than in year 3.
  • From October 2011 through March 2015, 830 families and 850 children have been served by MIECHV programs.

 

Upcoming Activities and Dates for MIECHV Partners
 
July 17th
SE Kansas MIECHV Team, 10:00-2:00pm, SEK-CAP, 401 N. Sinnet, Girard, KS
July 20th
State Home Visiting Leadership Group, 1:00-4:00 pm, Curtis Building/KDHE, Topeka, KS.
August 13th
Wyandotte County MIECHV Team, 9:00-noon, Unified Government Public Health Dept., 3rd Floor Op Center, Kansas City, KS.
August 14th
Data/Evaluation/CQI Workgroup, 9:00-11:30am, CPPR, 1617 St. Andrews, Lawrence, KS.
September 9th
State Home Visiting Leadership Group, 1:00-4:00 pm, Curtis Building/KDHE, Topeka, KS. 
September 9th
Connections: Building Skills and Knowledge for Cross-Cultural Home Visits, 9:00-1:00pm, First United Methodist Church, 200 S. Penn Ave., Independence, KS.
September 11th
SE Kansas MIECHV Team, 10:00-2:00pm, SEK-CAP, Labette Center for Mental Health, 1730 Belmon, Parsons, KS. 

Past MIECHV Newsletters  

Past newsletters have been archived and can be accessed here. 
Contact Us    
If you have ideas for the newsletter, feedback, questions, comments, concerns, etc. please email kshomevisiting@gmail.com
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 This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program Development Grant to States (Grant # D89MC25208, $2,847,000).  This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.