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.  
 
In This Issue
MIECHV Funding Update
Home Visitor Training and Professional Development Priorities
Marketing Toolkit
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 Partnerships & 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
_________________________ 




Quick Links  
MIECHV Funding Update
 
  The FFY 2016 MIECHV Program Formula Grant application for the State of Kansas was submitted to the federal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on January 19, 2016. As you may recall, this grant begins to move states away from the uncertainties of competitive grant funding by providing a larger portion of federal funding through the annual formula grants. This allows us to plan for the continuation and stability of current local MIECHV services and state-level efforts for the next few years. The grant application will request the full $4,834,188 allotted to Kansas. The FFY '16 formula grant award will be in effect from April 2016 through September 2018. 
Home Visitor Training and Professional Development Priorities 
 
  MIECHV Program supervisors were surveyed to identify and prioritize their training and professional development needs as well as those of home visitors and Connections/My Family outreach staff. The results will be used to develop a training and professional development plan and schedule that coordinates opportunities with program model and agency training for the next one to two years. Supervisors were asked to indicate the level of need for a variety of topics, as well as to provide input on training methods, frequency and interest in a MIECHV summit. Survey results indicate 75 percent of respondents preferred quarterly training as compared to 25 percent who preferred monthly training opportunities. A half-day training session was preferred most frequently, followed by full-day sessions. At 79 percent, in-person training was easily the most preferred method. A very positive response to a MIECHV Program summit was indicated. Survey results on specific training topics will be shared at upcoming meetings.
Marketing Toolkit
 

 The Kansas Home Visiting Marketing and Outreach Toolkit was designed for use by both MIECHV and non-MIECHV home visiting partners to educate and inform families, referral sources, the general public and key stakeholders of the value and benefits of home visiting programs. The multi-media toolkit includes a video, print and web ads, talking points, family information sheets as well as a toolkit user guide.  Most materials may be edited to include the name and contact information of local home visiting programs.  Materials are available for download at http://kshomevisiting.org/outreach-materials/.

 
Did You Know?

 Beginning this federal fiscal year, HRSA has requested that we submit specific data each quarter.   This new requirement is tentatively scheduled to begin April 2016.
 
Upcoming Activities and Meetings
for MIECHV Partners
 
February 2nd 
Home Visiting/Domestic Violence Collaboration Workgroup, 1-3 p.m., KCSDV, 634 SW Harrison, Topeka
 
February 3rd 
Wyandotte County MIECHV Team, 1-4 p.m., Unified Government Public Health Department, 619 Ann Ave., 3rd Floor Operations Center, Kansas City, KS 
February 4th 
State Home Visiting Leadership Group, 9 a.m.- noon, Curtis Building/KDHE, Topeka
 
February 5th 
Data/Evaluation/CQI Workgroup, 9-noon, KU-CPPR,
1617 St. Andrews Dr., Lawrence  
February 11th 
Breastfeeding 101, 9:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m., Children's Campus, 444 Minnesota Ave, Kansas City, KS. Contact Paul Cesare at
or 816-283-6242 for more information.
 
February 18th 
Sustainability Planning Group, 1:30-2:30 p.m., Conference Call
 
March 10th
 
Wyandotte County Home Visiting Forum, 1-4 p.m., Kansas City, KS Public Schools Central Office & Training Center, 2010 N. 59th Street, Kansas City, KS
March 24th  
 
State Home Visiting Leadership Group, 9 a.m.- noon, Curtis Building/KDHE, Topeka
March 25th
SE Kansas MIECHV Team, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Labette Center for Mental Health, 1730 Belmont, Parsons 
April 1st   
Data/Evaluation/CQI Workgroup, 9-11:30 a.m., KU-CPPR,
1617 St. Andrews Dr., Lawrence
April 22nd  
 
Breastfeeding 101, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Via Christi Hospital
1 Mt. Carmel Way, DePaul Hall, Pittsburg. Contact Diane VanBecelaere at dvanbecelaere@crawfordcohd.org or 620-231-5411 for more information.
 

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
. 

 

 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 FY'15 Competitive Grant to States (Grant # D89MC28269, $9.4 million) awarded to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). 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 KDHE, HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.