I. Project Abstract
Project Title: Hawaii Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Home Visiting Formula Grant Project FY 2022
Applicant Name: Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) Address: 1250 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-2416
Project Director Name: Matthew J. Shim, Ph.D., M.P.H., Chief, Family Health Services Division
Contact Phone Numbers: 808-586-4122 E-Mail Address: matthew.shim@doh.hawaii.gov
Annotation: The Hawaii MIECHV Formula Grant Project FY 2022 maintains collaboration of comprehensive Early Identification (EID) programs. The result is a network of partnerships with birthing hospitals, physicians, a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program, Community Health Centers, and prenatal clinics that offer voluntary home visiting services to pregnant women or caregivers of children birth to kindergarten entry. These services improve outcomes and reduce health disparities for families living in communities at greatest risk. Problem: Per the 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment, families residing in Hawaii face unequal birth, health, and development outcomes based on the community in which they live. Purpose: The Formula Grant Project FY 2022 will provide comprehensive EID and evidence-based home visiting services to families residing in one of the designated priority at-risk geographic areas to improve outcomes for at-risk children. Goals and Objectives: The Grantee will achieve four (4) goals: 1) Increase program success in reaching, engaging, and retaining high-risk families who are likely to benefit from home visiting services, with special emphasis on prenatal enrollment. 2) Increase program success in recruiting and retaining high-quality home visitors possessing the attitudes, skills, and knowledge to successfully implement evidence-based home visiting services. 3) Strengthen home visiting effectiveness in two (2) benchmark areas: school readiness and achievement and coordination of referrals. 4) Promote the sustainability of our program of home visiting through the enhancement of continuous quality improvement (CQI) to promote community-level impacts on outcomes and on health and developmental disparities. The Grantee will meet these goals by pursuing the following objectives: 1) Maintain 85% capacity utilization throughout the period of performance. 2) Utilize the results of the training needs assessment to prioritize and implement professional development opp
ortunities for home visitors and supervisors no later than the end of the period of performance. 3) Strengthen home visiting effectiveness in the MIECHV benchmark areas of school readiness and achievement and coordination of referrals by attaining the following milestones by the end of the period of performance: a. Increase the percentage of primary caregivers with identified postpartum depression who receive recommended services to 90.0%. b. Increase the percentage of primary caregivers with positive screens for Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) who receive referral information for IPV resources to 90.0%. by the end of the period of performance. 4) Continue to hold quarterly meetings with Local Implementing Agencies (LIAs) to (1) share advancements in the field of CQI; (2) ensure consistency of CQI efforts across LIAs; and (3) to provide continued technical assistance (TA) in integrating health equity issues into CQI efforts throughout the period of performance. Methodology: The MIECHV EID program screens and refers families who reside in the priority at-risk communities described in the statewide required under subsection 511(b)(1)(A). The EID programs approach prenatal women and parents of newborns who reside in the designated priority at-risk geographic area to screen for the Your Ohana Network program eligibility. Key activities include partnerships with Title IV-E, Title V, and Core State Violence and Injury Prevention Program (SVIPP) grantees to improve integration with early childhood systems.