Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Homevisiting Grant Program - ANNOTATION: The purpose of the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s (OSDH) project will be to contribute to Oklahoma’s comprehensive early childhood system by supporting the delivery of coordinated and high-quality voluntary early childhood home visiting services to eligible families utilizing Evidence-Based Home Visiting Programs (EBHVPs) in at-risk counties identified in the updated needs assessment. Innovative features of the Oklahoma system include: 1) specially-trained “Community Connectors” that promote home visiting to potential On a more local level, the Connectors have been facilitating routine meetings, participating on a variety of boards, committees, task forces, etc. Through their many dealings with professionals, the public and potential EBHV clients, they learn of gaps in services, particularly for special populations, or new services within the communities. They are able to serve as “change agents” and bring together stakeholders to problem solve. Clients and the community as well as facilitate collaboration/coordination between EBHVPs and other supportive services; 2) the “parentPRO” triage system, website and marketing campaign; and 3) referrals to the OSDH Child Guidance Service which provides Circle of Parents, Incredible Years, discipline-specific interventions and developmental screenings. Problems to address include: 1) improving coordination of efforts; 2) increasing referral bases; 3) improving rates of initial engagement and later retention of families; and 4) improving the quality of services. Goal 1: Improve Coordination and Collaboration among EBHVPs and Other Supportive Services for Families; Objective: Utilize “Community Connectors” to sustain and/or develop local home visiting coalitions to share information, resources and best practices as well as improve connections between EBHVPs and other community resources – particularly Family Resource Centers and Child Guidance Service. Goal 2: Increase Outreach, Client Engagement and Retention; Objectives: Refine the “parentPRO” central intake and messaging campaigns and assist “Community Connectors” with presentation and recruitment efforts. Goal 3: Improve Quality of Evidence Based Home Visitation EBHV Services; Objectives: Implement new activities within EBHVPs and continue local “continuous quality improvement” projects. In addition, the University of Oklahoma, Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (OUCCAN) will provide Coordinate State Evaluation in order to better understand and improve consumer outreach, engagement and retention as well as the quality of the home visiting services. METHODOLOGY: The three following EBHV models will be utilized in the at risk counties of Comanche, Oklahoma, and Tulsa county: Nurse-Family Partnership, Parents as Teachers, SafeCare, and Family Connects. Current Caseload 5/30/2023 Proposed FFY23 Proposed FFY24 Proposed FFY25 Family Slots 708 907 907 907 Oklahoma's EBHV system has demonstrated effective coordination at various levels, resulting in strengthened linkages and referrals. These coordinated efforts are as follows: • The Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness, serving as the State's Early Childhood Advisory Council, has assumed the role of the lead advisory council for the MIECHV Program. This designation ensures a comprehensive understanding and commitment to the system at a high level. • The MIECHV Evaluation and Management Teams, comprising subject matter experts, consistently convene to review and enhance the program. These ongoing meetings allow for continuous improvement and leads to the implementation of best practices. • The state and local “Home Visitation Leadership Advisory Coalitions” meet monthly to assure coordination and avoid duplication of efforts; and 4) the Parent Partnership Board has expanded to include parents in both Tulsa and Oklahoma Counties and a fatherhood group.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).