Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Homevisiting Grant Program - Project Title: WY DFS FY2023 Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program Applicant Name: Wyoming Department of Family Services Address: 2300 Capitol Ave., 3rd Floor, Cheyenne, WY 82002 Project Director: Brittney Thyarks, Program Analyst, Social Services Division Contact Information: brittney.thyarks@wyo.gov, 307-777-6760 (phone), 307-777-3693 Grant Funds: HRSA-23-086, $1,408,856.00 The Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) was awarded as the FY2021 Wyoming grantee. DFS continues to support the existing Parents as Teachers program infrastructure that serves families in five (5) Wyoming counties and explores opportunities to expand services based on identified needs. Home visiting is a prevention strategy used to support pregnant moms and new parents with ensuring infant and child health, educational and school readiness, and preventing child abuse and neglect. In 2020, there were 6,135 live births in Wyoming, a birth rate of 10.5 per 1,000 people. Compared to other states in the west region, Wyoming’s birth rate has been consistently above the regional average since 2009. Through the delivery of high quality voluntary home visiting services, DFS and its partners are positioned to take a larger role in preventing child abuse and neglect, supporting positive parenting, improving maternal and child health, and promoting child development and school readiness. Goal 1:Reduce the overhead and infrastructure cost of the Wyoming MIECHV program, at the LIA level to implement effective evidence-based home visiting services. Goal 2: Explore the availability of funding to expand the current program and serve more families by September 29, 2025. Goal 3: Facilitate and strengthen the Wyoming Home Visiting Alliance to increase collaboration between Wyoming Home Visiting programs. Goal 4: Increase Wyoming PAT Parent Educators ability to respond when families are in crisis situations. To accomplish these goals, DFS will continue to contract with the existing PAT Local Implementing Agencies (LIAs). WY MIECHV utilizes the Home Visitor Personnel Cost Method and has a current and proposed caseload of 195 MIECHV families. DFS has one dedicated program analyst assigned to this project.
