Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Homevisiting Grant Program - Iowa desires to provide evidence-based home visitation to 772 vulnerable families that are pregnant or have small children, residing in the most at-risk communities in the state. Iowa supports the home visiting workforce with innovative strategies in order to retain the most qualified home visitors. Iowa will continue its tradition of contributing to the evidence-base by participating in the coordinated state evaluation focused on workforce supports. Iowa has a rich history of bi-partisan support for children and families, dedicating state funds for home visiting services since 1988. Iowa’s investments in home visiting have historically been in locally developed models that lack an evidence-base. Purpose: Providing high quality, evidence-based home visiting in 24 Iowa counties to 772 families. Goals & Objectives: The project supports six goals and 16 objectives. Goal 1: Focus on at-risk and high needs children and their families. *Expand access to home visiting in targeted communities and reach full-service capacity. *Strengthen referral networks with hospitals, WIC, healthcare providers, and childcare services. Goal 2: Support continuous quality improvement activities that address community-identified barrier(s), *Designate a CQI Lead per program, ensuring 80% participation in check-ins. *Utilize data to identify and implement CQI projects aligned with HRSA requirements. Goal 3: Strengthen leadership, collaboration and coordination of early childhood partners for the integration of a comprehensive Early Care, Health and Education System, *Coordinate MIECHV efforts with early childhood service providers. *Align professional development with key partners, including early education organizations. *Maintain a local intake system for referrals and family support program coordination. Goal 4: Support informed decision-making for program development, public policy, and fiscal management at the state and local levels through the use of results accountability data. *Assist Family Support Professionals in accurate data collection for performance improvement. *Ensure full-service caseloads and adherence to home visit requirements. Goal 5: Ensure Iowa's home visiting professionals possess the core competencies required to be effective in their positions. *Support certification for Family Support Professionals through training initiatives. *Enhance staff skills in mental health support. *Promote competitive wages to attract and retain qualified professionals, recommending a $18/hr starting wage. Goal 6: Provide the opportunity for Iowa’s at-risk families to be partners in planning and implementing home visiting services. The goals will be accomplished through a variety of objectives and activities. *Encourage family participation in evaluations and maintain a Parent Advisory Council with at least 50% past or current program participants. Approach: Iowa supports Healthy Families America, Nurse Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers home visiting models. Targeted communities include Appanoose, Black Hawk, Cass, Cerro Gordo, Clinton, Des Moines, Fremont, Henry, Jefferson, Lee, Mahaska, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, Page, Polk, Pottawattamie, Scott, Tama, Taylor, Wapello, Webster and Woodbury. Families that meet one or more of the MIECHV eligibility criteria will be the target for these services. Iowa will have a caseload capacity of 772 families each year of this project. Iowa will support 9 LIA’s under this project. Iowa MIECHV will utilize federal and state matching funds to expand evidence-based home visiting into three new counties, serving an additional 60 eligible families. State Early Childhood Iowa funds that support evidence-based Parents as Teachers have been committed as match to support this grant application.
