Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Homevisiting Grant Program - I. PROJECT ABSTRACT and SUMMARY Annotation: The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS), through the Bureau of Family Health and Nursing Services (BFHNS), leads Guam’s Early Childhood Home Visiting Program, Project Bisita I Familia (PBIF), which means “to visit the family” in Chamorro. PBIF is an evidence-based, voluntary program that supports pregnant women and families with young children who are at increased risk for adverse maternal and child health outcomes. The program promotes healthy child development, strengthens parenting skills, and enhances overall family well-being through coordinated, high-quality home visiting services. PBIF prioritizes families with risk factors such as young maternal age (under 21), low educational attainment, low income, prior child welfare involvement, and mental health challenges.Problem: The program faces several challenges, including procurement-related issues, staff recruitment, and participant recruitment and retention. Purpose:The purpose of Project Bisita I Familia (PBIF) is to support parents and caregivers in strengthening parenting skills and overall family functioning through comprehensive, high-quality home visiting services. Trained home visitors provide prenatal and parenting education, developmental screenings, care coordination, and referrals to community and social support resources to promote healthy development and positive parent-child relationships. PBIF addressed the risk factors that may increase barriers for parent and child interaction by connecting families to community resources, supporting family literacy, and encouraging positive bonding. These efforts aim to reduce gaps and ensure families have unbiassed opportunities for a healthy and thriving future. 1.Goals and Objectives: Goal 1: Project Bisita I Familia (PBIF) will provide high-quality, voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services to families in high-risk communities. Objective 1a: By September 29, 2028, 105 families in high-risk communities identified receive high-quality voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services. Goal 2: Strengthen collaborative efforts with early childhood and other child and family-serving agencies. Objective 2a: By September 29, 2028, PBIF staff will attend four staff training and parent workshops annually with other early childhood programs. Goal 3: Enhance staffing and administrative structures to support high-quality ongoing home visiting program staff training.Objective 3a: By September 29, 2028, PBIF will have seven home visitors certified in the HFA home-visiting model. Goal 4: Expand the database system to improve PBIF’s ability to meet data collection and reporting requirements. Objective 4a: By September 29, 2028, PBIF’s data system will be enhanced and refined every six months to meet the requirements of the MIECHV federal grant and HFA evidence-based model. Approach: Based on the 2020 MIECHV Updated Needs Assessment, which reviewed nine risk factors—premature birth, low birth weight, infant mortality, poverty, unemployment, school dropout, crime, child maltreatment, and substance use disorder—PBIF implements the Healthy Families America model. The program serves families across all identified service communities, including Chalan Pago-Ordot, Asan-Maina, Hagatna, Agat, Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon, Dededo, Mangilao, and Yigo. If enrolled families relocate to other villages, PBIF will continue providing services to ensure continuity of care, stability, and ongoing family support. PBIF has a proposed caseload of 105 families, with home visitors serving about 15–20 families while maintaining a weighted caseload limit of 30 points. Healthy Families America assigns point values to each family—Level 1: 2 points; Level 2: 1 point; Level 3: 0.5
