Gratitude
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”
– Brené Brown
As we enter the winter holiday season with so many challenging local and global situations still feeling unsettled, I find comfort in this quote from Brené Brown. It reminds me that it is often not the big things like an extravagant vacation, but the smaller moments where we can find joy and gratitude. Things like a hike with a four-legged friend in any one of our state’s beautiful landscapes or reconnecting with friends and colleagues at in person events. These cumulative moments of gratitude can be a powerful antidote to the anxiety about the many unsettled things, much of which we have no direct control over. You, the home visiting professionals with whom I am honored to work, are my cumulative moments of gratitude. You provide me the strength I need to manage less joyful parts of my job such as contracting or federal reporting. Thank you for being this gift and for all that you do to support Oregon’s families and communities. Have a peaceful, joyful holiday season whatever you celebrate and with whom.
– Benjamin
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Staff Changes
We want to keep you updated on staff changes in our office. Kerry Cassidy Norton, Home Visiting Workforce Development Coordinator, has accepted another position and is leaving her position with OHA November 30th. Kerry would like to express her gratitude for the hard work of Oregon home visitors, home visiting supervisors and partners, to support Oregon families. "It has been a pleasure to support your work through professional development these past 6 years. I’ll miss this work and will forever be grateful for the opportunity to work with such dedicated, passionate folks throughout the state."
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Respiratory Viruses on the Rise
Respiratory viruses are on the rise and home visitors can play an important role in sharing this health information with families. An important step that parents and caregivers can take is to get vaccinated against flu and COVID-19 to help keep kids—especially those under 6 months, who can’t yet receive flu or COVID-19 vaccines—safe.
In addition to staying up to date on their flu and COVID-19 vaccines and protecting high-risk infants, people can prevent the spread of respiratory viruses by taking the following everyday actions:
- Avoid close contact (such as kissing, shaking hands, and sharing cups and eating utensils) with people who are sick
- Stay home when sick
- Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your upper shirt sleeve (not your hands)
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Clean frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs and mobile devices
Vaccinating against flu and COVID-19 is a primary strategy for preventing illness and reducing severity of illness; this not only protects individuals from potentially serious respiratory disease, but also helps to prevent additional strain on the health care system.
Help promote flu and COVID-19 vaccines consistent with the following CDC recommendations:
- Annual flu vaccination is recommended for all people 6 months and older who do not have contraindications (which are rare)
- People ages 6 months and older are recommended to receive a primary series of any age-appropriate FDA-approved or FDA-authorized monovalent COVID-19 vaccine
- People ages 5 years and older are recommended to receive 1 bivalent mRNA booster dose after completion of any FDA-approved or FDA-authorized monovalent primary series or previously received monovalent booster dose(s)
Children younger than six months of age are not eligible for flu or COVID-19 vaccines. As noted above, an important strategy for keeping these youngest infants safe is to make sure that everyone around them—parents, siblings, other relatives and caregivers—are vaccinated against flu and COVID-19.
MIECHV Corner
The Jackie Walorski Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Reauthorization Act of 2022 (H.R. 8876) passed unanimously out of the House Ways and Means Committee in September. As passed, the legislation would double the investment in MIECHV by 2027, including Tribal MIECHV. This legislation does include a match for the first time for MIECHV, but that does not start until the second year, it is predictable, is significantly less than the dollar-for-dollar match proposed in 2018 and can come from any state investment in evidence-based, targeted and intensive home visiting. No one really likes a match, but this legislation can provide opportunities to stabilize and grow the home visiting workforce and reach more communities and families who want home visiting services.
The current legislation expires December 16th if the Senate doesn’t act; however, if you are receiving MIECHV funding to provide home visiting, there are enough funds to honor all existing contracts and avoid any service disruptions.
Oregon MIECHV Orientation materials are posted on OHA MIECHV General Orientation Website. Please refer new MIECHV staff to the website. Live webinars will be offered quarterly, and the next schedule will be available soon.
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”
~ Brené Brown
Oregon Home Visiting Professional Development
Thank you to those who attended Oregon Professional Development Meeting from October 25th -27th 2022! For those who attended, access to materials is available on the whova platform through January 2023.
Upcoming Opportunities
The Racism in Home Visiting virtual interactive learning series was rescheduled for Wednesdays in February (1,8,15,22) from 12:00 pm-2:00 pm PST. For those who were already registered, your registration has been moved over to the new series. For those still wishing to register, please visit the website for registration and more information nurturely.org/home-visiting
Save the date for the Oregon Parenting Educators Conference scheduled for May 1-2, 2023, in-person, at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Scholarships will be available for Oregon early childhood home visitors.
Scholarships will be available for Oregon early childhood home visitors for the following winter and spring courses at Portland State University: Winter 2023 ECED 410/510 Strengths-Based Practices in Social Emotional Development; Spring 2023 Early Childhood Mental Health; Introduction to Infant Mental Health. Check scholarship website for more information here.
Registration is open for the National Home Visiting Summit hosted virtually by Start Early and taking place March 14 – 16, 2023.
NEW Resources
MCH Bridges: The Official Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Podcast shares stories from the maternal and child health field aiming to inspire and guide actions. Listen at the link or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Technical Assistance Resource Center (TARC) Podcasts share stories from the home visiting field and can be listened to on youtube at the link provided.
Ongoing Opportunities
Essentials of Home Visiting Coursework are still available to those who currently have access, through the end of January 2023. For those participating, please encourage your teams to complete their coursework. Thank you!
MCH Navigator provides competency-based learning, including webinars, resource documents and self-assessments, to accelerate MCH upstream together to improve the health of infants, children, youth and families.
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Corner
During March’s Learning Session, we announced the Cultivating Joy in Work and Parenting Collaborative’s project timeline extension through December. This provides more time for Local Implementation Agencies (LIAs) to learn from changes tested and inform areas to focus CQI efforts.
By August’s learning session, there were enough data points from pulse survey measures to establish a median line. This resulted in the ability to detect trends or shifts attributing to changes tested across primary drivers. A positive shift in the right direction was seen in the following: Joy in Work average pulse survey score across all measures; Measure 1-“I am recognized and thanked for what I do”; and Measure 2-“ I am given opportunities to build on my strengths to prepare me to do my job well”. These noted shifts are worthy of celebrating and stand as testaments to great efforts and work LIAs continue to change and implement!
The main topics of this fourth and final virtual learning session will cover results throughout the collaborative and how to sustain the gains. LIAs are invited to Learning Session 4 on January 17th from 9:30 am-11:00 am PST. You can find more information and how to register in the ‘important dates’ section.
MIECHV LIAs: Thank you for your continued diligence in updating your team’s project folder and responding to our monthly Pulse Survey. The response rate of pulse surveys is improving, and we want to do our best to ensure it reflects full representation of the workforce. Please complete Action Period 3 (September through December) PDSAs by year-end. Email Adejoke.babatunde2@state.or.us to make sure you are on all necessary distribution lists, are receiving emails about monthly pulse surveys and/or notifications from basecamp.
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Important Dates
MIECHV CQI Virtual Office Hours
Join us to discuss your team’s CQI project, basecamp and more. The MIECHV CQI team will be available the second Tuesday of every month to support your team’s progress. Join at the link below, no registration required.
December 13th from 9:00-10:00 am PST
Join ZoomGov Meeting: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1612929564?pwd=SGpZQWlveWdrTlpiRUNaWTFtaVMwQT09
Meeting ID: 161 292 9564 | Passcode: 766331
Final Cultivating Joy in Work and Parenting Virtual Learning Session 4 Webinar
During this session, we will reflect on successes and lessons throughout the collaborative; celebrate wins; discuss best ways to sustain the gains of joy in work and parenting; and reveal the CQI project plan/area(s) of focus for 2023.
January 17th from 9:30-11:00 am PST
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://www.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJItduGsqD8pGv-mrqx4IGJCnlQTYHAUr3g
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Job Notices
Know of a job posting you’d like us to share? Email Benjamin.hazelton@dhsoha.state.or.us to have it included in the next quarterly newsletter.
What we’re reading, watching, and paying attention to
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