PEI Provider News Volume 7, Issue 27

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A PEI Newsletter Volume 7, Issue 27

Welcome to PEI Provider News! Our weekly e-newsletter to providers combines provider resources, stories of interest, exclusive educational opportunities, and grant information. In this issue:

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COVID Updates

Vaccines will be available for Texas 50 years and older today. Phase 1C of vaccination will include those 50 and older, an age group for which there is strong and consistent evidence of COVID-19’s life-threatening effects. Preventing the disease among people in this age group will dramatically reduce the number of Texans who die from the disease across
all races, ethnicities and occupations. Visit the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Newsroom for more information. 

Texas school and child care personnel are now eligible to receive the COVID vaccine. With the federal directive, the following education and child care personnel are now eligible to be vaccinated in Texas:

  • Those who work in pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools;
  • Head Start and Early Head Start programs (including teachers, staff, and bus drivers); and
  • Those who work as or for licensed child care providers, including center-based and family care providers.

Do not show up at a vaccine hub without first signing up or checking the provider’s instructions for schedulingVisit the DSHS COVID Vaccination webpage for more information. 

Even after you get a dose of the vaccine, continue to wear face masks, practice social distancing and regular handwashing to slow the spread. 

Coronavirus Resources for PEI ProvidersInformation on the COVID-19 virus for providers.

Tell us how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting you. We want to hear your stories about how the ongoing pandemic is affecting you and your life.

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Call for Artwork: 2022 Parenting Tips Calendar

Your Child and Youth Artwork could be featured in our next Parenting Tips Calendar!

Year after year, the Prevention and Early Intervention Parenting Tips Calendar has been a statewide resource for families of all kinds. This year we’ve distributed close to a half million of them to community organizations across Texas!

For 2022, we want to invite your organizations to help create a calendar featuring artwork from the children and youth that participate in your programs. We invite our grantees to send us artwork for use in next year’s calendar, which will be published in October 2021 in time for the Partners in Prevention Conference.

This is an open-ended call for creative expression from the children you work with; it can be work that already exists, or a new project or activity just for sending on to us. Artwork should be at least 8.5x11 (the size of a standard sheet of paper) and should have a focus on highlighting the strength and diversity of Texas families and communities. Every family is different, and we’d love to see what Texas families look like to the children you support in your community.

Stay tuned for more details. For more information, questions, or to express interest, please contact Tom Stephan.

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Call for Presenters - 21st Annual Partners in Prevention Conference

Prevention and Early Intervention is now accepting applications for presenters for our 21st Annual Partners in Prevention (PIP) Conference. This year's conference will blend virtual and in-person opportunities for presentations, and will take place at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas on November 2-4, 2021. Our hybrid conference is still evolving to align with social distancing and safety of all presenters and conference goers.

Conference sessions should be designed for participants to take away concrete skills and ideas to connect what they have learned with the families they partner with. We welcome and encourage the presentation of engaging, innovative concepts that show promise and motivate our attendees to expand or deepen their knowledge base. 

The application process has moved online. Application deadline is April 1, 2021.

Apply Now


Feel free to share this message with others. Start the conversation on your social media accounts!

#pipcon2021

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Training Tuesdays

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Join us every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month as we explore current, relevant topics based on state trends, featuring PEI speakers and guest experts.

Making PEIRS Reports Work for You - Tracking Services in PEIRS

Date: March 23rd
Time: 2:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. CST
Register

Join PEI’s Research and Evaluation Team as we highlight reports in the PEI Reporting System that help you track the services you entered in PEIRS and the services you deliver by month.

The first half of the webinar will highlight tools for all PEI providers and the second half will highlight tools for those with the home visiting tab.

Child Abuse Prevention Month Panel: A Community Response to Nurturing Families

Date: April 6th
Time: 2:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. CST
Register

Children thrive in safe, stable, nurturing families and communities. Behind many families that succeed there is a strong community that provides ways for the family to meet their own needs. Join DFPS in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month for a one-hour panel session with faith-based and parent leaders as they discuss strategies to support and engage all families where they live, work, play and worship and build strong communities. 

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Connect with the PEI Learning Hub

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To take these courses: Type or paste the course names below into the search bar on the PEI Learning Hub:

  1. Click on the course and select “request”
  2. On your transcript select “launch” to begin
  3. When the video is complete, go to "completed" courses in your transcript
  4. Select "evaluate" to provide feedback

For questions, contact PEITraining@dfps.state.tx.us.

Achieve OnDemand: Domestic Violence in Home Visiting (Self-Paced Course)

Build confidence to address domestic violence while working with families as a home visitor. Topics include the impact of violence on family systems, parenting, and child development. Common scenarios and strategies are presented for talking with parents about keeping themselves and their children safe. This course supports participants in developing a non-judgmental approach in working with families whose background and circumstances may or may not be differ from their own. Note: this Achieve OnDemand learning experience qualifies for .3 IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability

Brené Brown studies human connection -- our ability to empathize, belong, and  love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. 

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Essentials of Home Visiting Courses

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Register for and attend webinars in the Essentials of Home Visiting portal at a cost of $25.00 per webinar session.

Matching Family Needs to Resources (Webinar)

Date: Tuesday, Mar 16th
Time: 2:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. CST (Register by March 15th, 2:30 P.M. CST)

As a home visitor, it can be challenging to align available resources to the needs of families. This webinar explores how to carry out your role in the infant mental health spectrum and feel confident in connecting families to community resources and supports when the need arises. This webinar complements the Foundations of Infant Mental Health in Home Visiting self-paced course.

Free Be Strong Families COVID-19 Daily Webinars 

Be Strong Families is hosting a series of webinars in English (12:00pm CDT) and Spanish (1:30pm CDT) daily. Check out their website for topics including grieving experiences and expectations, family storytelling workshop, self-care for caregivers, financial resilience, and candid experiences of COVID-19. 

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CDC Launches Newsletter for Teens

Public Health Teen Newsletter

Calling all teenagers! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched a new monthly newsletter for teens on popular public health topics.

Each month will focus on a different public health topic that CDC studies. Newsletter sections: Introduction, CDC’s Work, The Public Health Approach, Special Feature, Out of the CDC Museum Collection, and Activities.

Read the February edition and sign up at the CDC webpage today!

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Calling Student Leaders: Health Ambassadors Needed

The Texas Department of Agriculture is seeking student leaders passionate about healthy eating and Texas agriculture to apply to the Health Ambassadors for a Ready Texas (HART) initiative.

Students enrolled in 9th, 10th or 11th grade in a school participating in the National School Lunch Program are eligible to apply (check here to see if your local school is participating).

The deadline to apply is April 9, 2021. HART applications and more information is available at SquareMeals.com/HART. 

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Funding Opportunities

NCJA Library of Criminal Justice

Funding opportunities are available from the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) on a variety of topics: 

  • March 29: Improving Criminal Justice Responses to Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Grant Program Solicitation
  • March 29: Training and Technical Assistance for Human Trafficking Service Providers
  • April 5: Rigorous Evaluation of Policies for their Impacts on the Primary Prevention of Multiple Forms of Violence
  • April 21: The CDC National Centers of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention (YVPCs): Rigorous Evaluation of Prevention Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Community Rates of Youth Violence

Visit the NCJA website for more details (registration is required).

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Share Your Work!

If you have any events or news that you would like to share in the next e-newsletter please email PEINews@dfps.texas.gov

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