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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:
 Keep an eye out for toolkits from us to help raise awareness during the month of May for Water Safety and Mental Health!
The Texas System of Care, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and community partners are working together to host the second digital Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (CMHAD), launching today, May 3, 2021!
CMHAD is a nationally observed day to raise awareness for children and youth experiencing mental health challenges and their families. The goal of this event is to build awareness and a community of support that reduces the stigma surrounding these challenges, so children, youth, and families do not feel alone in facing them.
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Each year, the Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Division recognizes people across Texas who go the extra mile to serve their communities. We're looking for those people and organizations that have created solutions to problems, made positive, lasting changes for the community they live in, and brought people together with their resilience, care, and kindness.
Nominate your youth, parent, and professional champions!
For rules, categories, nomination form, and more info:
Last day to nominate is Friday, May 14th.
 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.
Selecting a Caregiver
Date: May 11th
Time: 2:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. CDT
Register
Every year, children die and/or are abused/neglected in the care of a child care provider. These situations include children in the care of illegal daycare operations that were unknown to DFPS. Join us to learn about:
- Different types of child care settings
- Using the DFPS website for finding child care and information about caregivers/centers and tips for a successful child care search
- Illegal operations
- How to maintain safety of children in child care
- Seeking help with child care for friends, family members, and baby-sitters
- Interview questions to ask a potential caregiver
- Protective factors to consider for potential caregivers
FY22 Annual Refresh: Budget Planning and Program Alignment
Fiscal Year 2022 is around the corner! Join PEI to hear about trends and specific details on PEI’s refresh process for FY22. This webinar will provide guidance, ideas and helpful tips to better prepare for the upcoming fiscal year. PEI will detail the entire process and provide expectations, associated deadlines and required forms needed. In addition, examples will be provided on how to develop your Project Work Plan to ensure it aligns with your budget and supports contract performance.
Please attend the webinar specific to your grant.
Date: May 18th
Time: 9:00 A.M. -10:00 A.M. CDT
Register: Early Childhood Grantees ONLY
Date: May 18th
Time: 10:30 A.M. - 11:30 A.M. CDT
Register: FAYS Grantees ONLY
Date: May 18th
Time: 2:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. CDT
Register: Youth and Family Grantees ONLY - Excluding FAYS Program Grantees
 To take these courses: Type or paste the course names below into the search bar on the PEI Learning Hub:
- Click on the course and select “request”
- On your transcript select “launch” to begin
- When the video is complete, go to "completed" courses in your transcript
- Select "evaluate" to provide feedback
For questions, contact PEITraining@dfps.state.tx.us.
Achieve OnDemand: Supervising Home Visitors (Self-Paced Course)
Supervision plays a vital role in keeping home visits centered on parent-child relationships and the content focused on the achievement of outcomes. Supervisors know, however, that home visitors routinely work with families whose complex needs go beyond what home visits alone can address. This course offers practical strategies new and experienced supervisors can use to make the most of their interactions and time with home visitors to meet these challenges. Explore best practices to ensure your team achieves success with families with your critical support as their supervisor. Note: This Achieve OnDemand learning experience qualifies for .3 IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
Three Routes to Good Communication
To explore the 3 routes to good communication: Tuning your non-verbal communication, communicating openly, and the 5 levels of listening.
 Essentials of Home Visiting - Now Free for Grantees
PEI Grantees now have access to the Essentials of Home Visiting live webinars free of cost. Visit the Essentials of Home Visiting Portal to view the schedule and register for upcoming webinars. Questions? Contact the Support Team by email or call (312) 481-8859.
The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children (Webinar)
Date: May 6th
Time: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. CDT
Register by: May 5th at 10:00 P.M. CDT
As a home visitor, how can you help families understand child growth, child development, and how parenting techniques may impact their child's development? This webinar focuses on risk factors, family patterns, and cultural beliefs related to domestic violence. This webinar complements the Domestic Violence in Home Visiting self-paced course.
Implementing Tools to Enhance Home Visiting (Webinar)
Date: May 11th
Time: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. CDT
Register by: May 10th at 10:00 A.M. CDT
As a supervisor, there are many tools that you can leverage to operate your home visiting programs, enhance the quality of services delivered to children and families, and improve outcomes for those served by your program. However, it can be difficult to identify and implement these tools while still focusing on your day-to-day operational tasks. In this webinar we will explore how a supervisor can collect and use data to assess and improve the quality of their home visiting program build a mosaic of data in an assessment framework. This webinar complements the Supervising Home Visitors self-paced course.
Free Be Strong Families COVID-19 Daily Webinars
Be Strong Families hosts a series of webinars in English (12:00 P.M. CDT) and Spanish (1:30 P.M. 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.
 Listening to the Voices of Brown Fathers
Date: May 5th
Time: 11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. CDT
Register
Eliminating disproportionality and disparities requires ongoing commitment. The panelists and the moderator will discuss their realities as Latino/Hispanic fathers. The panel will dispel myths and stereotypical assumptions while sharing best practices in working with Brown fathers. Note: CEUs and CLEs are not offered for this webinar. Certificates will be issued.
 Adolescent Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19
Date: May 6th
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CDT
Register
The parallel pandemic: higher rates of mental distress caused by COVID-19, especially among younger people. For adolescents, the fallout from remote learning, social isolation, racial strife, and economic insecurity have taken a disparate and unwavering toll on their well-being, leading to severe anxiety, depression, and suicide ideation. Even as the world senses a possible end in sight, the rising threat of variants continues to cause angst, fatigue, and confusion. Join us for a town hall program that will directly speak to the mental health experiences and needs of our nation’s youth. Moderated by ABC News “Nightline” co-anchor Juju Chang.
Strengthening Families Webinar: What You Need to Know About the 2021 Expanded Child Tax Credit
Date: May 13th
Time: 2:00 P.M - 3:00 P.M. CDT
Register
Join the webinar on Thursday, May 13, 2021, to learn about the benefit as well as steps we can take to ensure that this expanded benefit reaches the children who need it most, including children in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and immigrant communities, and is made permanent. Learn more and register here.
To help families cover their children’s basic needs, Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit for 2021. The IRS will be sending out monthly checks to families with children, starting in July.
- Families can receive up to $300 a month for every child ages 0-5 and $250 a month for every child ages 6-17 living in their household.
- Families do not need any earnings to qualify.
Families should file taxes by May 17 so they can get the Child Tax Credit, stimulus checks, and all the money that they and their children are owed. Click here to learn more about eligibility information.
Service providers and people working with families will play an important role in letting families know they are eligible and connecting them to local resources to help them file taxes. The Center for the Study of Social Policy, the Children’s Defense Fund, and other members of the Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) Coalition have developed an outreach toolkit with some resources that could help you bring this up with families you work with and guide them to the services they need.
For additional information, attend the May 13th webinar to learn more.
PEI completed its five-year Needs Assessment for home visiting programs in Texas funded through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting block grant from Health Services Resource Administration. This assessment is a combination of risk modeling and qualitative investigations conducted in collaboration between the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler and the Prevention and Early Intervention Division at the Department of Family & Protective Services. You can review the needs assessment here.
DSHS Texas Public Health Vaccine Scheduler. As Texas opens COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to everyone age 16 and older, the Texas Department of State Health Services offers the Texas Public Health Vaccine Scheduler. Read more on this this and all state health updates at DSHS News Releases.
The CDC is recommending that pregnant people take the coronavirus vaccine. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky cited new findings in a briefing from The New England Journal of Medicine, saying "Importantly, no safety concerns were observed for people vaccinated in the third trimester, or safety concerns for their babies. As such, CDC recommends that pregnant people receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Even after you get a dose of the vaccine, continue to wear face masks, practice social distancing and regular handwashing to slow the spread.
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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