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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:
 The 21st Annual Partners in Prevention Conference 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 the safety of all presenters and conference goers.
Our 2021 theme is Forging Forward Together: Nurturing Communities and Families.
We seek to recognize the challenges of the past year and the power of coming together, carving out paths towards a future that supports prevention and early intervention professionals and the communities they support and partner with.
Feel free to share this message with others. Start the conversation on your social media accounts! #pipcon2021
For questions, please contact pipcon@austin.utexas.edu.
How Will You Attend PIP?
Partners in Prevention is planning a hybrid-model conference at the Renaissance Austin Hotel, with select conference sessions available virtually. Please help us get an idea of your preferred method of attending this year's conference by answering one question below. Thank you!
 Just like you, PEI is dedicated to incorporating and uplifting the voices of individuals with lived experience in our programming and practices. As we continue our work in this area, PEI is interested in hearing from you!
We invite you to visit in our Virtual Idea Board. On this board you will see three sections:
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The top left identifies PEI’s current initiatives to incorporate lived experience.
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The top right provides you an opportunity to share other ideas of how you would like to see PEI incorporate lived experience in the future.
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The bottom is where we want to hear about what is being done in your programs to incorporate lived experience.
To provide your feedback and information
- Access the idea board;
- Click on the post-its within the “How Would You Want PEI to Incorporate Lived Experience?” and “Current Community Provider Initiatives” sections;
- Type in your response!
We ask that you include all relevant information in the idea board by July 5th. Your collaboration will assist PEI in understanding the current landscape of utilizing lived experience in prevention programming across Texas. We will share the compiled information from the idea board in an upcoming PPN. If you have any questions regarding how to navigate the idea board please contact Sydni.Kipp@dfps.texas.gov.
Thanks in advance for your collaboration!
 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.
Summertime Child Safety Tips
Date: July 13th
Time: 2:00 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. CST
Register
It’s finally summer and for many this means children are home. Families are looking for ways to keep their young ones engaged and also spend quality time together. It is important to remember that there are possible dangers to children that are common in the summer months. This webinar will focus on summer child safety tips. Topics that will be covered during this webinar:
- Water safety
- The dangers of hot vehicles
- Extreme outdoor heat conditions
- Utilizing teens/pre-teens as caregivers
- Safe sleep
- Safety tips regarding social media use by the youth
 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.
Spark Training: Inclusive Language with LGBTQ+ Youth
This training, developed by the Adolescent Health Initiative at the University of Michigan and adapted by the Texas Dept. of Family and Protective Services, discusses ways that service providers can best support LGBTQ+ youth and use appropriate and sensitive language with clients.
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).
 Essentials of Home Visiting Webinars - Now Free for Grantees
Access the Essentials of Home Visiting Portal free of cost. Use this link to register.
Promoting Effective Parenting with Motivational Interviewing (Webinar)
Date: July 8th
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:000 P.M. CDT
Register by: July 7th at 12:00 P.M. CDT
Reflective practice is essential to providing high-quality home visiting services and engaging with families. The utilization of motivational interviewing in reflective practice can greatly enhance the effectiveness of services and improve relationships with families served. Motivational interviewing is a collaborative, person-centered form of guiding to elicit and strengthen motivation for change. This webinar identifies the fundamental elements of motivational interviewing and explores strategies for using motivational interviewing in home visiting. Note: This webinar complements the Basics of Home Visiting self-paced course.
Partnering for Change: Having the Conversation (Webinar)
Date: July 22nd
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CDT
Register by: July 21st at 12:00 P.M. CDT
As a home visitor, how do you engage with families around the topic of substance abuse? This webinar explores strength-based strategies and conversation starters you can incorporate in your work with parents to successfully engage families around the issues of substance abuse and support the growth and development of their children. Note: This webinar complements Challenges in Home Visiting: Substance Abuse self-paced course.
Are you interested in or currently pursuing an Infant Mental Health Endorsement?
Endorsement is an internationally recognized credential that supports and recognizes the development and proficiency of professionals who work with or on behalf of infants, toddlers, and their families. Gaining Endorsement allows you to enhance your professional profile as a specialist in the infant and family field; distinguish yourself among your colleagues by meeting competency standards that reflect best practice and by earning the IMH-E® mark; affirm the specialized knowledge and skills you have acquired through formal education and work experiences; and to better support the infants, toddlers, families, students, agencies, and institutions that are served by the promotion of infant mental health.
The Essentials of Home Visiting self-paced online courses and live webinars for family professionals count towards training requirements to earn and renew a Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement® from the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health.
Upon completion of these learning experiences, participants earn in-service training credits from First3Years Texas. Review this crosswalk, which details The Essentials of Home Visiting trainings that support each Endorsement Knowledge & Skill Area, as well as credit hours a professional may earn upon completion.
 Perinatal Mood Disorders: Diagnosis, Treatment & Referral Grand Rounds
Date: July 7th
Time: 11:00 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. CDT
Register
This presentation will focus on the diagnosis and treatment of common perinatal mood disorders. This will include prevention, non-pharmacological interventions and pharmacological interventions, including medications safe during pregnancy and lactation. The presentation will include information about prescribing medications for perinatal mood disorders by primary care providers and obstetricians, and appropriate referrals. Presented by Sarah Wakefield, M.D., Texas Tech University Health Center
DSHS Grand Rounds is designed to expand understanding of the science and evidence-based practice of population health. Each session focuses on key challenges related to a specific health topic, and explores cutting-edge scientific evidence and potential impact of different interventions.
2021 Texas System of Care and CRCG Conference: Registration Now Open!
The 2021 Texas System of Care (TxSOC) and Community Resource Coordination Groups (CRCG) Conference is an interagency conference for youth, family members, state leaders, child-serving providers, and community leaders to learn how to implement innovative strategies to shift from coordination to collaboration, participate in networking opportunities, and share best practices in coordinating systems and services for young people with significant mental health and/or cross-agency needs. *Captioning and other accommodations are available upon request on the registration website if you register by June 27.
For more info, visit: http://bit.ly/FindingTheSpark2021
or contact Kisha Ledlow: kisha.ledlow@hhs.texas.gov
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The 32nd edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT® Data Book describes how children across the United States were faring before — and during — the coronavirus pandemic.
This year’s publication continues to deliver the Foundation’s annual state rankings and the latest available data on child well-being. It identifies multiyear trends — comparing statistics from 2010 to 2019. In addition, the report shares data on how families endured throughout the pandemic.
For more info, visit:
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Starting July 15, the new Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan Act provides monthly benefits of $250 per child between ages 6-17 and $300 per child under age 6. The IRS has launched a simplified online tool which will allow families not automatically enrolled in the program to receive the Child Tax Credit – more information at ChildTaxCredit.gov. This new policy will help cut child poverty in half, but it’s only available in 2021. We need the American Families Plan so families can benefit for years and years to come.
Families should visit www.childtaxcredit.gov to learn more about this important benefit, and those that did not file taxes last year can use this tool provided by the IRS to sign up to receive benefits.
We encourage you to notify the families in your state and communities so that they can access this much-needed support for children.
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During June, Texas Health and Human Services Commission encourages military veterans to access the resources available to them for suicide prevention and PTSD.
HHSC administers the Mental Health Program for Veterans in partnership with the Texas Veterans Commission. The program funds peer-to-peer counseling for veterans and their families through local mental health authorities and local behavioral health authorities.
HHSC also funds and administers the TexVet initiative which includes a website hosted by the Texas A&M University Health Science Center. The website helps veterans navigate through resources available in their communities including mental health care providers, social groups, job placement programs, and legal assistance. Veterans can also find additional resources by visiting MentalHealthtx.org/veterans.
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 As part of the broader goal of increasing access to care for mothers and babies in Texas, the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies has developed a reference sheet to empower frontline workers in assisting low-income, uninsured women in Texas who may qualify for the main public healthcare coverage programs (Medicaid for Pregnant Women, CHIP-Perinatal, Healthy Texas Women and the Family Planning Program).
The reference sheet is intended to help close knowledge gaps, encourage greater utilization of available resources, and increase access to healthcare. It has been developed in collaboration with stakeholders through an ongoing co-design process that has included focus groups, interviews, and a dedicated workgroup.
For more information, visit the UT System Office of Health Affairs website.
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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