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Our weekly e-newsletter to providers combines grantee resources, stories of interest, exclusive educational opportunities, and grant information. In this issue:
 
 October is World Bullying Prevention Month. Did you know at least 1 out of every 5 kids in the United States is bullied? In Texas, at least 40% of those who are bullied have seriously considered suicide. The conversation to prevent bulling can start as early as a when a child learns the difference between kindness and unkindness.
Upcoming dates to remember:
- October 19th: Unity Day Wear orange on #UnityDay
We've put together this social media toolkit designed to help caregivers have conversations with their children about bullying that can be posted on your organization’s websites or social media channels.
Included in the toolkit:
- Messages to use in promoting bullying prevention;
- Bullying prevention resources; and
- Sample bullying prevention imagery to share and post.
The messages and links in the toolkit can be used as is, or they can be customized in any way that works best for the month or year round in your community by directing to your prevention program’s information.
 Understanding Cyberbullying
In this digital age, cyberbullying, or online bullying, is increasingly common. The 2017 School Crime Supplement (National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice) reported that about 15% of students in grades 9–12 reported being bullied online or by text.
Because cyberbullying takes place online, it is often done anonymously. Cyberbullying can take place:
- On social media (Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter).
- By text message.
- On instant messenger.
- Via email.
- On game or app platforms.
What Does Cyberbullying Look Like?
Cyberbullying can take many forms, but it is often when someone posts or shares harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal photos or private information that might embarrass or humiliate someone. Depending on the age of the people involved and what information is shared, cyberbullying can be a crime.
Recognizing Cyberbullying
Because cyberbullying happens online, it's often largely invisible to parents. So how do you know if your child is being cyberbullied?
The warning signs of cyberbullying can include:
- Trouble sleeping.
- Changes in mood, avoiding social situations they previously enjoyed, or a noticeable increase or decrease in device use.
- Shutting laptops quickly, closing screen tabs, or hiding electronic devices.
- Skipping school or faking sickness to avoid school.
- Falling grades.
PEIRS changes for 10/7/22:
- PEIRS will now display a Historical Home Visits section for any enrollments that were migrated from a previous grant. This allows PEIRS users to view home visit details for up to the last fiscal year of the prior grant. This change only affects those enrollments that were migrated, and new enrollments will not have this table. See screenshot below.
- Fixed an issue in PEIRS for migrated THV enrollments where the system would ask user to complete an Annual survey that was previously assessed. Home visits should no longer display Annual surveys that were assessed in the prior grant.
- Fixed an issue where new THV MIECHV grants were incorrectly displaying in PEIRS as THV State. All THV grants for FY 23 will now display as THV MIECHV.
 Date: October 11th
Time: 10:00 A.M. CDT
Register
Join PEI for the FY22 Final Billing Office Hours Grantee Webinar. This is for grantees who had access to TANF PEAF (Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund) dollars in FY22. PEI will provide guidance and information on how to finalize both your regular and final TANF billings for the FY22 period.
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Recordings of select sessions from the 2022 Partners in Prevention Conference are now available to watch online! Click below to view the sessions. Note: Watching session recordings does not qualify for CEUs.
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 Achieve OnDemand: Building Engaging and Collaborative Relationships with Families (Self-Paced Course)
As a home visitor, building strong relationships that support each member of the family’s growth and development is essential to your job. Whether establishing a relationship between parent and child or home visitor and parent, the principles and best practices are the same. By establishing a long-term relationship with families, you can model ways to interact that parents can adopt with their children. This course offers practical ways you can relate to parents that will motivate them to stay engaged with you.
Training Tuesdays with PEI Working For Kids™ Part 1 of 3
Working For Kids: Building Skills™ Curriculum - Session 1: How Experiences Shape Brain Development is part 1 of a 3-part series that describes how brain pathways form during development to support all the skills a child will gain as they grow up and learn.
For each skill a child learns (focusing attention, understanding emotions, language skills, problem-solving skills) a network of brain circuits develop that allow them to do the skill well. These pathways form in the brain from birth until about 25 years of age, with each pathway forming at a specific age. You can learn new things later in life, of course, but when you use the pathways you already have, you don’t develop new brain pathways.
In this session we will discuss when various brain pathways develop, and how to help children develop the strongest brain pathways possible. Helping children build strong brain circuits is fun, rewarding and sets children on a positive road to succeed in school and in life!
To take these courses: Type or paste the course names above 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.
 Access the Essentials of Home Visiting live webinars through the Essentials of Home Visiting Portal free of cost.
Use this link to register for any webinars from Start EarlyTM
Essentials of Home Visiting: Exploremos los valores y las creencias sobre la crianza de los Niños y las niñas (ciber seminario)
Date: October 13th
Time: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. CDT
Register By: October 12th, 10:00 A.M. CDT
Todos participamos con nuestras propias creencias sobre la crianza de los hijos. Este ciber seminario, cubre la manera de reconocer y monitorear tales creencias, y aborda la forma en que nuestras creencias, influyen en el trabajo que hacemos con las familias. Este ciber seminario, complementa el curso autodidacta: Fundamentos de la Práctica de la Salud Mental Infantil en la Visita a Hogares.
Essentials of Home Visiting: Home Visiting Safety (Webinar)
Date: October 19th
Time: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. CDT
Register By: October 18th, 10:00 A.M. CDT
What measures should you take to ensure your personal safety in your work with families? This webinar explores the importance of home visitor safety, how to identify safety risk factors, and appropriate actions to take based on various risk factors. This webinar complements the Basics of Home Visiting self-paced course.
Free Training Resources for Providers
Near @ Home
NEAR@Home is a two-generation process that provides home visitors with the skills and support to discuss ACEs and resilience safely, effectively, and respectfully with parents, focusing on hope and avoiding labeling. The two components of NEAR@Home include the NEAR@Home Toolkit and the NEAR@Home Facilitated Learning Process, both designed to complement one another and provide a holistic, reflective learning process that helps professionals to develop both the knowledge and skills needed to feel confident and competent when partnering with families who have experienced trauma.
Institute of the Advancement of Family Support Professionals
The Institute offers family support professionals everywhere the opportunity to learn new skills and grow their careers. Through engaging, online modules and a personalized learning map feature, professionals take charge of their growth and advancement. Access the Institute of the Advancement of Family Support Professionals Home Visiting Modules through the Learning Institute Portal free of cost.
A two-day training hosted by the Center/TACFS on:
Day 1
Date: October 26th
Time: 9:00 A.M - 3:30 P.M. CDT
Day 2
Date: October 27th
Time: 9:00 A.M - 3:00 P.M. CDT
Register by Friday, October 14th
Based on the Principles of Family Support Practice and the Strengthening Families Framework and its research-based, evidence-informed 5 Protective Factors, the National Family Support Network has created a common language across different kinds of Family Strengthening and Family Support programs such as Family Resource Centers, home visiting programs, and child development programs.
This two-day virtual certification training details how the Standards can enhance work with families. Whether you are setting up a new program or strengthening an existing one, the Standards provide a blueprint for implementing best practice.
Participants who complete both session will receive a certificate from the National Family Support Network that is valid for two years.
For more information on this training, please see the NSFN website.
Email calexander@tacfs.org with questions about this training.
 Date: November 29th - December 1st
Time: 9:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. CST
Register Now
The 6th Advancing Behavioral Health Collaboration (ABC) Annual Summit will be held virtually on November 29th, November 30th, and December 1st. Registration is free.
This year’s theme is Integrating School Mental Health to Support the Whole Child. Presentations will focus on ways to elevate and integrate school mental health and wellness to support the whole child by advancing school mental health practices and strengthening community partnerships.
Each of the three days will highlight different levels of tiered integrated students supports including universal, targeted, and intensive interventions. This summit will showcase best practices, shared insights and provide resources to advance school mental health.
Participation is encouraged for professionals working in education service centers, local education agencies, state agencies, and community organizations who desire to support schools, learn from colleagues, and strengthen student mental health in Texas.
 United Ways of Texas (UWT) is interested in learning more about the work and relationships of prevention and early intervention providers with their local 2-1-1, including partnerships, gaps, and areas for improvement. If you'd like to share your thoughts and suggestions about your connection with your local 211, please mark your calendar and join UWT staff for a virtual focus group in October (see dates below).
Early Childhood Providers Focus Group
Date: Tuesday, October 11th
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CDT
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82002303782
Youth & Family Providers Focus Group
Date: Thursday, October 13th
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CDT
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83043463291
For questions, please contact Nataly Sauceda.
 The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, in conjunction with the University of North Texas, is hosting free Positive Behavior Management and Support workshops.
These workshops are designed to help attendees learn techniques for supporting positive behavior, including strategies and techniques for the prevention of problem behavior.
The workshop is intended for family members, education providers, case managers, and mental health care professionals.
Continuing education credits are available. Click here to Learn More.
Over 300,000 Activity Books have enriched the lives of Texas children this year - order yours now! GetParentingTips Activity Books feature artwork, puzzles, and language learning activities, and each box comes with crayons for children. They're free to order and ship throughout Texas.
Thoughts, comments or suggestions to make PEI Grantee News work better for you? Send them to PEInews@dfps.texas.gov!
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