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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:
 
 Today is the last day of World Bullying Prevention Month. For the month of October, we've promoted bullying prevention and our social media toolkit to help caregivers talk to their kinds about bullying. While October is Bullying Prevention Month, we encourage you to still promote bullying prevention year-round on your organization’s websites or social media channels. 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.
 Open Communication About Bullying Helps Prevent It
Try to keep lines of communication open with your child. Check in regularly with a text after school, or ask about who he sat with at lunch. Find out who attended your child's practices and games. Ask about who fits in at school and why or why not, and who he interacts with in person and online.
When your kids feel comfortable talking openly to you, it's easier to detect changes in their moods or behavior. Show your child that you are patient and interested, and he will know it's safe to come to you.
Remember that a lot of parents have gone through this and if you take steps to address cyberbullying, things will get better.
 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: Selecting a Caregiver
In FY2016, ten children died in the care of a child care provider. Of those, four children were being cared for by illegal daycare operations that were unknown to DFPS. Fatalities included 7 as a result of unsafe sleep, 1 in a vehicle related death, and 1 drowning. The other death was related to neglectful supervision. Topics that will be covered during this webinar:
- 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
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
Partnering for Change: Having the Conversation (Webinar)
Date: November 2nd
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CDT
Register By: November 1st, 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.
Trauma for Supervisors: Putting the Pieces Together
Date: November 7th
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CST
Register By: November 6th, 12:00 P.M. CST
As a supervisor, how can you support your staff and yourself in an intentional and trauma-informed manner? This webinar discusses the impact of trauma on multiple constituents – children, families, home visitors, supervisors and communities. We also identify common supervisory pitfalls as well as support strategies designed to improve the outcomes of each scenario.
Estar Presentes para las Familias
Date: November 10th
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CST
Register By: November 9th, 12:00 P.M. CST
¿Qué impacto tienen nuestros valores y experiencias personales en el trabajo que hacemos? Se tratarán las cualidades de no juzgar, de estar presente y de escuchar activamente, así como algunas barreras potenciales que impiden escuchar activamente. Este ciber seminario, complementa el curso autodirigido Fundamentos de las Visitas a Hogares.
Date: November 18th
Time: 10:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M. CST
Register
Join the HHSC Office of Disability Prevention for Children for a live webinar on preventing injuries in infants and children during the holidays. While the holidays are a time for joy and celebration for many, injuries or deaths resulting from toys, decorations, and other causes are all too frequent. Presenters will address these issues, as well as practical tips and resources aimed at promoting infant and child injury prevention. Attendees can participate in a fast-paced prevention trivia challenge during the event.
Presenters: Jay Smith, program manager, and Kynthia Brooks, program development specialist, for the HHSC Office of Disability Prevention for Children.
This webinar is intended for parents, providers who work with families, and others caring for infants and children throughout the state.
The free event will include live captioning and American Sign Language interpretation. Please let them know by Thursday, November 18, should you require any additional accommodations to fully participate in the event.
For questions, email Jay Smith at jay.smith@hhs.texas.gov or call 512-206-5100.
 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.
PEI Employment Openings:
Program Specialist V
This position performs advanced (senior-level) training and development work designed to advance the skills and knowledge of the prevention workforce and improve existing trainings. Work involves analyzing training needs, coordinating, and conducting training sessions using a variety of training methods, and developing and evaluating training programs. May plan, assign, and/or prioritize the work of others. Works under limited supervision, with considerable latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.
Program Specialist V
This position provides oversight and support for community-based grantees implementing PEI programs. This position will provide program support for PEI Early Childhood Programs such as the Healthy Outcomes through Prevention and Early Support (HOPES) Program, Texas Home Visiting Program (THV), and the Texas Nurse-Family Partnership (TNFP) Program. These programs are designed to strengthen families with young children, promote child and family well-being in early childhood, and support positive outcomes for families with children ages 0 to 5 years. Programs offer services such as evidence-based parent education, home visiting, and other family support programming. The Program Specialist engages in program planning, writing policies and procedures, coordination and facilitation of meetings, conducting site visits, and planning and providing training. The position will serve as a subject matter expert for program-related information, evidence-based models and frameworks, community-level initiatives, and best practice in implementation of programming and community systems efforts.
PEI Early Childhood Programs Lead
The Early Childhood Programs Lead provides lead program support for PEI Early Childhood Programs such as the Healthy Outcomes through Prevention and Early Support (HOPES) Program, Texas Home Visiting Program (THV), and the Texas Nurse-Family Partnership (TNFP) Program. These programs are designed to strengthen families with young children, promote child and family well-being in early childhood, and support positive outcomes for families with children ages 0 to 5 years. Programs offer services such as evidence-based parent education, home visiting, and other family support programming. The position will serve as a subject matter expert for program-related information, evidence-based models and frameworks, community-level initiatives, and best practice in implementation of programming and community systems efforts. This will include ensuring community programmatic needs are met while meeting grant requirements, coordinating and collaborating with state agency and community partners to promote PEI programs and services, developing internal policies and processes, assisting with program planning, development, implementation, and oversight, working with data and evaluation teams, advising staff of emerging trends in the field and best practices, liaising with stakeholders and partners, conducting training, presentations, and meetings, and compiling and reviewing reports, forms, and materials. The Program Lead will also assist and support Early Childhood Program Specialists and other PEI staff in their work and efforts.
HHSC Employment Opening:
CSHCN Community Resource Coordinator
The Maternal and Child Health Unit seeks a Children with Special Health Care Needs Community Resource Coordinator. The successful candidate will support Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant children and youth with special health care needs initiatives and oversee community-based contracts. For more information or to apply, please visit the Health and Human Services job site. The posting number is 543241 and closes on November 2, 2022.
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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