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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:
 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government declared a public health emergency (PHE) and passed a law that allowed Medicaid users to automatically keep their Medicaid coverage (continuous Medicaid).
Based on new federal law, continuous Medicaid eligibility will end on March 31, 2023. Eligible recipients will have to renew their benefits to make sure coverage will continue. Failure to respond to renewal or information requests from HHS could mean loss of coverage.
This Medicaid Ambassador Toolkit from The Texas Health and Human Services can help grantees to provide guidance, help and resources to clientele.
This year's Partners in Prevention Conference will take place November 14th (Grantee Day), 15th, and 16th (Main Conference Days) at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas.
The 2023 PIP Conference Call for Proposals is now open, and we welcome your submissions.
PIP is a great venue to share your knowledge, skills, and research. Help shape our conference agenda by proposing learning sessions that are innovative, insightful, engaging, and would equip participants with tools or knowledge.
Deadline for submissions is February 28th. Visit our Call for Presenters page to learn more.
Questions? Contact pipcon@austin.utexas.edu.
Keeping Them Safe While your Kids Get Their Zzz's
Date: February 9th
Time: 9:00 A.M. - 10:00 A.M. CST
Register
Sleeping like a baby should always be safe! This training will focus on clearly defining Safe Sleep, the methods to help an infant sleep safely, the risk factors/safe issues associated with unsafe practices, and the nuts and bolts for having conversations with parents/caregivers about safe sleep that are engaging, focused, evocative and facilitate safe sleep practices.
One (1) Social Work CE credit/contact hour will be provided for this event after evaluation feedback is received.
About the Speakers
Kathryn Sibley, Director, Prevention and Early Intervention Office of Child Research and Safety.
Kathryn and her team provide evaluation, data, and technical assistance to support quality outcomes across all PEI programs. This includes significant cross program work with program staff, higher education, other state agencies and stakeholders.
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Sergio Martinez, Lead Program Specialist, Prevention and Early Intervention Office of Child Research and Safety.
Since 2018, Sergio has been a part of PEI working for the Office of Child Safety (OCS); he is currently the Lead for the OCS. As the Lead, Sergio oversees the data collection by Office of Child Safety Staff for the legislatively required Annual Report, analysis of the data collected, and collaborate to complete the Annual Report for each fiscal year.
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The Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening and Support Training
Date: February 15th and 16th (this is a two-day training)
Times: Day 1: 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.: Day 2 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Register Now
Texas Family Support Network will be hosting The Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening and Support Training on February 15th and 16th. 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. 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 called The Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening and Support.
Registration will close on February 7th if the training does not fill before then. Questions? Contact calexander@tacfs.org.
 Workforce: Recruitment: Effective Strategies For Hiring The Team You Need
This interactive 1 of 3 training series explores innovative strategies agencies can put into place to effectively recruit new employees, develop a healthy and engaging workplace culture, and retain current teams. Participants learned from innovators at Wonsulting, how they can modernize their workplace policies, benefits, and practices to accommodate the new workplace realities of 2022 and build and retain a strong workforce.
Achieve OnDemand: Domestic Violence in Home Visiting (Self-Paced Course)
Domestic violence is a prevalent and recurring issue in home visiting. In this course, you will build your confidence to address domestic violence while working with families as their 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 you in developing a non-judgmental approach in working with families whose background and circumstances may or may not be differ from your own.
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.
Reminder: Complete your Course Evaluations!
Courses in the PEI Learning Hub remain in a “Pending Evaluation” status until the course evaluation is completed. So get those evaluations finished!
 Essentials of Home Visiting: Promoting Effective Parenting with Motivational Interviewing (Webinar)
Date: February 14th
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CST
Register By: February 13th, 12:00 P.M. CST
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. This webinar complements the Basics of Home Visiting self-paced course.
Essentials of Home Visiting: Exploring Values and Beliefs Around Parenting (Webinar)
Date: February 16th
Time: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. CST
Register By: February 15th, 10:00 A.M. CST
We all come to the table with our own beliefs about parenting. This webinar covers how to acknowledge and monitor those beliefs and address how they may impact the work we do with families. This webinar complements the Foundations of Infant Mental Health in Home Visiting self-paced course.
Questions?
Access the Essentials of Home Visiting live webinars through the Essentials of Home Visiting Portal free of cost.
For questions or to request access for new members, contact PEITraining@dfps.state.tx.us.
 A Café Training is an experiential and highly interactive workshop that prepares participants to convene and conduct Be Strong Families Cafés and to serve as Table/Room Hosts at these Café's.
By the end of the training, participants will know the anatomy of a Be Strong Families Café process, how to create their own Café theme, and how to build on the Café experience to enhance programming for parents and youth. We will discuss the philosophical foundations and research underlying Cafés as an educational and engagement strategy. They will also experience conducting and participating in Cafés.
Four locations to attend In-Person and four dates to attend virtually.
- In-Person classes are two-day sessions and will train you on how to host an In-Person Parent Café.
- Virtual classes are only for participants who have previously attended an In-Person training session and are wanting to learn how to host a virtual Parent Café. The virtual class provides additional tools to support hosting an online Parent Café.
- 30 participants per session.
Dallas –
March 6th & 7th In-Person- Register here
March 9th Virtual Session- Register here
Austin –
May 1st & 2nd In-Person- Register here
May 4th Virtual Session- Register here
Houston –
June 5th & 6th In-Person- Register here
June 8th Virtual Session- Register here
McAllen –
July 10th & 11th In-Person- Register here
July 13th Virtual Session- Register here
 Date: February 15th-17th
Location: AT&T Conference Center, Austin, Texas
Register
Perinatal health improvement is more important than ever. This year, TCHMB is inviting other state Perinatal Quality Collaboratives to the 2023 Summit to share lessons learned and to collaborate on making a collective impact on birth outcomes in the U.S. The 2023 Summit Theme is "Social Determinants of Health and How They Impact Maternal and Neonatal Health Outcomes."
The “Big Five” represent 40 percent of births in the nation: California, Illinois, Florida, New York and of course, Texas. Louisiana will also be represented through the 2023 keynote speaker.
This is your chance to network and learn how to improve patient care and health outcomes through the lens of societal factors. Topics covered will include:
- What are Social Determinants?
- How to Recognize and Assess Social Needs
- How to Address Social Needs
- Bringing it Back to QI - How to Bring Social Determinants into QI and Close the Loop
To help address critical and emerging school safety issues and support K-12 communities with relevant resources and information, SchoolSafety.gov launched a new Child Exploitation topic page on the site today. The new page features child exploitation information, resources, and guidance from government agencies as well as non-profit organizations, and outlines ways members of the K-12 school community can help identify, prevent, and respond to the victimization of students. The launch is an important expansion of the site’s content to better support schools and districts in creating safe and supportive learning environments.
The Youth Ambassador Group is sponsoring a writing contest in recognition of Youth Leadership Month in February.
Topics: We want to provide an opportunity for youth throughout Texas to have their voices heard on one of the topics below:
- How would you improve your school? Did your current school meet your expectations? What differed between your expectations and what you experienced?
- How do you handle feeling stuck, unmotivated, or frustrated with your current situation? How do you overcome this and gain motivation?
- How do you express creativity?
Prizes: A $100 gift card will be mailed out to one (1) winner from each of the following age groups:
Requirements and Evaluation: Submissions must have a minimum word count of 250 to be eligible for prizes. Youth Ambassadors will evaluate based on:
- Creativity and detail
- Answering all parts of the prompt
- Originality
- Comprehension and clarity
Select writing samples may also be shared with the Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Division and partners.
Entries are due no later than 11:59 P.M. CST on February 26th.
Email ted.romine@dfps.texas.gov with any questions.
 The 2023 Calendars are now available for order. This free family resource is filled with helpful tips for parents and caregivers of children of all ages. It’s available in English and Spanish, and endorsed by The Texas Pediatric Society.
Calendars can be ordered in multiples of 100 with a maximum order of 500.
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