PEI Grantee News Volume 9, Issue 22

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

PEI Grantee News

A PEI Newsletter

Volume 9, Issue 22

Welcome to PEI Grantee News!

Our weekly e-newsletter to providers combines grantee resources, stories of interest, exclusive educational opportunities, and grant information. In this issue:

Image Spacer Line White BlankBlue Divider

Social Media Toolkit: Healthy Relationships

Healthy Relationships

Safe, stable, and secure relationships are an essential part of a healthy childhood. This social media toolkit can help your program to:

  • Promote healthy relationships between children and their parents or the adults that care for them.
  • Ensure parents/caregivers have the tools they need to have conversations with their children about healthy peer and dating relationships, concepts of bullying, bystander intervention.
  • Share resources to support healthy relationships between parents/caregivers.

These messages and links can be used as is or they can be customized in any way that works best for your community by directing to your prevention program’s information.

Explore the Toolkit

Blue Divider

Youth Leadership Month Writing Contest

Youth Writing Contest

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 winner from each of the following age groups:

  • 10-12
  • 13-15
  • 16-18

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.

Submit a Story


Email ted.romine@dfps.texas.gov with any questions.

Blue Divider

2023 Partners in Prevention Conference: Call for Presenters

PIP

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.


Submit a Proposal


Questions?
Contact pipcon@austin.utexas.edu.

Blue Divider

Special WhyTry Transformational Leadership Training for Grantees

WhyTry Grantee Training

Date: February 22nd
Time: 2:00 P.M. CST
Register

The challenges facing schools and communities are ever-evolving, and it's more important than ever to stay informed and equipped with the latest strategies to  build and support resilience within your community.

This webinar will feature a panel of national education experts who will share their insights and strategies on how to address the critical issues facing youth and family programs. You will have the opportunity to engage in live interactions with these thought leaders and learn about the latest trends and tools.

We invite you to join us for this exciting and informative discussion on building student and staff resilience. Register today and come away from this webinar better prepared, more energized, and motivated to tackle the critical issues facing education leaders!

Register Now

Blue Divider

PEI Learning Hub

PEI Learning Hub

In Case You Missed It:

Office of Child Safety Presents: Safe Sleep- Keeping Them Safe While Your Kids Get Their ZZZs (Video)

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.

Workforce: Retention Through Internal Development (Video)

This interactive 3 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 will learn 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.


To take these courses: Type or paste the course names above into the search bar on the PEI Learning Hub:

  1. Click on the course and select “request”
  2. On your transcript select “launch” to begin
  3. When the video is complete, go to "completed" courses in your transcript
  4. 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!

Blue Divider

Essentials of Home Visiting

Essentials of Home Visiting Banner

Essentials of Home Visiting: Matching Family Needs to Resources (Webinar)

Date: February 22nd
Time: 12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M. CST
Register By: February 21st, 12:00 P.M. CST

As a home visitor, it can be challenging to align available resources to the needs of families. This webinar explores how to carry out your role in the infant mental health spectrum and feel confident in connecting families to community resources and supports when the need arises. This webinar complements the Foundations of Infant Mental Health in Home Visiting self-paced course.

Essentials of Home Visiting: Home Visiting Boundaries (Webinar)

Date: February 28th
Time: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M. CST
Register By: February 27th, 10:00 A.M. CST

As a home visitor, how does setting and maintaining boundaries with the families you support enhance your work with them? In this webinar we will discuss various situations that call for establishing boundaries, strategies for establishing supportive boundaries with families, and the role of reflective supervision in setting and maintaining boundaries. This webinar complements the Basics of Home Visiting self-paced course. 


The Essentials of Home Visiting System Registration

Access the Essentials of Home Visiting live webinars through the Essentials of Home Visiting Portal free of cost. 

Step 1: Click here to be directed to the registration portal of The Essentials of Home Visiting learning management system.

Step 2: Click the Register button to access the registration form.

EHV

Questions?

For questions or to request access for new members, contact  PEITraining@dfps.state.tx.us.

Blue Divider

Parent Café Training

Parent Cafe Training

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:

Austin:

Houston:

McAllen:

Blue Divider

HHS ODPC Statewide Virtual Conference

HHS Disability Conference

Save the Date: Office of Disability Prevention for Children 3rd Annual Statewide Virtual Conference

Join us for the 3rd Annual HHSC Office of Disability Prevention for Children Statewide Virtual Conference, "Creating Connections: Prevention with Purpose."

On Tuesdays from March 7–28, 2023, the Office of Disability Prevention for Children will host a series of free webinars from 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. to highlight key topics on preventing intellectual and developmental disabilities in children.

Our goal is to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including community-based and government organizations, health care professionals, educators, families, caregivers and others to discuss and learn about strategies for creating positive change in the lives of children and families across Texas.

Continuing education credit for multiple disciplines will be provided for this event.

If you require any accommodations to fully participate in the event, please let us know by Friday, Feb. 17.

For questions, email Jay Smith at jay.smith@hhs.texas.gov or call 512-206-5100.

Register for the 4 Virtual Sessions

Blue Divider

Healthy Futures of Texas 12th Annual Symposium

Symposium

On April 23-26, Healthy Futures of Texas will host their 12th Annual Symposium that will showcase breakout sessions, plenary sessions, and provide ample opportunities to connect with friends and colleagues. Each year, more than 250 youth-serving professionals with an interest in adolescent sexual and reproductive health attend this signature event, bringing with them a diverse range of expertise and experiences. This year’s event will offer both in-person and virtual engagement at the Hyatt Galleria in Houston. Continuing education credit for multiple disciplines will be provided.

Healthy Futures of Texas is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to improve the well-being of young Texans through equitable access to sexual health education and resources. They work hard to bring geographic diversity to this event and would love to have you and your colleagues/staff attend. Full event details can be found at: 

txsymposium.org

Blue Divider

Mileage Reimbursement Rate

Funds Maximization Art

Mileage Reimbursement Rate - What You Need to Know:

Effective February 1, DFPS is increasing the mileage reimbursement rate for using a personal vehicle for business travel from 62.5 cents to 65.5 cents per mile. This rate will be in effect for the remainder of 2023.

This new rate reflects the State Comptroller's and Internal Revenue Service's standard mileage rate.

If you have further questions please contact your program specialist or contract specialist.

Blue Divider

End of Continuous Medicaid Coverage

Medicaid Benefit Updates

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. 

Explore the Toolkit

Blue Divider

Order Parenting Tips Calendars for 2023

2023 Calendar Covers

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.


Order Calendars Now


TwitterFacebookYoutubeInstagramMail