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Families, and children, can find love and support in many ways – through places in communities that offer a sense of belonging, to teachers who inspire and lift children, or through a social worker, stepping in and offering supports and guidance to families struggling. April, Child Abuse Prevention Month, is a time to celebrate and lift-up the places and people in your community that celebrate the importance of children and their families. You, too, through your partnerships with families and community partner, build protective factors by recognizing the strengths and resiliency support in families and community.
The Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) coordinates activities for Child Abuse Prevention Month through the work of the Strengthening Families Washington team. All month long, DCYF, organizations and individuals throughout Washington and our country plan activities and promote messages to remind us of the importance of positive childhood experience and that we all have a role to play.
The Pinwheels for Prevention campaign is part of the Prevent Child Abuse America national effort to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect prevention. Almost 15,000 blue and silver pinwheels will be distributed around the state. The pinwheel is a timeless symbol of the joy and happiness of childhood and the symbol of the Pinwheels for Prevention campaign.
Every act that builds protective factors in families is an act of prevention. These can be a parent spending quality time invested in their child, a child care provider providing resources or connection to other families, or a neighbor providing a meal to a family so the family can reduce stress and enjoy each other. Each pinwheel you see can be a reminder to inspire us all to support children having joyful and happy childhoods.
To celebrate and spread awareness about Child Abuse Prevention month, the SFWA team has a variety of items available for free for distribution throughout the state. This includes our Protective Factors coloring book, our brand new What Makes a Hero coloring book, rack cards that include a coloring page, stickers, poster kits, temporary tattoos and seeds for planting. You can email stregntheningfamilies@dcyf.wa.gov to request any of these items. We also have several print at home coloring pages available here.
In addition to our pinwheels, we also want to invite everyone in Washington to participate in Wear Blue Day on April 7th to stand in solidarity against child abuse. It’s easy – just wear blue!
 Research has found that the five Protective Factors reduce stress and promote the well-being of ALL families. Everyone has stress, but when families increase Protective Factors, they build and draw on natural support networks within their families and communities.
Parental Resilience allows for coping in stressful situations, giving the flexibility and inner strength necessary to bounce back when things are not going well, allowing parents overcome hard things.
This year, incarcerated students at Echo Glen Children's Center enrolled in a screen writing class were interviewed on what resilience means to them. These are their words.
Thanks to First Sight Productions for this incredible new video.
DCYF currently has several open funding opportunities on our website.
This includes exploration planning for one or two organizations to explore home visiting, where none exists, in any of the following rural counties in Southern Washington:
- Asotin
- Columbia
- Garfield
- Klickitat
- Skamania
We invite Application from organizations within Washington State interested in exploring the path to establish home visiting in communities located within any of these counties. The Application template/form and Guidance is available online on our website: DCYF Home Visiting Web Page Funding Opportunities. Applicants may apply for a maximum of $40,000 towards a planning contract to begin on July 1, 2023.
The deadline for applications is April 26, 2023 at 5 p.m. If you have any questions, please email dcyf.homevisiting@dcyf.wa.gov.
Please see our Funding website for additional funding opportunities, including program evaluation capacity building for community-based child abuse and neglect prevention programs and perinatal mental health community capacity building.
HVSA Office Hours will be taking place April 20 from 3-4 p.m. We will focus on FY24 Contracts and field questions.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://dcyf.zoom.us/j/83183457961?pwd=UHZyRC90ZnhuU2RMNmRNQlFzTk5uQT09
Meeting ID: 831 8345 7961
Passcode: 644977
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,83183457961#,,,,*644977# US (Tacoma)
+12133388477,,83183457961#,,,,*644977# US (Los Angeles)
PCQs and Budgets will be coming out by March 31 and will be due back by May 16. We are not anticipating any budget shifts at this time. Please reach out to your programs specialist if you have any questions.
Save the Date: Cost Study Webinar Friday April 7 10 – 11:30 am. Registration coming soon.
All HVSA May 2-3 at Hotel Interurban in Tukwila. Register here.
Home Visiting Program Specialist position on the HV Contracting Team open until March 29. (located in Thurston County, but teleworking/remote) careers.wa.gov or this link: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/dcyf/jobs/3957120/home-visiting-program-specialist-ps5-olympia.
Rescue Funds
- FY23 MIECHV and State Rescue Funds - must be spent by June 30, 2023; Rescue supplies/cards - must be distributed to families by September 30, 2023 Those working with Diaper Banks – please have your orders in by June 1st and distribute supplies by September 30,, 2023
- FY24 – we’re not sure if there will be funds available in next years’ contracts, but are welcoming feedback on how it went this year, and how impactful the funds were for your families or your programs. Please share your thoughts with your program specialist.
Where you live can directly impact your health. Some Washington communities have lower life expectancies, struggle with air pollution and other environmental concerns, or have fewer doctors or medical facilities. To help people facing health barriers, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is proud to announce nominations are now open for the state’s new Health Equity Zones (HEZ) initiative. HEZ gives people an opportunity to share their ideas and create a model for collaborative solutions.
“This is an exciting new opportunity to create health programs led by community from the very beginning,” said Lacy Fehrenbach, Chief of Prevention, Safety, and Health. “People who live in under-resourced communities know best what is needed to improve health in their area. Health Equity Zones are a way to tap into that local knowledge and design lasting solutions.”
The HEZ initiative, created by the Washington legislature in 2021, will pilot community-led projects in three different “zones” – rural, urban, and Native communities – aiming to address each area’s most pressing health issues.
People statewide are invited to nominate their community as a HEZ. The nomination period is open from March 13-April 23. Each geographic area chosen as a HEZ will receive $200,000 per year for two years to identify health priorities and develop community action plans. DOH plans to extend funding opportunities beyond the initial two years.
To learn more about HEZ and how to nominate a community, visit the Health Equity Zones Initiative website.
Learn about Washington state's new Maternal Mortality Review Panel Report and consider how to apply its findings and recommendations to your work.
- The aim of the report is to prevent maternal mortality, end inequities, and improve care and experiences during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
- It is based on data and recommendations from the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Panel.
- The report highlights findings based on cumulative data from maternal deaths 2014–2020.
- It also includes recommendations based on pregnancy-related, preventable maternal deaths from 2017–2020, with recommended actions for policymakers, perinatal care, and agencies.
- It features an addendum from the American Indian Health Commission (AIHC) on tribal and urban Indian leadership recommendations. AIHC will co-present this webinar.
- This report was delivered to the Washington State Legislature in February 2023.
April 12, 2023; noon – 1:30 PM Pacific Time*
REGISTER HERE ==
or https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__HDjtVY3SWGrWxuPsEQTCw
If you have any questions, please contact the Washington State Department of Health at maternalmortalityreview@doh.wa.gov
*Please note: this is an updated date from the previous tentative calendar hold. The webinar will be April 12th.
Organizations that serve families and actively work to prevent child abuse and neglect will soon be applying for our funding opportunities. How do we choose who gets funding? That’s where YOU come in! We are actively recruiting parents and community members to be a part of the decision process. Your experiences, backgrounds, and knowledge are so important and truly help us choose the organizations that will best serve families.
Please note: for parents, we can provide stipends and reimburse expenses for time/resources.
If you have the capacity to participate as a partner in this way and/or if you have any questions, please email us at strengtheningfamilies@dcyf.wa.gov. Please pass along this information to anyone you think would be interested!
SFY 2023 Quarter 2 Dashboards Available Now in MFT
DOH would like to thank you again for your feedback on the quarterly dashboards! The quarter 2 dashboards were modified in response to your feedback, including the addition of percentages to the family retention graph and updates to the tables in the Family Engagement and Retention section. We continue to incorporate your feedback on the Caregiver Depression Screening, Referrals, and Service Connections section of the dashboard.
Your program’s dashboard, dashboard details report, and an updated FAQs document may be accessed at mft.wa.gov. Additional guidance on how to interpret the dashboards is available on the HVSA’s Data Collection and Reporting page in the DOH Data Products section under “Quarterly Data Dashboard Reports.” This guidance has not yet been updated to reflect the recent changes, but it will still give a helpful orientation to the reports.
If you need any assistance logging into MFT, please email homevisiting@doh.wa.gov. As a reminder, newly-funded HVSA programs will begin receiving quarterly dashboards in SFY 2024.
New Community of Practice
We’ve heard from the field that having opportunities to interact and collaborate with peers is beneficial. In response, Start Early Washington is launching a new Community of Practice (CoP).
This community of practice is for home visitors willing to share their wisdom, experiences, resources, and strategies in a peer-to-peer virtual environment centered around the book “Tackling the Tough Stuff”.
It will be eight 90-minute sessions beginning April through August 2023, and a staff member of the Start Early Washington HUB will support this CoP with facilitation and resources.
Title Home Visitor CoP: Tackling the Tough Stuff
About this Community of Practice
Share your examples, challenges, questions, and strategies with other home visitors. Be ready to listen and share experiences with other participants about each chapter decided. Books will be provided for those who register and are prepared to attend six of the eight sessions. Participants will determine specific chapters during the kickoff meeting on April 12 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. PST.
For more information and where to register visit Start Early Washington-Communities of Practice
What is an Affinity Diagram?
An affinity diagram is a method of brainstorming, taking what might seem like random ideas or suggestions and eventually organizing these ideas into natural groupings. This tool helps to organize a large volume of ideas that might otherwise seem overwhelming. An affinity diagram also allows a group to make connections between ideas, or see recurring themes, in ways that might not seem obvious at first.
Affinity diagrams can also serve to help a group reach agreement by organizing ideas into clearer, easy-to-understand themes. Each member of a team or group should contribute ideas to the best of their knowledge, even if they don't know or understand the full scope of the problem.
Why use an affinity diagram?
- To help organize many ideas
- To help identify central themes in a set of ideas
- When information about a problem is not well-organized
- When a breakthrough is needed beyond traditional thinking
When to use affinity diagrams?
- Use to organize ideas from a brainstorming session
- Use to find themes
Affinity Diagram Steps
- Define the Problem: Write the issue down and post it where everyone can see it and refer back to it throughout the exercise.
- Brainstorm Ideas: Document ideas shared on sticky-notes or on paper, but do not start grouping ideas yet (this will be tempting, as natural groups start to emerge). At this point, your team should feel free to state all ideas, piggyback off of each other’s ideas, and refrain from judgement at this point, be open to all ideas. Record ideas on sticky-notes and post them underneath the problem statement.
- Group Ideas: When grouping, think about similarities and connections. Some ideas might not fit into a clear group, which is just fine - sometimes, these "lonesome" ideas can be just as important to the process.
- Categorize and Reach Consensus: Do you notice interesting patterns? Things that should be changed/rearranged? Does this reflect what you experience? Create headings and place at the top of each like grouping of ideas. It's not unusual to come up with 4-5 main categories, under which ideas are grouped. If you need to, divide big group headings into smaller subheadings for clarity, or place two headings next to each other.
Finalize: Finalize your diagram and distribute it to team members as appropriate. Make sure your problem statement is included at the top of your finalized diagram, and that headings and subheadings are evident and reflect the group's consensus.
February CQI Webinar Summary – Family Engagement and Retention Part 2
In the second webinar of the family engagement and retention series, participants reviewed the root causes for family exits and engagement as identified in Part 1 of the webinar series and through the creation of Fishbone Diagrams. Participants identified strategies to address each root cause in small group breakouts. Below is a summary of strategies:
- Create/ refine elevator speech to ensure clients understand HV role
- Engaging with other members of the family
- Flexible/ options for visit and communication preferences
To view all strategies suggested in breakout rooms, please visit Basecamp.
Resources (found on Basecamp – CQI Project Folders)
Looking Ahead
In the final part of this series, participants will continue to share successful change ideas and review how to best sustain gains.
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday, March 22nd (1:30-2:30pm)
Family Engagement and Retention Part 3
For questions or support or to be added to CQI listservs:
Camille Carlson: ccarlson@startearly.org
Each month, DCYF ESIT Tribal Program Consultant Brian Frisina will provide a key topic to help support us all in getting to know our Tribal Nations partners better.
This week’s topic is:
The Six Rs of Indigenous Research
Our purpose is to develop and propose a conceptual framework based on respect, relationship, representation, relevance, responsibility, and reciprocity (the Six Rs), to be applied in studies using Indigenous research methodologies (IRMs). This conceptual framework builds upon the extensive work of numerous Indigenous scholars who brought this conversation into the literature and research enterprise. Our goal is to synthesize the Six Rs, describe how they complement and inform one another, and explain our process for their implementation and interpretation as a framework to develop and answer research questions. The Six Rs provide a representative research framework and can be a powerful guideline.
Read more in depth about the history of decolonizing research methods and learn about the Six Rs Guiding Principles and Conceptual Framework:
Sources
Look To The Mountain: An Ecology Of Indigenous Education by Gregory Cajete | Goodreads. © 2023 Goodreads, Inc.
Image: Robin Wall Kimmerer Quote, Motivational Quotes. © 2023 Quotefancy. All rights reserved.
The Six Rs of Indigenous Research, Volume 33, No. 4 - Summer 2022, by Ranalda L. Tsosie, Anne D. Grant, Jennifer Harrington, Ke Wu, Aaron Thomas, Stephan Chase, D’Shane Barnett, Salena Beaumont Hill, Annjeanette Belcourt, Blakely Brown, and Ruth Plenty Sweetgrass-She Kills. April 25, 2022. ©2023 Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education.
Below are resources and opportunities to engage:
Funding announced for organizations working to support healthy births and expand access to resources for birthing families
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has awarded Birth Equity Project funding to five organizations serving pregnant and birthing people in the state. These organizations are led by and serve Washington’s Black/African American, African Immigrant, and American Indian/Alaska Native communities.
DOH’s Birth Equity Project funding seeks to address and reduce the racism faced by birth workers and families of the priority communities and improve birth outcomes. DOH is investing in community-based birth worker organizations helping close the gaps through culturally responsive care.
You can read the full release here.
News
Low-income preschoolers experienced pandemic-related developmental delays, Seattle's Child
Families take drastic steps to help children in mental health crises, The Center for Public Integrity
Meet Katie Strickland, our state’s first legally blind foster parent | Unsung Hero, Seattle’s Child
Single father of 7 helps to make things easier for other dads | Unsung Hero, Seattle's Child
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