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March 13, 2018

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Inside this issue

• Webinar with PAT & National Home Visiting Resource Center
• New Reports
• What We're Reading/Watching

	Webinar with PAT & National Home Visiting Resource Center
	Please save the dates for the 2018 Parents as Teachers Advocacy Leadership Webinar Series! Use the links below to pre-register now. We encourage you to think about how to leverage these offerings as part of your next professional development day, advisory committee meeting or advocacy workgroup. The webinars are appropriate for affiliate executive directors, state leaders, MIECHV home visiting program administrators, affiliate supervisors, parent educators and technical assistance providers. March 21 The Home Visiting Yearbook: Bringing Data to Life Featuring special guest Allison Meisch, Ph.D Senior Research Associate at James Bell Associates, Inc. and Deputy Project Director for National Home Visiting Resource Center. April 24 Give Legislative Testimony Like a Pro: Two Affiliate Supervisors Show Us the Ropes Featuring special guests Mackenzie Grayson, Parents as Teachers affiliate Supervisor at Normandy Schools Collaborative and Shauna Kerperin, Parents as Teachers affiliate Coordinator at Blair Oaks R-II School District in Missouri and Lisa Foehner, Director of Advocacy at Parents as Teachers National Center. May 30 Leveraging Social Media Messages with #HomeVisiting Messages that Work! Featuring Dr. Kathy Pillow Price, Director of the Arkansas Home Visiting Network and Lisa Foehner, Director of Advocacy at Parents as Teachers National Center. June 27 Staying Connected: Using Virtual Tools to Amp Up Your Advisory Committee Featuring Dr. Dorian Traube, Associate Professor at USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and Angela Rau, Virtual Parent Education Specialist. Dorian and Angela administer the USC/PAT Telehealth Home Visiting Pilot Project. If you have questions about the webinars, please contact Lisa Foehner at lisa.foehner@parentsasteachers.org.
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	New Reports
	*Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation (OPRE), ACF* Promoting Prenatal Health and Positive Birth Outcomes: A Snapshot of State Efforts Based on 40 interviews conducted with program administrators from state agencies that administer MIECHV programs, state Medicaid agencies, and other entities involved in home visiting in the 17 states participating in MIHOPE-Strong Start, this short report describes the landscape of state Medicaid and MIECHV program efforts to promote prenatal health, improve birth outcomes, and implement home visiting. The interviews included questions about program goals and outcomes agencies prioritize, initiatives and efforts to promote prenatal health and positive birth outcomes, key stakeholders involved in these efforts, support provided to local programs, funding mechanisms, and challenges and accomplishments.
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	What We're Reading/Watching
	Obesity Society Weight Control Program and Gestational Weight Gain in Disadvantaged Women with Overweight or Obesity: A RCT of Parents as Teachers The journal reported findings this month of a randomized control trial of Parents as Teachers evidence-based model adapted to include a "lifestyles" curriculum centered around healthy eating and physical activity to achieve weight goals. The study focused on socioeconomically disadvantage African-American women in St. Louis. Mothers in the study gained less weight weekly and total during pregnancy. Why is this important? The amount of weight gained during pregnancy can effect the immediate and future health of a woman and her infant. The population demographics of women who become pregnant have changed dramatically over the past decade; more women are overweight or obese at conception. If you would like to know how to use these findings in your materials, please contact the PAT national center research department or state TA contact for support. OpenIDEO Parents as Teachers is in the running for an Early Childhood Innovation Prize (Click the image to watch the video.) The project will inform cross sector fields of best practices in interactive video conferencing developmental screening for young children. Virtual child development screening: The feasibility and effectiveness of an interactive video conferencing (IVC) service delivery method. Timely child developmental screenings are pivotal for children with delays because they flag issues early and connect children to services that prepare them to thrive in school, rather than just survive. The challenge is how to bring this benefit to children that are least likely to get reliable screenings due to family-level barriers and an underdeveloped early childhood workforce. This project's sole aim is to provide hard-to-reach children with developmental screening, early and on-time. The Rutland Herald Online Home Visiting: A first step for a healthier future Gov. Scott remains focused on reversing three troubling trends. For years, Vermont has seen six fewer workers in the workforce, three fewer children in our public school system, and one child born exposed to opioids - every single day, on average. Universal home visits are important to reversing these trends, with a core focus on the "1" by providing an avenue for referrals to treatment for new mothers. The home-visiting proposal is currently before the House Appropriations Committee. This administration looks forward to working with the Legislature to fund this proposal. Whether it is making that walk from the hospital to the car a little less daunting, identifying post-partum depression at an early stage, or providing families with the additional assistance needed to face addiction and other challenges, Gov. Scott is committed to supporting the well-being of families and making Vermont an even better place to raise our children. Mary Kate Mohlman is the Scott administration's director of Health Care Reform; Jolinda LaClair is director of Drug Prevention Policy in Vermont. Kansas Action for Children KPA TA fills Kansas statehouse for PAT Day at the Capitol On Wednesday March 7th Parents As Teachers advocates filled the Statehouse for PAT Day at the Capitol! It was wonderful to see so many partners connecting with lawmakers and sharing the importance of their work. Click the image to see more photos on Twitter. Center for American Progress Home Visiting Programs Are Proven, Cost-Effective Winners Amid a news cycle that changes by the minute, let's pause to recognize the importance of this program's reauthorization for families. Home visiting programs are proven and cost-effective services that help parents and children. MIECHV's reauthorization represents a commitment to serving families like Miriam's: Let's not let them down. (This story highlights Miriam Staffen, Idaho PAT Mom and PE).
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