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This report summarizes the data collected by the MIECHV program independent statewide evaluation. In the fall of 2015, the University of South Florida evaluation team conducted a series of on-site focus groups with 82 MIECHV staff members and collected their demographic information by questionnaire. The purpose of the focus groups was to discuss the strategies MIECHV programs use to meet the needs of its families, including organizational factors and community collaboration networks. This year the focus was on mental health. This report describes various aspects of the Florida MIECHV program from the perspectives of program administrators, supervisors, and home visitors. (author summary)
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The MIECHV Staff Survey is conducted each year by the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD) at the University of Illinois in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Early Childhood, Bureau of Home Visiting (IDHS-DEC-BHV). The goals of the survey are to obtain feedback and better understand the needs of the Illinois MIECHV Home Visiting workforce. (author summary)
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This report provides an overview of home visiting, how home visiting programs are staffed, challenges programs face in recruiting and retaining home visitors, and evidence-informed strategies for recruitment and retention.
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The onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic led infant mental health and home visiting programs to shift to providing services using remote strategies and technology. To inform the quality of these services moving forward, we spoke with 100 parents/caregivers and early childhood service providers from seven diverse programs across the United States. These interviews focused on understanding what worked well, what needed improvement, and how these experiences can inform the future implementation of these important early childhood programs. Here we provide a high-level summary of the most important takeaways for informing program practices and policies at a time when in-person and/or hybrid services are beginning to resume. (author summary)
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The Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) worked alongside the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Bureau of Home Visiting (BHV) and Start Early to conduct the first Illinois Staffing and Salary Survey of Home Visiting Programs: Fiscal Year 2023. This survey was open to all Illinois home visiting programs, regardless of their funding streams, and utilized quantitative and qualitative analyses to assess the number of home visitors, applicants and their qualifications, home visitor demographics, and the average salaries and benefits offered. Other areas assessed by the survey include information pertaining to fiscal management, enrollment patterns, staff turnover rates, and professional development. (author summary)
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Home visiting (HV) has demonstrated positive impacts across family well-being domains. Home visitors receive training in HV model requirements as well as to develop knowledge and various skills. Despite growth in HV research, we are not aware of existing training or required competencies in research design, research methods, or dissemination of research findings for home visitors.
Objectives: Via ongoing collaboration with an Advisory Board of key HV stakeholders, we developed a three module online training that incorporated examples from HV research and practice to address the gap in research training for home visitors and to promote home visitors’ engagement as research stakeholders.
Methods: A convenience sample of home visitors (n=176) was surveyed on research knowledge, research self efficacy, and priority training topics, with results used to create a beta version of the training completed by six home visitors. Home visitor feedback on the beta version, coupled with Advisory Board recommendations, led to creation of the final online training. Forty home visitors viewed the final training and completed pre- and post-training surveys to assess changes in research knowledge and self-efficacy. Twelve home visitors also completed a semi-structured qualitative interview. Home visitors demonstrated improvements in research
knowledge and self-efficacy and found the training easy to understand and useful.
Conclusion: Guidance from stakeholders led to development of an online training that was effective in improving home visitors’ research knowledge and self-efficacy. This training can be used by HV researchers and practitioners as a tool to promote home visitors’ active engagement as stakeholders in research. (author abstract)
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This brief summarizes findings from the Home Visiting Career Trajectories study—a national study of the home visiting workforce—on workplace factors in recruiting and retaining qualified staff. (author summary)
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This publication provides a profile of the Ilinois home visiting workforce, including home visiting roles and models, demographics, education and credentials, and employment in the home visiting workforce.
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This blog describes ways that public insurance financing can enhance access to home visiting services, especially for families with incomes below the federal poverty level. The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) worked with states such as Alabama and Montana to provide targeted technical assistance on how their Medicaid programs can expand coverage of home visiting services.
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This report examines issues related to professional development for home visitors and home visiting supervisors. The findings presented are based on a national study of the home visiting workforce in Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program–funded agencies and interviews with experts in higher education and in the home visiting field. (author summary)