MATERNAL, INFANT AND EARLY CHILDHOOD HOMEVISITING GRANT PROGRAM - THE NEW JERSEY (NJ) MATERNAL, INFANT, AND EARLY CHILDH...

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MATERNAL, INFANT AND EARLY CHILDHOOD HOMEVISITING GRANT PROGRAM - THE NEW JERSEY (NJ) MATERNAL, INFANT, AND EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME VISITING (MIECHV) PROGRAM, ADMINISTERED BY THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (NJ DOH) IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (DCF), IS DEDICATED TO IMPROVING MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH OUTCOMES AND SUPPORTING FAMILIES ACROSS THE STATE. THE NJ MIECHV PROGRAM HAS MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN EXPANDING SERVICES, STRENGTHENING ITS WORKFORCE, AND ENHANCING DATA SYSTEMS TO ENSURE THE HIGHEST QUALITY SERVICE DELIVERY. IN FY24, THE PROGRAM EXPANDED SERVICES BY ADDING 281 SLOTS ACROSS FOUR COUNTIES, REACHING 1,811 FAMILIES IN 16 AT-RISK COUNTIES. IN YEAR 2 OF FY25, UTILIZING NON-FEDERAL MATCHING FUNDS, MIECHV WILL EXPAND TO FIVE ADDITIONAL COUNTIES—CAPE MAY, CUMBERLAND, GLOUCESTER, SALEM, AND MONMOUTH—ADDING 288 NEW SLOTS THROUGH THE PARENTS AS TEACHERS (PAT) MODEL VIA FOUR EXISTING LOCAL IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES (LIAS). WITH THIS EXPANSION, NJ MIECHV WILL OFFER A TOTAL OF 2,099 HOME VISITING SLOTS, ACHIEVING FULL COVERAGE ACROSS ALL 21 NJ COUNTIES. TO ACHIEVE THESE EXPANSION GOALS, NJ MIECHV IS CONTINUING TO STRENGTHEN ITS WORKFORCE THROUGH ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN COHORTS 1 AND 2 OF THE COORDINATED STATEWIDE EVALUATION (CSE). IN ADDITION, THE PROGRAM REMAINS FOCUSED ON IMPROVING DATA SYSTEMS AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING. RECENT ENHANCEMENTS TO DATA TRACKING AND REPORTING HAVE RESULTED IN A REDUCTION IN DATA MISSINGNESS AND IMPROVED SERVICE DELIVERY OUTCOMES. THESE IMPROVEMENTS ENABLE BETTER ALIGNMENT WITH PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AND SUPPORT DATA-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING TO OPTIMIZE SERVICE COORDINATION AND CLIENT OUTCOMES. WHILE PROGRESS HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT, CHALLENGES REMAIN, SUCH AS FLUCTUATIONS IN HOME VISITOR STAFFING AND THE INTEGRATION OF DATA SYSTEMS ACROSS VARIOUS HOME VISITING MODELS. THE PROGRAM IS COMMITTED TO ADDRESSING THESE THROUGH TARGETED RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION STRATEGIES. NJ MIECHV WILL CONTINUE MEETING THE GROWING DEMAND FOR SERVICES AND FOCUS ON CONTINUOUS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT TO ENSURE THAT FAMILIES RECEIVE THE SUPPORT NEEDED FOR POSITIVE MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH OUTCOMES. NJ’S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: GOAL 1: EXPAND ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY MIECHV HOME VISITING SERVICES FOR AT-RISK FAMILIES ACROSS NEW JERSEY. OBJECTIVE 1.1: ADD 281 NEW SERVICE SLOTS UTILIZING FOUR EXISTING LIAS. OBJECTIVE 1.2: MONITOR SERVICE DELIVERY IN EXPANDED AREAS AND ENSURE CASELOAD TARGETS ARE MET (85%). OBJECTIVE 1.3: CONDUCT ONGOING MONITORING AND ADJUSTMENTS TO SUPPORT FAMILIES IN NEWLY EXPANDED COUNTIES. GOAL 2: STRENGTHEN AND RETAIN A WELL-TRAINED, COMPETENT HOME VISITING WORKFORCE. OBJECTIVE 2.1: PROVIDE ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOCUSED TRAINING. OBJECTIVE 2.2: ENHANCE WORKFORCE SATISFACTION AND RETENTION THROUGH COORDINATED STATE EVALUATION COHORTS 1 & 2. OBJECTIVE 2.3: RECRUIT AND RETAIN QUALIFIED STAFF WITH A FOCUS ON COMMUNITY ALIGNMENT AND UTILIZING HOME VISITING DASHBOARD DATA. GOAL 3: ENHANCE COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION ACROSS THE MIECHV SYSTEM. OBJECTIVE 3.1: CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN INTERAGENCY COLLABORATION AND STREAMLINE MIECHV SERVICE DELIVERY. OBJECTIVE 3.2: ENSURE ADEQUATE INCOMING REFERRALS. OBJECTIVE 3.3: IMPLEMENT INTEGRATED HOME VISITING DATA DASHBOARDS TO MONITOR PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS AND REFERRALS. GOAL 4: IMPROVE DATA QUALITY AND USE OF APR AND PERFORMANCE METRICS TO ENHANCE MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH OUTCOMES. OBJECTIVE 5.1: MONITOR HRSA ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT (APR) AND KEY MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH MEASURES. OBJECTIVE 5.2: DISAGGREGATE DATA BY SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS TO IDENTIFY NEEDS. OBJECTIVE 5.3: UPDATE DATA MISSINGNESS GUIDES TO REDUCE DATA MISSINGNESS. GOAL 5: IMPLEMENT THE FY25 CQI PLAN TO ENHANCE SERVICE DELIVERY AND INCREASE FAMILY INVOLVEMENT. OBJECTIVE 6.1: PARTNER WITH JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FOR DATA ANALYSIS AND PROGRAM ASSESSMENT. OBJECTIVE 6.2: COLLABORATE WITH FHI AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO BETTER COORDINATE SERVICES.