Maryland receives MIECHV support through federal formula funding managed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).  We have also received competitive and innovative grant dollars when opportunities arose to apply. Between 2010 and 2019, Maryland has been awarded $39.3 million in formula grants, $19.9 million in competitive funding and $1.5 million in innovation funding, allowing for the expansion of home visiting programs statewide.

 

Formula funding is allocated to ten jurisdictions in Maryland with communities that meet the highest need for maternal and child intervention: Baltimore City, Allegany, Baltimore, Caroline, Dorchester, Harford, Prince George’s, Somerset, Washington, and Wicomico Counties. These communities were determined most at risk through the 2010 statewide needs assessment. An updated needs assessment with supporting data* was submitted to HRSA on October 1, 2020 and is pending federal approval. 

(*To request a copy of this data in spreadsheet format, please email the address below.)

 

Current MIECHV Programs in Maryland

 

Fourteen sites in ten jurisdictions currently receive MIECHV funding.  The site details are located in each of the headings below. 

 

Home Visitor Training Certificate Program

 

In 2015, MD MIECHV partnered with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) to develop a Home Visiting Training Certificate Program (Certificate Program) for home visitors and supervisors in the state. The Certificate Program uses motivational interviewing as the foundation from which to communicate with parents and families about difficult subject matter and help them progress through the continuum of the stages of change. The Certificate Program covers topics such as: Substance Use, Motivational Interviewing, Child Development, Mental Health, Positive Relationships, and Cultural Sensitivity. Each session includes a portion designed to train supervisors on reflective supervision. UMBC has developed a smartphone app to support the training and provide real time information on topics, skills and resources needed during a home visit. Download the app for iphone here or for Android here. 

 

Substance Exposed Newborns Training

 

In 2017, MIECHV partnered with stakeholders to develop a training for home visitors, supervisors and community health workers who work with Substance Exposed Newborns (SENs) and their families. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) was contracted to develop the training, which consists of a set of seven online modules followed by an in-person training. To inform the training, UMBC gathered an expert advisory committee of key stakeholders representing professionals that interact directly with substance-using pregnant women and their children. The committee included various medical doctors and program directors in the fields of pediatrics, obstetrics, psychiatry, and neonatology, in addition to professionals working in treatment and recovery programs, family court, the Department of Education (MSDE), the Department of Human Services (DHS), and local health departments. 

 

The SEN training was piloted in 2018, and six regional training sessions were held in the first half of 2019, successfully training 288 individuals to date. The trainings were co-funded by MIECHV and the Maryland Department of Human Services.

 

Find out more about the SEN training on the UMBC Training Center website.  

 

Innovation Project

 

In 2016, the home visiting programs in Maryland and New Jersey applied jointly for and received funding for a new, two-year competitive grant opportunity: the Innovation Award. The Maryland MIECHV team worked with researchers at UMBC to develop the Goal Plan Strategy (GPS). The innovation was implemented at five MIECHV programs between August 2018 and May 2019. 

 

The GPS is a training for home visitors in strategies that support their programs in goal planning activities to increase family engagement. There is a separate training for supervisors or experienced home visitors to be trained as coaches. As part of the GPS innovation project, trained coaches at participating sites met with home visitors at their programs for three months post-training to provide intensive coaching on the skills and practice needed to do effective goal setting, planning, implementing, and revising. Site coaches were then supported by regional coaches in a parallel process. 

  

Fatherhood Initiative

 

In 2019, Maryland MIECHV began efforts to intentionally engage and train Local Implementing Agencies (LIAs) to integrate fathers into home visiting services.  This contract with the National Fatherhood Initiative was the first step in what will be a continued focus on activities to build programmatic awareness to the role and importance of fathers in the lives of their families.  In conjunction with the National Fatherhood Initiative, every MD MIECHV LIA completed a fatherhood readiness assignment to quantify how adept services were at engaging fathers.  The purpose of this ongoing initiative is to build workforce skills and programs for fathers of children and families in MD MIECHV. For more information about the Fatherhood Initiative, please contact Jarvis Patterson-Askew. 

 

 

 

MIECHV Statewide Home Visiting Conference 

 

A biennial conference is conducted for all MIECHV home visitors and supervisors and offers a variety of trainings and sessions of interest to the field.  The topics are chosen from home visitor and supervisor input as well as current events. Previous conference presentations may be found on the Additional Materials and Publications page ​.

 

At-Risk Areas of Measurement and Data Collection

 

All states must demonstrate improvement for eligible families participating in MIECHV in six benchmark areas: improved maternal and newborn health; prevention of child injuries, child abuse, neglect, or maltreatment, and reduction of emergency department visits; improvement in school readiness and achievement; reduction in crime or domestic violence; improvements in family economic self-sufficiency; and improvements in the coordination and referrals for other community resources and supports.

 

Maryland collects data on 19 measures within these six benchmarks, including: preterm birth, breastfeeding, depression screening, well child visits, postpartum care, tobacco cessation referrals, safe sleep, child injury, child maltreatment, parent-child interaction, early language and literacy activities, developmental, behavioral concerns, intimate partner violence screening, primary caregiver education, continuity of insurance coverage, completed depression referrals, completed developmental referrals, and  intimate partner violence referrals. Demographic data is also collected.