Starting July 1, 2024, Erie and Huron counties will move from the Northwestern region to the Northeastern region of Central Intake and Referral (CIR).

Northeastern outreach and intake staff look forward to serving families in these two counties, especially as Fisher-Titus Medical Center becomes a

Family Connects provider for families primarily residing in Huron and Erie counties. Family Connects is a universal newborn home visiting program. Read more about the program here.

Outreach staff statewide continue to work hard to increase awareness of Home Visiting amongst families and professionals. See photos below from the baby showers in the Northeastern and Southern regions.

Help Me Grow Kiosks

Outreach Missions

Another part of outreach work is completing monthly missions set out by statewide outreach leadership:

• In the first quarter, the outreach staff reached out to Medicaid Managed Care Plan providers in their region. This allowed for a more collaborative relationship for the upcoming baby shower planning and execution. Many of the regional agencies co-sponsored showers throughout the state. Outreach staff also developed Community Engagement Plans that lay the foundation for intentional outreach efforts in each county. Staff also identified upcoming holiday events to ensure Help Me Grow was present.

• During the second quarter, focus was placed on Children Services agencies in order to become a part of their training programs. The goal was to educate the staff on the referral process in order to obtain more PCSA referrals. Many baby showers hosted by outreach took place this quarter. As the holiday season got underway, outreach specialists partnered with many Salvation Army and Toys for Tots locations to ensure there was a Help Me Grow presence when families attended giveaways and drives.

• The third quarter included outreach to WIC locations statewide with a focus on attending and presenting at prenatal and breastfeeding classes. Outreach also collaborated with the local Baby and Me Tobacco Free programs by presenting and sharing Help Me Grow marketing materials.

Outreach is currently in their busiest time of the year, Summer! If you would like to collaborate on any Home Visiting outreach opportunities, be sure to contact your regional outreach specialist or click the button below.

Statewide advertising for Home Visiting has been purchased through the following channels for the remainder of SFY24:

• PBS and NPR public media stations
• Social Media
• Digital Display
• Audio Streaming
• Video Streaming
• Parent magazines
• La Mega radio, print, and social media (statewide)

CIR staff will again be at the Ohio State Fair from July 24-August 4!

Unlike the past two years, there will not be a separate Help Me Grow booth, but one representing the entirety of the new Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY). CIR looks forward to promoting Help Me Grow along with the many DCY programs represented at the booth. It will be a great opportunity to partner with DCY and promote its commitment to its "Do What's Right for Kids" campaign.

If any of your families will be attending the state fair, have them be on the lookout for the booth! If you are visiting the state fair, please come Discover DCY!

During the third quarter of SFY24, Bright Beginnings launched the revamped Community Resource Directories online application. Improvements include:

• Enhanced interface for ease of use on both desktop and mobile with improved mapping functions.
• Additional provider listing fields including ages served, cost, eligibility information, hours of operation, and date last reviewed.
• An expand/collapse view in search results.
• A questionnaire for users to complete to assist with generating a more personalized list of agencies/programs available.
• Ability to share provider listings via text, email, print, and link sharing;
• A self-update and "add your organization" function for providers to add and submit their own changes to their directory listing.

Bright Beginnings also spent time reorganizing and expanding the directories’ search options to include new and revised service areas, categories and tags/keywords to match the expanded Help Me Grow services that will serve families with children up to age five in the new fiscal year.

Central Intake and Referral (CIR) processed 12,472 system referrals in the the second quarter of SFY24. A referral breakdown is below:

• Caregivers (10.3%);
• HEA8045 forms (6.5%) submitted by HV providers, as well as WIC offices, and other community agencies;
• Medical professionals (13.4%);
• Non-medical community (58.8%) including WIC, community agencies, county agencies, and electronic Pregnancy Risk Assessment Form (e-PRAF) referrals; and
• Public Children Service Agency (PCSA) 8021 forms (11%) submitted by children’s services agencies.

Of those system referrals, about 57 percent of those who accepted Home Visiting were pregnant women, and 42 percent were first-time moms. Acceptance of Home Visiting services was up 4 percent from the second quarter of SFY23!

Third Quarter (January-March 2024)

Central Intake and Referral (CIR) processed 12,858 system referrals in the the third quarter of SFY24. A referral breakdown is below:

• Caregivers (10.8%);
• HEA8045 forms (7.6%) submitted by HV providers, as well as WIC offices, and other community agencies;
• Medical professionals (14.3%);
• Non-medical community (56.3%) including WIC, community agencies, county agencies, and electronic Pregnancy Risk Assessment Form (e-PRAF) referrals; and
• Public Children Service Agency (PCSA) 8021 forms (11%) submitted by children’s services agencies.

Of those system referrals, about 50 percent of those who accepted Home Visiting were pregnant women, and 47 percent were first-time moms.

You can find county specific referral information at data.ohio.gov.

Once on the webpage, use the Filter by Keyword search bar to select Home Visiting System Referrals. From here you can export a CSV file, or filter by county and date ranges to receive map views and charts under the Visualize tab.

On July 1, the ASQ service will expand in new ways:

1. Ohio families and providers who serve children up to age 5 will be able to use the ASQ Online Service.
2. The ASQ will be available in Spanish, French, and Arabic.
3. A developmental screening specialist will offer additional screenings for ongoing monitoring for children who already completed the ASQ through Help Me Grow.

Families will soon be able to complete the ASQ using the Sparkler App, where they can receive additional resources and reminders when a new age-appropriate screening is available for a child.

The ASQ is already used by many early care and education providers. We are encouraging these providers to become Sparkler program partners with Help Me Grow Central Intake and Referral. It's free! More information will come in future eNewsletters sent by Central Intake, so stay tuned.

The Essentials of Home Visiting is a high-quality, online training program from Start Early designed to create confident, competent home visitors and supervisors and family support professionals. The webinars are live and facilitated by home visiting experts at Start Early. 

Check out the newly released July 2024-June 2025 webinar calendar.

Each Live Webinar Includes: 

• Presentations
• Case Studies
• Q&A Sessions 
• Opportunities to Engage with Peers 
• Access to the Recorded Session 
• CEUs  

Click the button below for a full catalog of Essentials of Home Visiting learning experiences.

An Hour in the Life Research

Researchers at Ohio University and The Ohio State University are seeking family participation for a large-scale study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

They are looking for families with babies under age two who are willing to be observed in their home for a few hours, and are offering $50 compensation.

Please share the links below with the families you serve.

Staff Appreciation Kits for New Hires

Do you have new hires who haven't received a kit yet? Please share the link below with your new staff member so they can order their Help Me Grow goodies. This includes any new HV managers or supervisors.

Note: These kits are for those that have not yet ordered one. If you have questions, please email communications@helpmegrow.org.

Do you have any questions regarding anything in this email?

Contact us at communications@helpmegrow.org.

Past editions of this eNewsletter can be found at helpmegrow.org/providers.