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A Texas Home Visiting Newsletter |
Vol. 2 Issue 9 |
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Program Site Spotlights
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Celebration of a Young Father in Hays County
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Recently, the Texas Home Visiting Program of Hays County celebrated fathers in their 24/7 Dad A.M. program. In attendance was the Mayor of San Marcos, a San Marcos city council woman, school board officials from Hays CISD and San Marcos CISD, local businesses, family and friends. Roberto Rangel graduated from the program and Mayor Daniel Guerrero proclaimed January 22, 2016 as Roberto Rangel 24/7 Dad® Day. Roberto was presented with a proclamation from the Mayor that acknowledged his dedication to his children, his steps toward self-improvement, and his exemplary habits of father involvement.
Father Engagement Specialist, David Bryant (pictured above on the left), began facilitating the 24/7 Dad® A.M. program to a small group of fathers on Thursday evenings. The dads met two hours a week for 12 sessions. Roberto made it a priority to be there for the entire program. His wife, Lauren, said the group helped him so much that he would look forward to coming week after week. The Texas Home Visiting Program of Hays County is proud of his success. Roberto plans to help co-facilitate the next 24/7 Dad® group in San Marcos which begins February 18.
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Save the Date for Celebrating Fatherhood!
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Community Action, Inc. of Central Texas invites you to their fatherhood conference at the San Marcos Activity Center, 501 E. Hopkins, 78660. Save the date for Saturday, May 28, 9:00 to 4:00 sponsored by various Central Texas agencies. Encouraging fathers in the community positively impacts the younger generation. For more information visit thier website by clicking here.
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Pinwheels for Prevention
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In April and throughout the year, Prevention and Early Intervention and THV encourage individuals and organizations to play a role in making communities in Texas a better place for children and families. It's not too early to begin planning for Child Abuse Awareness Month and Week of the Young Child. Together we can make a difference in our communities by helping to promote children’s physical, social, and emotional well-being and empowering parents with the skills and resources they need to care for their children.
The blue pinwheel was introduced in 2008 by Prevent Child Abuse America for Child Abuse Prevention month. It has come to serve as a reminder of the great childhoods we want for all children. April is a time to celebrate the important role we all play in protecting children. Perhaps your community will show support by making your own pinwheel display similar to the photo above or participate in one of the ideas below.
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Set up a local project at your school, community center, religious institution or with family and friends
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Challenge others in your community to participate by creating their own display
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Use this pinwheel coloring sheet or make your own pinwheel with this guide
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Take pictures of your pinwheel displays and share them with others on your websites & social media with hashtag #childabuseprevention and #pinwheelsforprevention
If your program site or coalition has an event scheduled, it can be included in an upcoming newsletter. Please email the date and summary of the event to Monique.Hennington@hhsc.state.tx.us.
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PEI and THV Contractor Survey
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Recently, a message was sent requesting your participation in a survey about your experiences as PEI and Texas Home Visiting contractors. In the instructions, we encouraged you to forward the survey to others in your organization who may want to complete it; and for those of you who have contracts with both PEI and Texas Home Visiting, we asked you to take the survey twice — once with PEI in mind and a second time for Texas Home Visiting.
Unfortunately, the survey was configured in such a way that the link could be used only once. We have since developed a solution that will allow multiple uses of the survey link and again want to encourage your participation. If you have already completed the survey, you do not need to complete it again. However, if you would like multiple people in your organization to complete the survey or you have a contract with both PEI and Texas Home Visiting, click here.
We expect the survey to take approximately 20 minutes and your responses will be anonymous.
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Input Needed: Family Engagement Plan
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Your input is needed on the Texas Education Agency's Family Engagement Plan, which rules concern the High-Quality Prekindergarten Grant program. You may access the Family Engagement information by clicking here (PDF) and here.
The Family Engagement section begins on page three, section one. The rules are published in the Texas Register with a public comment period that started February 5, 2016 and ends March 7, 2016. The rules are anticipated to be adopted in early April. You may email your public comment to rules@tea.texas.gov.
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PEI Strategic Plan Public Input Meetings
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Registration is now open for a series of public meetings to gather additional input related to the PEI strategic plan. As you are aware, Texas Home Visiting is set to merge with PEI, so THV program sites are encouraged to attend. With support from Casey Family Foundation, PEI will host the public meetings in Laredo, San Marcos, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, and Amarillo. Click the link below to register for the event nearest to your location. Lunch will be provided for registered guests.
Rio Grande Valley & South Texas Feb. 16
The Holding Institute - 1102 Santa Maria Avenue
Laredo, Texas 78040
Central Texas Feb. 18
Dunbar Center - 801 W. MLK
San Marcos, Texas 78666
Houston/ Gulf Coast March 8
The Council on Drugs and Alcohol - 303 Jackson Hill Street
Houston, TX 77007
Metroplex/ North Texas March 10
Goodwill Industries of Dallas - 3020 N. Westmoreland Road
Dallas, TX 75212
El Paso and West Texas March 22 (registration link coming soon)
El Paso County Juvenile Justice Center - 6400 Delta Drive
El Paso, Texas 79905
Panhandle/ High Plains March 24 (registration link coming soon)
Amarillo National Bank - 410 S. Taylor, 16th Floor
Amarillo, TX 79101
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Texas Home Visiting Mini-Conferences
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THV, in partnership with First3Years, is offering two-day mini-conferences for home visitors around Texas. The two days of training will cover four topics – Social-Emotional Development, Toxic Stress, Cultural Competency, and Self-Care/Compassion Fatigue. These trainings are free and meals will be provided. Click on the following links for more information and to register. If a session is full, please sign-up for the waiting list so you can be informed as tickets become available.
February 25-26 San Marcos, TX
March 3-4 McAllen, TX
March 31- April 1 Houston, TX
April 21-22 Odessa, TX
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