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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-07-1998 - 9fOrange County Board of Commissioners Action Agenda Item Abstract Meeting Date: April 7, 1998 Action Agenda Item No. 94 Subject: Intensive Home Visiting Grant and Establishment of New Time Limited Positions Department: Health Attachment(s): 1 - Executive Summary 2 - Grant Award Letter Public Hearing: Yes No X Budget Amendment Needed: Yes x No Information Contact: Dr. Rosemary Summers, Interim Health Director Extension 2411 Telephone Number: Hillsborough 732 -8181 Chapel Hill 968 -4501 Durham 688 -7331 Mebane 227 -2031 Purpose: To accept funding from the N.C. Division of Women's and Children's Health, Department of Health and Human Services for an Intensive Home Visiting Program and to establish 3.5 new time limited positions in the Orange County Health Department to: • Decrease child abuse and neglect, • Improve parent -child interaction, • Ensure adequate use of preventive family support services, • Improve children's health and development and • Improve the service delivery system in Orange County by decreasing fragmentation and duplication. Background: The North Carolina General Assembly has made funding available on a competitive basis for seven intensive home visiting demonstration projects. Orange County was among 24 Counties invited to submit proposals for this funding. Development of the grant proposal was a collaborative planning process coordinated by the Orange County Partnership for Young Children, our local Smart Start agency, with participation from a 2 number of health and human service agencies. The collaborative group decided that an intensive home visiting program was a need in Orange County and would be a very valuable addition to the continuum of services available to families with young children 0 -5 years of age. The group also decided that the Orange County Health Department was the most appropriate agency to administer the program. The Attachment 1 Executive Summary from the grant project proposal submitted to the State provides program details. The Health Department has been notified of the State's approval of this grant award. Funding awarded includes $105,000 for Fiscal Year 1997 -98 and $100,000 for Fiscal Year 1998 -99. Additional funding for Fiscal Year 1998 -99 also will be requested from the Orange County Partnership for Young Children in the amount of $41,900. Medicaid reimbursement of $15,965 is projected for Fiscal Year 1998 -99 for a total budget of $157,865 for Fiscal Year 1998 -99. The grant proposal included three and a half (3.5) positions to accomplish the following outcomes: ❑ Approximately 50 families in Fiscal Year 1998 -99 at highest risk of child abuse and neglect will receive intensive, at least weekly home visiting services and ❑ Approximately, 75 families in Fiscal Year 1997 -98 and 500 families in Fiscal Year 1998 -99 will receive an assessment, triage and referral to the appropriate service. ❑ 90 percent of families in the program will not have substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect, ❑ 90 percent of children served in the program will be up to date on well child care examinations and immunizations, ❑ 90 percent of families in the program will demonstrate improved scores on a post test of parenting knowledge and skills, Staffing will consist of: ❑ A Public Health Nurse and a Social Worker to carry out the intensive home visits ❑ A Social Worker to accomplish screening, intake and referral and 3 ❑ A part time 20 hour Office Assistant for scheduling, record keeping, reporting and general office support for the home visiting program. All positions are proposed as permanent time limited through June 30, 1999. Recommendation: The Manager recommends the Board approve: ❑ Accepting the funding from the N.C. Division of Women's and Children's Health, Department of Health and Human Services for the Focus on Families Intensive Home Visiting Demonstration Project and ❑ Establishing the proposed 3.5 new permanent, time - limited positions through June 30, 1999, contingent on receipt of the funding cited on page 2 of this abstract. ❑ At the end of the time - limited period, evaluating any recommendation to continue these positions based on achievement of the outcomes as cited on page 2 of this abstract. f:\pers\elgin\classify\health\abstract.doc 4 Attachment 1 Executive Summary* Focus On Families: Intensive Home Visiting Program The Orange County Health Department, in conjunction with numerous community agencies, submitted a proposal to the Division of Women's and Children's Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for $105,000 the first year and $100,000 the second year to develop an Intensive Home Visiting Program. The total budget for the second year is $157,865 supported by $100,000 from the Division of Women's and Children's Health, $41,900 from the Orange County Partnership for Young Children and $15,965 in Medicaid revenue. Focus on Families which is based on the Healthy Families Model, will target families with children ages three or younger who are at highest risk for child abuse and neglect because of either the parent's or child's health or psychosocial problems. The project will increase the capacity of the Orange County health and human service delivery system to identify and meet the needs of high - risk families. Addressing child abuse and neglect and poor parenting are the top priorities of various community groups including the Orange County Partnership for Young Children and the county's Healthy Carolinians Task Force. The lack of comprehensive home visiting services is a critical gap in the current service delivery system. Focus on Families will provide intensive home visiting services including weekly home visits focusing on family support, parent -child interaction and child health and development consistent with the Healthy Families Model curriculum. Families will receive services on a voluntary basis until the child reaches age three. For those families enrolled in the program, the goals will be to improve parent -child interaction, ensure adequate use of preventive family support services, and decrease child maltreatment. The program is based on a collaborative integration of multiple programs that provide support services to families in Orange County. Key features include universal support screening, a central portal for intake and referral and customized and integrated family intervention services. An expanded Child Service Coordination system will provide centralized family assessment and community coordination of services. A Home Visit Collaboration Team will assure smooth transition and coordination of direct services for families. With the family's interest and involvement, the most appropriate service provider(s) will be determined and referral will be established. Any family identified as needing and wanting intensive home visiting because of high -risk circumstances will be served by this project. The project will be staffed by a project coordinator, a social worker, a nurse, an intake and referral worker and a part-time office assistant. The project coordinator position will be funded by amending the current grant from the Orange County Partnership for Young Children for enhancement of the Child Service Coordination Program. Also, additional funds will be sought from the Partnership for partial support of the Focus on Families Program. Universal support screening of newborns not previously screened will be accomplished through a contractual arrangement with UNC Hospitals. In addition, a team of volunteers will be recruited and trained to provide a paraprofessional support team approach for these home visiting services. hApersh1th \ei1een \ihvexec2 *From the grant proposal submitted to the N.C. Division of Women's and Children's Health Arttac+tme� Z � r North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. ._ Division of Women's and Children's Health 1330 St. Mary's Street - Post Office Box 29597 - R21eigh, North Carolina 27626 -0597 Courier 52 -01 -00 James B. Hunt Jr., Governor Ann F. Wolfe, M.D., M.P.H., Director H. David Bruton, M.D., Secretary February 3, 1998 Eileen C. Kugler, Division Director Nursing and Personal Health Services Orange County Health Department P.O. Box 8181, 300 W. Tryon Street Hillsborough, NC 27278 Dear Eileen: Thank you for submitting the Focus on Families: Intensive Home Visiting Program proposal for a Home Visiting Demonstration Projects grant. Eighteen proposals were received and carefully reviewed. Each proposal reflected a high level of interagency involvement and thoughtful planning. I am pleased to tell you that Orange County's proposal has been selected for funding. Because of the excellent quality of the proposals, the decision was made to fund seven. Each project will receive $100,000 in grant funds for year two. We are able to award $105,000 to your project for year one. Please prepare revised budgets for both years and fax them to Beverly Hester (919- 715 -3187) by Monday, February 9 in preparation for your meeting with her, Jess Berman and Jo O'Keefe on Wednesday, February 11 from 9:00 to 10:15 AM. The purpose of the meeting is to review your budget, contract and technical needs. The meeting will be in Room 306 at 1330 St. Mary's St., Raleigh. A map is attached. The reviewers found many strengths in your proposal. Among these were the extensive history of home visiting efforts in Orange County; the careful planning process, which included surveys of workers and families; a triage process with services based on the family's needs; agreement from UNC Hospital for universal screening; strong training and supervision components; good in -kind support; the use of volunteers; and linkage with EMS Home Safety Visits. We greatly appreciate the investment of time, effort and energy and the commitment to enhancing services for families which your proposal represents, and we look forward to working with you. If you have any questions, please call me (919- 715 -3808) or Beverly Hester (919 -715- 3905). Sincerely, Tom Vitaglione, Chief Children and Youth Section cc: Rosemary Summers Jo O'Keefe Jess Berman WCH Regional Nurse and Social Work Consultants TVBH/bh