U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program – Implementation and Expansion Grants

The Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (Tribal MIECHV) Implementation and Expansion Grants program will provide grants (cooperative agreements) to tribal entities that are currently operating an evidence-based home visiting program and propose to sustain or expand their established infrastructure for home visiting services in tribal communities. Funding is intended for tribal entities that have an established and ongoing experience with implementing high-quality, culturally relevant, evidence-based home visiting services to AI/AN families and children; implementing performance measurement and CQI systems; developing early childhood systems; and conducting rigorous evaluation.

The Tribal MIECHV program has the specific goals of:

• Supporting the development of happy, healthy, and successful American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and families through a coordinated home visiting strategy that addresses critical maternal and child health, development, early learning, family support, and child abuse and neglect prevention needs
• Implementing high-quality, culturally relevant, evidence-based home visiting programs in AI/AN communities
• Expanding the evidence base around home visiting interventions with Native populations
• Supporting and strengthening cooperation and coordination and promoting linkages among various programs that serve pregnant women, expectant fathers, young children, and families, resulting in coordinated, comprehensive early childhood systems in grantee communities

Home visiting programs are intended to promote outcomes such as improved maternal and prenatal health, infant health, and child health and development; reduced child maltreatment; improved parenting practices related to child development outcomes; improved school readiness; improved family socio-economic status; improved coordination of referrals to community resources and supports; and reduced incidence of injuries, crime, and domestic violence. The program should also result in a coordinated system of early childhood home visiting in tribal communities that has the capacity to provide infrastructure and supports to assure high-quality, evidence-based practice.

MIECHV program funds will support the following activities:

• Conducting a coordinated community needs and readiness assessment of at-risk tribal communities through a collaborative process that engages all relevant stakeholders
• Implementing high-quality, culturally relevant, evidence-based home visiting programs that meet the needs of at-risk tribal communities
• Improving and enhancing infrastructure and capacity necessary to implement, sustain, or expand home visiting programs in AI/AN communities
• Engaging with tribal, local, and state early childhood program partners and other stakeholders to maximize the success of home visiting programs and support the comprehensive needs of pregnant women, parents and caregivers, and children from birth to kindergarten entry living in at-risk tribal communities
• Conducting rigorous program evaluation activities that will contribute to the empirical evidence base on implementation, efficacy, effectiveness, and/or adaptation of home visiting programs in AI/AN communities

Amount: A total of $2,000,000 is available for up to five awards that range from $250,000-$800,000 each and average $400,000 each year. The project period is five years.

Eligibility: Federally recognized Indian tribes (or consortium of tribes), tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations. Applicants may include existing grantees under the Tribal MIECHV program with project periods ending on September 29, 2018 that are proposing to sustain services, as well as other tribal entities that can demonstrate past and ongoing experience with conducting such activities and are proposing to expand services. Existing Tribal MIECHV grantees with a project period beyond September 29, 2018 may be eligible to apply only if proposing to expand services to a completely distinct service area from that served by their existing grant.

Link: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=304285

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