Annual Grantee Meeting Washington DC

An All Grantee Meeting for Tribal Home Visiting (THV) was held from December 13-15, 2016 in Washington DC with over 100 attendees including 68 individuals from the 25 THV grantees. There were a variety of topics presented throughout the two days. One of the highlights was the presentation, ‘Impact of Intergenerational Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences on Chronic Disease Disparities’ by Dr. Donald Warne. The health disparities in the American Indian and Alaska Native population were discussed along with how programs such as THV can work with children and families to promote health and wellness for future generations. Another well-received presentation was ‘Effective Home Visiting Strategies and Child Outcomes in Tribal Communities” by Dr. Catherine Ayoub, Dr. Breda Jones-Harden and Jenae Sanchez from the Pueblo of San Felipe. This panel shared strategies for supporting

parent-child interaction and strong attachment along with how tribal programs work to infuse culture and tradition into their evidence-based home visiting practice. Additional sessions included topics related to THV program administration and implementation, and salient topics in home visiting. Two that participants found the most helpful were: ‘Growing your Program from a Very Hungry Caterpillar to a Beautiful Butterfly: Understanding your Cooperative Agreement and Year One Activities and Timeline’ and ’Multi-Site Implementation Evaluation of Tribal MIECHV (MUSE).’ What participants liked best about the conference: “It was very helpful to review the deadlines and expectations for both the new round of funding and the MUSE.” “The opportunity to learn from others and the specific direction, insights that were gained.” In addition, some of the most helpful aspects of the meeting as reported by participants included the interaction with other grantees, federal staff and TA providers on specific issues and needs, understanding the requirements, and networking opportunities. Several participants suggested that more time could have been spent on MUSE. Overall, the AGM was very successful and a majority of the participants stated that they plan to share the knowledge they learned with team members, and/or leaders and stakeholders in their community.