Dear Communities and Partners,

As we enter a new year, it is my hope that you and your loved ones enjoyed rest and renewal during the holiday season.  

The new year comes with new commitments, personally and professionally, for many; the MCH team included! 

In December, we came together to revisit our values, our commitments, and our opportunities for growth. Community and family engagement continues to rise to the top for us as something we are both committed to and need to strengthen. In 2023, our team, along with Wyoming’s Family Voices Affiliate, will participate in the Family Voices Title V Community of Practice (CoP). As a member of this CoP, we will receive coaching to support our team in using the Family Engagement in Systems Assessment Tool (FESAT). This tool is expected to improve our understanding of where we are in four domains – commitment, transparency, representation, and impact. Using this tool will also prepare us to act on the results, for stronger family engagement in our work. 

We are excited for the insight and skills we’ll gain so we can better serve you and families across the state.

Enjoy this quarter's highlights and announcements, which include our Bright Futures ECHO series, a women and infant health funding opportunity, and more.

You can always reach me at feliciana.turner@wyo.gov. 

Feliciana Turner

Maternal and Child Health Unit Manager

Title V Director

MCH Quarterly Highlight: 

Join the new UW ECHO Bright Futures Network

Join the University of Wyoming Bright Futures ECHO Network to improve knowledge and implementation of early childhood best practices. The Bright Futures Guidelines provide theory-based and evidence-driven guidance for all preventive care screenings and health supervision visits.

This professional learning community will take place from January 10, 2023 to May 2, 2023. Network participants will include physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, counselors and others involved in primary care and mental health services.

*Register for the Spring 2023 Series*

January 10: Theory of the Bright Futures Guidelines:

Setting the Landscape for Wyoming

January 24: Overview of the Health Promotion Themes and Periodicity Schedule

February 7: Infancy (0-9 Months)

February 21: Early Childhood (12 Months - 4 Years)

and Middle Childhood (5 Years - 10 Years)

March 7: Early Adolescence

March 21: Late Adolescence

April 4: Strategies to Support Pediatric Medical Home Implementation

April 18: Strategies to Implement Bright Futures Within Your Practice

May 2: Medical Coding, Reimbursement, and Wrap-Up

CEUs Available

The ECHO Model includes core didactic training followed by real time case discussion related to implementation of the Bright Futures guidelines. Each session will include a case and applied discussion that will focus on issues related to family engagement, billing and reimbursement, implementation of best practices for screening, diagnosis, and referral across the life course.

UW ECHO in Bright Futures is a collaboration between MCH, UW, and the Wyoming Medical Society.

Visit our UW ECHO in Bright Futures Website to learn more.

Email projectecho@uwyo.edu with questions.

Wyoming Title V Block Grant Review Summary

On November 18, 2022, the MCH team completed our annual block grant review. Consultants with expertise in maternal and child health, along with federal staff and partners highlighted some key strengths in our application, such as our focus on workforce development and support, strong data capacity and use of data to drive decisions, and innovation in seeking public input on our activities. The review team also gave us things to consider, such as how we might further engage families and communities through an advisory group and how we could further include context around the community conditions that affect families health and wellbeing.

Governor’s Mental Health Summit Educational Series

There’s still time to participate in Governor Gordon’s Mental Health Educational Series, which started in November. January sessions are detailed below. More are expected to follow.

Jan 9, 2023, 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Governor's Mental Health Summit Educational Series - Support in Times of Need

Registration link

 *****

Jan 23, 2023, 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Governor's Mental Health Summit Educational Series - Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development

Registration link

*****

Jan 30, 2023, 12:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Governor's Mental Health Summit Educational Series - Social and Emotional Competence of Children

 Registration link

Behavioral Health Division Hiring for a Crisis/988 Project Manager

This position is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of state and local-level crisis response practices; 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Grant rollout and implementation; and leadership and technical assistance to internal and external partners. View the full job description and apply at governmentjobs.com.

Bright by Text

Bright by Text is a nationwide nonprofit organization offering a bilingual, free text messaging service that connects families with resources, community events, and education about their child’s development. The content Bright by Text sends is curated for families based on the ages of their children, including accredited information sourced from expert sources such as ZERO TO THREE, PBS, and the CDC. Hyper-local community updates are also available.

Bright by Text is available to Wyoming families who can sign up by text: WYKIDS to 274448, or by visiting brightbytext.org. 

A landing page with information about Bright by Text has been added to the WY Quality Counts website. An additional page that will capture information about local events and resources from a variety of community entities across Wyoming is currently in development.

Bright Ideas Grants

The Wyoming Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities is currently accepting applications for the Bright Ideas Grant.

All applications are due prior to January 20, 2023. Grants are effective October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.

The purpose of the Mini-Grant is to facilitate new and innovative projects and/or activities in the state that will empower people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Projects or activities funded by a Mini Grant must fulfill the Council’s stated purpose and vision. The project must be innovative. This means the project should introduce something, or, make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods or ideas. Durable goods and direct services cannot be funded.

The WGCDD is granting $75,000 for the 2023-24 grant period. Grant amounts can range from $1,000-$50,000 per project.

Visit https://wgcdd.wyo.gov/projects/mini-grants for more information and apply for a mini-grant.

Or, apply at https://form.123formbuilder.com/.../bright-ideas-grants...

If you have any questions or troubles accessing the link, please contact Shannon Buller at 307-777-7230 or email shannon.buller@wyo.gov.

State System Development Initiative Grant Awarded

MCH Epidemiology has received notification that the competitive application submitted this past summer for the next 5-year cycle of the State System Development Initiative (SSDI) has been awarded. SSDI funds support expansion of data linkages of key MCH datasets for analysis; improved access to and analysis of health equity data; and translation of data into action at the state/jurisdictional level. The awarding of these funds to MCH Epidemiology for the next 5 years will allow for the continued support of providing quality MCH Data to the programs.

Youth and Young Adult Health Program



The Youth and Young Adult Health Program received over 4,000 responses to the Young Adult Survey. Thank you to everyone who shared and promoted the survey! We’ll start crunching numbers and plan to have a report to share out this summer.

Women and Infant Health Program

The women and infant health program has a new funding opportunity open to the community! Click the image below to learn more and apply!

The Women and Infant Health Program is also excited to report that their Title V intern project was accepted by the National MCH Workforce Development Center. Interns enrolled in the Title V intern program will be able to apply to a variety of projects offered. The project proposed by the Wyoming Women and Infant Health Program is a literature review project focused on identifying programming for the rural population to decrease tobacco use during pregnancy. Please feel free to check out all projects proposed by Wyoming and other states here.

Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs (CYSHCN) Program

Our Children with Special Healthcare Needs Director, Carleigh, and our Newborn Screening and Genetics Coordinator, Meg, represented Wyoming MCH at the 2022 Association of Public Health Laboratories Newborn Screening and Genetics Symposium, held in Tacoma Washington. They presented successes and lessons learned during development of the Newborn Screening Program Emergency Operations Plan. Through the hard work and dedication of our previous public health associate, Eleana, and our partners in the Public Health Preparedness and Response Unit, this plan has come to fruition and we were able to share this information with newborn screening partners across the nation!

Additionally, the Newborn Screening Program will partner with the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program to send out a quarterly informational newsletter beginning in the Spring of 2023. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please contact Meg Callahan at megan.callahan@wyo.gov.