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Deploy Strategic Communications & Conversations
Launch of the New Help Me Grow WA Impact Report! We finalized the 2024 HMG WA Impact Report, detailing our efforts to support families and expand system partnerships. The report showcases the impact of our initiatives and we invite you to share it with your networks. Join us for an upcoming Lunch & Learn to hear more about the new report and progress made on the Help Me Grow WA Strategic Plan!
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Photo (left to right)
Kate Agyei Yeboah, HMG WA Partnership Manager, Perinatal Health,
Cassandra Andrews, Goodheart Behavioral Health Assistant
and Michelle Balcom, Early Learning Program Manager
Service Continuum, Division of Partnership, Prevention Services at American Indian Community Center
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Develop Specialized Referral Pathways
Plan of Safe Care Outreach:
Staff from Help Me Grow WA and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families traveled to Spokane at the end of May to share Help Me Grow WA and Plan of Safe Care information at the Washington State Hospital Association Safe Deliveries Roadmap conference. Also on this trip, they were able to attend two days of the Perinatal Nursing Education Fair at Sacred Heart Regional Hospital, where they distributed information and materials on the Plan of Safe Care and Help Me Grow WA. In addition to this event, HMG WA and DCYF were able to have a tour and meet several of the staff at Maddie's Place, a non-profit, free-standing recovery nursery for babies experiencing withdrawal due to prenatal substance exposure. They also had a wonderful meeting with our Pregnancy Support Pathways (Hub) partners from American Indian Community Center and Spokane Regional Health.
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Homeward House and Help Me Grow WA Pathway Exploration:
Help Me Grow WA currently serves as the statewide community-based Plan of Safe Care pathway, supporting lower risk families who do not meet criteria for child welfare intervention but are experiencing perinatal substance use disorder and prenatal substance exposure. Currently, the Plan of Safe Care implementation focuses on onboarding hospitals and establishing relationships with existing community collaboratives and providers serving this population. As the community-based Plan of Safe Care work continues to grow, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families is interested in supporting this work to thrive within communities, as opposed to being agency-led. With this in mind, we have recently launched a collaboration between Homeward House and Help Me Grow WA to explore a formalized referral pathway including technology and direct connections between organizations. We hope that formalizing the relationship between Help Me Grow WA and Homeward House will provide a blueprint to establish and maintain professional relationships with other local long-term support organizations in communities across the state.
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Coordinate Funding and Advocacy Efforts
2025 Washington State Legislative Session For Help Me Grow WA: Our top priority this session was the preservation of ongoing funding for Help Me Grow WA. During the 2021 session, we secured ongoing funding to support Help Me Grow’s core capacity and infrastructure including resource navigators, resource database maintenance, and technical assistance for local communities. While the funding was provided ongoing by the legislature, it is something that can easily be reduced or eliminated, especially during tight fiscal times. Thanks to strong advocacy and collective effort, the full $265,000 in state funding for each of the next two years was secured to continue this vital work.
We also advocated strongly to secure a continuation of $250,000/year in one-time funding that was first provided in the 2023 session to support Help Me Grow’s community engagement. While this request unfortunately wasn’t included in the final budget, we will continue to look for future opportunities to advocate for this funding.
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Build out Technology, Reporting, and Infrastructure
Filter Fields: We are excited to share that Filter Fields are now live on the Help Me Grow ParentHelp123 Resource Finder. After you select your category or search terms, this new feature allows you to filter by target population, languages served, and virtual resources. Virtual resources include online or app based resources. We also have plans to be adding an additional filter field for age range.
Add or Update Your Organization's Resources: We are excited to share a new process for adding your organization or making an update to your organization’s resources in the Resource Finder. Check out this new webpage on how to add or update resources! For questions, reach out to resourcemanager@withinreachwa.org.
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Establish a Governance Model
As a new governance body, the Stewardship Council is only just beginning its assigned task of tracking the progress of Help Me Grow WA strategic initiatives through an equity lens. Based on input from Help Me Grow partners, the Stewardship Council is comprised of liaisons from mission aligned organizations throughout Washington state. Most recently, the Stewardship Council met for the third time to deepen understanding about Help Me Grow WA's governance system and evaluate progress on its governance goals. Each meeting also features an organization member spotlight, and this past month the Council heard from Alison Poulson, Council liaison from Coalition of Accountable Communities of Health. Heartfelt thanks to our Stewardship Council members for sharing their time and energy so generously!
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Define Goals and Targets
Targeted Universalism within Help Me Grow WA: The Help Me Grow WA Network is continuing the Targeted Universalism (TU) work we began in late 2023 with the help of Seva Workshop. During the initial phase, Seva led a project to compile relevant and related data to equip Help Me Grow WA with information to understand demographic and utilization of services across Washington. With the support of the Seed Collaborative, this information led to the adoption of a universal goal for Help Me Grow WA – All families with members in the prenatal period and/or with children 0–5 years old have access to what they need when they need it. As we embark on this next phase of TU work which is setting sub-goals, we have convened a TU data and analysis workgroup comprised of local Help Me Grow communities and Help Me Grow WA Network partners to select indicators aligned with Help Me Grow WA’s Essential Services.
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Implement Special Projects Funding
The Help Me Grow WA Network received $100,000 to invest in communities exploring or implementing a Help Me Grow system at the local level. This investment is funded by the federal Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5), of which the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) has been a recipient since 2018. Four communities received funding through this opportunity, which include HMG Island, HMG Skagit, Grays Harbor and Whatcom counties. Funds will advance their local Help Me Grow work and align with both the Help Me Grow WA strategic plan and PDG B-5 priorities.
| | Help Me Grow Network Updates | |
Help Me Grow WA Attends and Presents at the Help Me Grow National Forum
We had great representation from Help Me Grow WA at the Help Me Grow National Forum which took place in Hartford Connecticut - the birthplace of the Help Me Grow system model! The annual forum is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other Help Me Grow affiliate systems, share and learn best practices, engage in collaborative learning, and feel energized in our collective work.
Help Me Grow Washington hosted two presentations, one on our partnership between Help Me Grow WA and the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the other on our work to create a Help Me Grow WA Cost Model.
| | Department of Children, Youth, and Families has hired a new staff member in support of the Help Me Grow Network! Minnette Mason, Family & Community Navigation Supervisor will work on furthering implementation of coordinated systems for referral and linkage serving families with young children. This position serves as the governmental liaison to the Help Me Grow WA initiative and engages with early childhood, healthcare, and family support sectors to ensure families’ needs are met through integrated resources and referral pathways. Minnette will also supervise DCYF's Help Me Grow Specialist and three of DCYF's Child Welfare Early Learning Navigators, or CWELNs, in King and Pierce Counties. Please join me in welcoming Minnette to the network! | | Minnette Mason, Family & Community Navigation Supervisor | |
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Register for the upcoming Lunch & Learn to hear more about the 2024 Help Me Grow WA Impact Report and progress made on the Help Me Grow WA Strategic Plan!
- Learn more about Help Me Grow Washington by visiting our website!
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