Title V in NH does not work in a vacuum. The success of its programs has to do with integral partnerships, both funded and non-funded, with governmental partners as well as non-governmental agencies. Leveraging federal and state program resources contributes to the services delivery capacity of NH’s State Title V program.
This is no better reflected in the two year old Early Childhood Integration Team (ECIT), of which both MCH and the BFCS staff are partners and part of the leadership. The ECIT brings together all programs serving young children with and without special health care needs (Home Visiting, Early Childhood Comprehensive Services, WIC, Housing, Child Care, Early Supports and Services, Family Support, Child Protection, etc.) within DHHS serving children, from infancy through eight years of age, and their families. The ECIT brings multiple early childhood programs together with the intent to increase coordination, collaboration and data sharing, thus increasing access to services.
Each month within the ECIT, a particular social determinant of health is focused upon. The ECIT initiated the substance exposed infant project with MCH, DCYF, DEHS and local home visiting agencies and the closest birthing hospital (the one with the greatest percentage of substance exposed infants as identified by birth certificate data designed and put forward by MCH). This project showed a large increase in both the number of referrals to home visiting and the number of families retained in the programs. Several programs within the ECIT sponsored training to community agencies in learning about the kinds of economic benefits that are available to families as well as trained agency staff to become providers of NH EASY, NH’s online platform gateway to apply for a whole variety of benefits. This increases access to health and needed services by supporting families eligible for medical coverage, food and financial support.
The ECIT serves as one of the four quadrants informing the work of the Council for Thriving Children, the State’s early childhood council. The other quadrants are the Department of Education (DOE) ECIT, B-8 Family Council (led by NHFV), and Early Childhood Care and Education experts (led by the University of NH, Center for Excellence). This quadrant of members, all dedicated to early childhood, led to projects such as MCH’s Home Visiting programmatic unit staff working with the DOE ECIT to discuss family engagement and parent leadership.
During the COVID‑19 pandemic, birth hospitals also identified pregnancies that were affected by the virus so that MCH, in cooperation with the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, could monitor pregnancy outcomes. Title V staff are also board members of the New England Regional Genetics Group, a nonprofit organization promoting education and awareness about genetic disorders to providers and families. It is very important to partner with them for education and growth as newborn screening and birth conditions are continuously changing and evolving with new research and laboratory capabilities.
MCH also works very closely with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in the NH Department of Justice. Not only do they collaborate on all fatality reviews (child, sudden unexpected infant death, sudden death in the young, and maternal), the two work through data sharing agreements and MOUs on the CDC’s Secure Access Management Services (SAMS) database. This incorporates both the National Violent Death Registry and the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS).This effort supplies the CDC’s National databases with NH death data, as gleaned from the OCME and NH Vital Records data. It increases access to health care and needed services because it provides a rich source of data on why NH drug deaths and violent deaths occur. Reporting provides an understanding of the circumstances around death, and catalyzes actions to prevent other deaths, which is exactly the mission of all the fatality reviews.
Another key in-state partner for Title V is DHHS’s Division of Behavioral Health Services, including the Bureau for Behavioral Health (adult mental health services; funding of all community based mental health centers), and the Children’s Behavioral Health and Drug and Alcohol Services (funding SUD prevention and treatment for all ages). MCH works collaboratively with this Division on many different projects, but perhaps the one most closely associated with Title V is the work on the Perinatal Substance Exposure Taskforce, which addresses issues pertinent to SUD use, and exposure in the pregnant and parenting mother and infant. This is the group which initiated the formation and now the implementation of the Plan of Safe Care in response to Federal CAPTA legislation. MCH works with this group to lessen barriers to quality healthcare, aligning state policy with best medical practices for perinatal and parenting women and their children, and increasing public awareness about the dangers of exposure to prescription and illicit drugs, alcohol, and other substances during pregnancy.
MCH and BFCS staff are participating members of the Bureau for Children’s Behavioral Health’s System of Care Advisory Council. Much like the ECIT, this group brings members from across DHHS and beyond, all aligned in the mission to promote and continuously improve the State’s children’s system of care principles and values within the behavioral health system. The NH System of Care is an integrated and comprehensive system of behavioral health supports and services working together to get the right resources to children, youth, and their families when and where they need them.
BFCS is a leader in the Charting the Life Course (CtLC) initiative in the Division of Long Term Supports and Services (DLTSS). UNH is contracted to provide coordination of the CtLC Community of Practice. Family members from the State Family Support Council and PIH regional family councils have been encouraged to participate as ambassadors and steering committee members.
The BFCS Family Support Administrator is the DLTSS’ representative to the State’s Family Support Council, which is governed by He-M 519.01 to support regional family councils and advise the Bureaus. Agenda items are formulated by members in cooperation with the Family Support Administrator and are an avenue for arbitration and mediation conflict resolution between Area Agencies (for developmental services) and regional family councils.
NH Title V joined the National Transition Community of Practice led by the IDEA Partnership. As a member of this group, one of BFCS’ Nurse Health Care Coordinators is involved in sharing responsibilities for meeting organization and facilitation of monthly meetings designed to share resources and problem-solve barriers and issues faced by youth and young adults with disabilities who are transitioning from children’s services (including school and pediatric health providers) to adult services. Activities include planning of the annual summit, which often receives sponsorship from Title V through BFCS, and the NH Transition CoP free Educational Series. BFCS recently presented to the CoP about health care transition from pediatric to adult providers and the role of health care coordination and family support in assisting youth and families through this important period.
Another important partnership for NH’s Title V programs is with the Council for Youth with Chronic Conditions (CYCC), the only statewide organization that has a legislative mandate to focus on the issues affecting children and adolescents with chronic health conditions. Members include families of CSHCN, legislators, pediatric specialists, school nurses, service providers, NHFV, and state administrators from DHHS. In 2022, BFCS’ Data Analyst will be part of an advisory committee working with an organization selected by the CYCC to conduct a qualitative needs assessment that will help inform Title V work with CSHCN in NH. More about the CYCC can be found at http://nhcycc.org/about-ccachc/.
Finally, the BFCS Family Support Administrator and Part C Coordinator participate in the Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC) which is federally mandated under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. It serves as an advisory group to the BFCS as the state agency that oversees Family Centered Early supports and Services for children birth to age three who have or are at risk of having developmental delays, and their families. The mission of the ICC is to promote and increase the quality of Family Centered Early Supports and Services and Preschool Special Education supports and services to eligible children, birth through five years, and their families.
To Top
Narrative Search