For the first time in over two years, home visitors across the state came together in person for the 2022 Regional All Sites Assembly, an annual training event hosted by Children’s Trust of South Carolina. This year’s gathering, however, looked completely different from previous assemblies.
Home visitors having fun at the 2022 Regional All Sites Assembly in Walterboro on July 14.
“In past years, we’ve offered traditional professional development, but this year we wanted to focus on building local relationships by bringing home visitors and state agencies together,” said Katrin Bost, Children’s Trust home visiting systems coordinator.
Home visitors – who can be nurses, social workers, or child development specialists – support preventive health and prenatal practices, help parents understand developmental milestones, promote the use of positive parenting techniques, and work with mothers to set goals for the future, continue their education, and find employment and childcare. They often work with families from pregnancy until the child turns two years old.
As South Carolina’s lead agency for the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) federal grant since 2010, Children’s Trust supports three evidence-based home visiting models – Healthy Families America, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers – in partnership with 73 implementing agencies across the state.
These voluntary program models serve mothers and young children by providing them with important support and resources. Last year, Children’s Trust helped sites serve 4,149 families through 65,673 home visits, 46,173 of which were virtual.
Home visitors gather in Spartanburg for the 2022 Regional All Sites Assembly on July 19.
With COVID precautions in mind, Children’s Trust shifted the assembly format this year from one large convening to small regional events of about 30 people throughout July. This allowed attendees to safely come together in person, and it gave home visitors the opportunity to connect with state agencies who attended and presented.
Attendees learned about the supportive services offered by state departments, including the Department of Social Services. It is critical home visitors are knowledgeable about programs such as SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and childcare assistance because a large part of their work is helping families become self-sufficient. The South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services and the state Department of Mental Health also attended the events.
According to Bost, this innovative approach of bringing home visitors and state agencies to the table is a positive move toward much-needed systems-levels change.
“We’re seeing that so many agencies and organizations operate in silos, and it’s hindering a lot of progress. So it was really exciting some initial steps coming from these regional meetings,” Bost said.
Bost noted another positive aspect of the event: SCDSS representatives who attended the assembly planned to present the findings from the conversations to leadership at SCDSS—another key step to continue making changes needed to improve collaboration among family-serving agencies and professionals.
Attendees in Conway for the 2022 Regional All Sites Assembly on July 26.
Bost sees other tangible improvements coming out of the gatherings. One need that was discussed was a cross-agency referral form. Implementing this would improve communication between agencies and organizations—as well as help collaboration among family-serving professionals, such as a DSS case worker and home visitor working with the same family.
The four in-person events were held at Faith Church in Walterboro on July 14; Converse College in Spartanburg on July 19; Wyndham Hotel in Lexington on July 21 and the Visitor Center in Conway on July 26. All attendees were also invited to opening and closing sessions held virtually before and after the in-person events.
While the assembly looked different from past years, there were also traditions that remained the same, including a sites challenge where attendees from each gathering created a fun home visiting commercial. The videos were screened at the closing virtual session.
“Despite the changes this year, we ultimately wanted to make sure people had fun and just enjoyed being together, too,” said Bost.
View pictures from the Regional All Sites Assembly on Facebook.
