Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Statewide Needs Assessment
Family Support Services receives funding from the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program to support voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services for pregnant women and families with children ages 5 and younger.
To receive MIECHV funding, Family Support Services must conduct a five-year statewide needs assessment to identify counties where families with young children are at the greatest risk of poor prenatal, maternal, newborn or child health outcomes, and would benefit from home visiting services. The Texas Home Visiting program overseen by Family Support Services makes these high-risk counties a priority when implementing services funded by the grant.
Read the most recent needs assessment (PDF).
Grantee Background Checks
Grantees must complete a name-based criminal history check and central registry check for every new hire, volunteer or other person who will be working with the help and support of the grantee. A fingerprint-based criminal history check is required if the person has lived outside of Texas within the last five years.
For more information, read the Background Checks Overview of Changes and FAQ (PDF).
Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Grantees
Through the Family Support Services program, the Health and Human Services Commission serves as the lead agency to administer the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) federal award.
CBCAP is authorized under Title II of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, which is the primary federal legislation addressing child abuse and neglect prevention.
Family Support Services contracts with local community-based service grantees throughout Texas to provide a variety of prevention services. All grantees funded through CBCAP are required to adhere to its funding requirements.
For more information, read the CBCAP Q&A for Family Support Services Grantees (PDF).
Contract Monitoring
Contract monitoring is a year-round review and analysis of programs that receive funding through the Family Support Services program.
Contract monitoring consists of:
- Conducting a monthly review of contract bills and comparing them to the contract and contract budget.
- Analyzing plan changes and amendments received by the program.
- Assessing overall spending patterns.
- Ensuring contract compliance through reviewing database reports, information from technical assistance providers, and any program issues and needs identified by contractors.
In addition to these ongoing activities, Family Support Services conducts on-site contract monitoring.
For more information, read the Family Support Services Contract Monitoring Overview (PDF).
Billing Overview
Family Support Services grantees must submit monthly billing invoices for the program to review against the grant budget and make sure expenses are appropriate and allowable.
Monthly billing also helps Family Support Services and grantees effectively track monthly expenditures and projected costs, which may identify the need for adjusting budget line items or categories.
For more information, read the Family Support Services Grantee Billing Overview (PDF).
