The first step to establishing a MIHOW program at your agency is to review the Readiness Tool below, assessing whether you can give a positive response to each item. The Readiness Tool ensures that agencies meet the criteria which generally provide a good "home" for a MIHOW program.
First Step
The first step to establishing a MIHOW program at your agency is to review the Readiness Tool below, assessing whether you can give a positive response to each item. The Readiness Tool ensures that agencies meet the criteria which generally provide a good "home" for a MIHOW program.
Readiness Tool
| Does the sponsoring agency... | Yes | No |
| Have a positive community image, particularly with low-income families? | ||
| Embrace a strength-based approach to family support? | ||
| Serve individuals and families who are at-risk for poor birth outcomes? | ||
| Value and integrate community health workers into agency programs? | ||
| Have the ability to provide training and supervision to MIHOW staff following the MIHOW Standards of Practice? | ||
| Have the administrative capacity to provide physical space, financial support, management, and long-term sustainability? | ||
| Respect and serve people regardless of religious, political, racial, sexual, or ethnic affiliation? | ||
| Have an active Board that represents the community and supports adoption of the MIHOW program? | ||
| Have the capacity to hire, train, and supervise at least one part-time outreach worker and participate in national, regional, and local MIHOW trainings? |
Application
If it seems like you will be a good fit for our organization, please submit an affiliate application. The cost for an affiliate application is $500 and is non-refundable.
The affiliate application should include the following information:
- Description of the agency's services and programs
- Numbers of people currently served by the agency
- Estimate of the number of families to be served through the MIHOW program
- Description of the population and geographic area served/to be served
- Description of the diversity of staff and population served within the agency
- Maternal Child Health indicators/benchmarks you would like to achieve
- Examples of how you've already embraced the strength-based approach in existing services or programs.
- Description of how MIHOW will be a logical extension of and integrated into existing programs
- A statement that agency leadership has reviewed the MIHOW Standards of Practice
- The amount budgeted for the program annually and primary sources of funding
- Description of how the agency will address long-term sustainability
- Include the following attachments to your report:
- Agency Brochure
- Map of program area served
- Organizational chart
- Agency's personnel policy
- Letter from the Board stating support for the project
- Letters of support from other community agencies
Once you have gathered the information in the 12 steps above, email the application to mihow@vanderbilt.edu.