THV on Native America CallingMaria Brock, THV Director,and Rebecca Riley, TribalHome Visiting Manager par-ticipated in the nationallysyndicated Native AmericaCalling radio show. Thetopic was “Nurturing envi-ronments and new parents.”One of the proudestmoments in a new parent’s

life is bringing home their new bundle of joy to meet the family.A new parent’s life can be filled with late-night diaper changes,3 a.m. feedings and unexpected crying fits that can causestress and questions. So just where can new parents turnwhen they find out they don’t have all the answers? Howimportant is providing a nurturing and safe environment to the development of a new life? Does asking for help with learningabout your child mean you’re a bad parent?

NAPPR, Inc. is pleased toannounce the Department ofHealth and Human Services,Administration for Children andFamilies, Tribal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood HomeVisiting program has funded the NAPPR Tribal Home Visiting(THV) $660,000 for fiscal year 2011-2012. The funding wasmade possible through the Affordable Care Act.Since 2008, NAPPR has provided Home Visiting services

through the State of New Mexico Children Youth and FamiliesDepartment, Early Childhood Services. In 2011, NAPPR wasawarded additional funding to expand and provide services to 100 more children. Since the fall of 2011, THV has been engaging tribal communities and collaborating with organiza-tions to identify the needs of on and off reservation familieswith young children.NAPPR THV is looking forward to the continued work and

support with families in our service area: Bernalillo, Cibola, San-doval and Valencia counties. We offer thanks and gratitude to allwho have contributed to the success of NAPPR’s THV program.

THV Updates n 1

Message from Jane Z. Larson,Executive Director, NAPPR

On behalf of Native AmericanProfessional Parent Resources(NAPPR), Inc. Iwould like to wel-come all of you tothis Tribal Home

Visiting publication. We are so excitedto add this new service to the array ofservices and supports that NAPPR pro-vides to families with young childrenand to the Native communities we haveserved for 30 years! In addition to launching this new pro-

gram to better serve our stakeholders,NAPPR is also launching a newfundraising campaign to assure that wecan continue to work toward our visionof “Healthy Families, Strong Communi-ties” for many years to come. Nonprofitorganizations depend on the generosityof community members and donors inorder to address the rising costs ofdoing business, and NAPPR is noexception. Our new fundraising cam-paign includes seeking individuals tomake financial contributions that willhelp us to achieve our goals by givingthrough payroll deductions to the UnitedWay and the Combined Federal Cam-paign, or by making direct contributionsto our organization. We are also planning a variety of

fundraising events to provide opportuni-ties for community members to learnmore about our services and supportour mission. Please be sure to “Like” uson Facebook to receive programupdates and invitations. Please also feelfree to visit our website for updates onplanned events. Thank you so much for your interest

in NAPPR and the work we do!

NAPPR TRIBAL HOME VISITING UPDATES

Healthy Families

Strong Communities

Fall 2

012

Administration for Children and Families Funds $660,000 for Tribal Home Visiting

What Is Home Visiting (HV)?Home Visiting is a provenstrategy for reaching chil-dren and their families fromthe prenatal to pre-schoolyears. Home visitors alsoknown as Parent Educa-tors provide basic prenataland child development education, parenting infor-mation, health and nutritioneducation, safety informa-tion and overall support toparents and caregivers. A critical aspect of Home Visiting is working with the family to achieve their personal goals.

(l to r): NAPPR’s Maria Brock and Rebecca Riley with host Tara Gatewood.

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

1 Message from theExecutive Director

1 $660,000 THV Grant Received

1 THV on Native America Calling

2 Message from the THV Director

2 Strengthening Connections

2 What to Expect During Home Visit

3 NAPPR THV Staff

4 NAPPR Gives Expert Testimony to National Task Force

4 Social Networking

4 THV Steering Committee

5 Enroll Now in THV

5 NAPPR’s New Location!

6 FB “Likes” Contest

6 What Do You Think This Baby Is Thinking?

THV Updates n 2

MESSAGE FROM MARIA BROCKTRIBAL HOME VISITING DIRECTOR

Greetings, my name is Maria Brock (Lagunaand Santa Clara Pueblos). I am the THVDirector for NAPPR. I graduated in 2001from the University of California Berkley witha Masters in Social Welfare.I began working with NAPPR in Novem-

ber 2011. THV’s goal is to help educate,empower, and support strong and healthy Native Americanchildren and families with culturally and linguistically relevantservices. Research shows, 70% of brain development occurs by age

three and 80% by age five. As tribal people, through deeds notjust words, supporting mothers and fathers to provide nurtur-ing environments for their babies, we will sustain our healthyfamilies and communities. Raising a baby is hard and peoplecannot be expected to raise them without help. Moms anddads fill up their children’s cup each day with love and sup-port—likewise, home visitors can fill up the parent’s cup tosupport self confident Native American parents.Finally, I would like to acknowledge the work of Melissa Riley,

Ph.D. (Mescalero, Apache) and Nandini Pillai Kuehn, Ph.D., MHAfor their extensive work in getting THV off the ground. Both arecommitted to addressing inequities in underrepresented commu-nities and their insight working with diverse groups was invalu-able. We wish Melissa and Nandini continued success. Again,thank you for your contributions to the NAPPR THV!

Strengthening Connections to Language and Culture

NAPPR Tribal Home Visiting Program has made a strong commit-ment to the preservation and maintenance of Indigenous languageand culture for tribal groups in our region. Specifically, the Puebloof Acoma (Keres language) and off reservation living Diné people(Navajo language). Early childhood is the most ideal time for lan-guage learning. THV entered into a memorandum of agreementwith the Pueblo of Acoma to provide home visiting services for 25Acoma families. We have been working closely with the Pueblo’sBoard of Education and Language Retention program to developour staff’s ability to provide culturally and linguistically relevantservices and materials to our Acoma families. Additionally, we havea new satellite THV office located in the Education building atAcoma to better serve the community.

We have also been closely connecting to Diné culture and languageadvisors who have supported our professional development toincrease access to Navajo language resources that promote culturaland language fluency for Diné people living off reservation. We alsohave on staff, home visitors that are fluent speakers of both Navajoand Keres as a direct resource for our families. NAPPR is proud tohelp families make connections and keep their traditions strong.

What to Expect During a Home Visit*

Every Tribal Home Visitor uses the evidence-based curriculum,Parents As Teachers, at each personal visit with the families.All activities have the goal of supporting the parent/child relationship.

n Opening—Every visit begins with the Home Visitor makinga connection with the family and checking in on how every-one is doing.

n Parent-child interaction—Interactions between parents andtheir children take place throughout the visit. A parent-childactivity is shared to focus interactions, prompt parentengagement, and encourage child development.

n Development-centered parenting—Parent educatorsincrease parents’ knowledge of child development, facilitatetheir understanding of how their child’s stage of developmentis linked to his or her behavior, and explain how parents canuse that knowledge and understanding to make appropriateparent decisions.

n Family well-being—Parent educators support the develop-ment of healthy physical and emotional environments bystrengthening the protective factors in each family. Support-ing families involves understanding their needs and wishesand facilitating the parents’ abilities to utilize personalresources and build social connections.

n Closing—At the end of the visit, parent educators restatekey discussion points and action steps that the parents andparent educators plan to take. The parents and parent edu-cators evaluate their time spent together by saying “Whatdid you like about today’s visit, what didn’t you like?” andshare information about upcoming group connections orcommunity events. Specific strengths are acknowledged.Lastly, the parent educators schedule the next visit anddecide on its focus.*

NAPPR parent educators are community members that aretrained to relate to families in a culturally relevant way. (See “Strengthening Connections to Language and Culture”on this page.)

*Source: Parents as Teachers Foundational Curriculum.

THV Updates n 3

NAPPR Tribal Home Visiting Staff

Vera Morgan

RebeccaRiley

MariaBrock

MadelineCheromiah

OrtenciaBegay

BrandonPasquale

TheandraMarthell

THV Updates n 4

Social Networking Yes, NAPPR wants to keep up withthe families we serve and meeting ourfamilies where they are at is importantto us. Our young parents use socialmedia extensively, especially Face-book. As a result, we have started a

Native American Professional Parent Resources, Inc. Face-book page. Please “Like” us on Facebook (see informa-tion on next page about how to win a free Tablet—contestdeadline is October 31st and keep up to date on NAPPRservices, upcoming events, forums and trainings. Also,get regular tips on early childhood. Social networking isan excellent way of getting the word out quickly. We hopeyou will find our Tweets and Facebook posts useful.For our families who are still getting used to social net-

working, we will continue to reach you by mail,phone and email. Visit our Facebook page andNAPPR also tweets @HomeVisit_Nappr.

Erin M., winner of the Kindle Fire

The following individuals provided valuable support and input during five steering committee meetings in 2011. We offer our gratitude to each and every one of them.

Yosa Alaniz, Founder/International Coordinator, Child of All Nations

Judy Baca, Health Promotion Specialist, Department of Health

Randella Bluehouse, Executive Director, National Indian Council on Aging, Inc.

Arra Carbajal, Program Director, CYFD Home Visiting/Early Head Start,NAPPR, Inc

E. Frances Cherino, Early Childhood Specialist, NAPPR Board Member

Lupita Jolene Crespin, Disability Coordinator, Santo Domingo Head Start/Early Head Start

Mary Hendrix, First Born Program Officer, LANL Foundation

Lorenzo Jim, LADAC, Counselor, First Nations Community Health

Jane Larson, Executive Director, NAPPR, Inc.

Vina Leno, Director, Acoma Language Retention Program, Pueblo of Acoma

Debra Lente-Jojola, Supervisory Education Specialist, Bureau of Indian Education

Marie Lobo, Professor, UNM College of Nursing

Delight Martinez, Outreach, Acoma Tribal Language Program

Soledad Martinez, Infant Mental Health, Home Visiting Program Manager, Office of Child Development, CYFD-Early Childhood Services

Janet Mason, School Health Advocate, Department of Health, Public Health Division

Sharon Notah-White, Tribal Liaison, Molina Healthcare

Clarence Ortiz, Circles of Care, Pueblo of San Felipe

Rachel Pacheco, Research Assistant, Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center, AASTEC

Catherine Riley, Training & Development Consultant, UNM Center for Development & Disability

Karen Roybal, Manager, CYFD Home Visiting/Early Head Start, NAPPR, Inc.

Janae Sanchez, Community Health Worker/Home Visitor, Puebloof San Felipe

Alvino Sandoval, Early Childhood Training Specialist, EPICS

LouAnn Tenequer, Director, Haak’u Learning Center, Pueblo of Acoma

Esther Tenorio, Director, Circles of Care, Pueblo of San Felipe

Jacqui Van Horn, DS III/Infant Health Mentor/Consultant, The Parent-Infant Study Center

Mary Whitehair, Navajo Language and Culture Instructor, Native American Community Academy

THANK YOU TO THE TRIBAL HOME VISITING STEERING COMMITTEE

NAPPR Provides Expert Testimony to Attorney General’s Task Force on ChildrenExposed to Violence On January 31, 2012, Maria Brock, Director of THV providedexpert testimony to the Attorney General’s National Task Forceon Children Exposed to Violence—a key component to theDepartment of Justice’s “Defending Childhood” initiative. Thepublic hearing focused on children’s exposure to violence inrural and tribal communities.Brock, who is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, spoke on

behalf of the Native children and families in New Mexico. Hertestimony included a presentation on the implementation ofculturally appropriate and relevant early childhood services andinfant mental health. Brock also provided testimony on theTribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting(MIECHEV) programs’ integration of culture and language withEvidence-based Home Visiting models.“Many of our sovereign tribal nations are prioritizing indige-

nous language preservation and learning to preserve and revi-talize culture and community amongst their people,” saidBrock. “This revitalization is an effort to correct past oppres-sion and abuses and develop a secure, strong identity asNative people for our children and youth.”As Director of the Tribal Home Visiting Program at NAPPR,

Brock promotes best practice prevention efforts for NativeAmerican parents of children up to age three. “Policies and practices that support the integration of tribal

language and culture across programs and systems are crucial,”said Brock. “We know in our tribal communities that healing ofthe spirit takes place when people have strong connections totheir cultural life-ways and a strong cultural identity.”

THV Updates n 5

ENROLLING FAMILIES NOW IN NAPPR TRIBAL HOME VISITINGWe strongly encourage prenatal parents to enroll in our Home Visiting services. Studies indicate that Home Visiting is most impactful beginning in the prenatal period andwhen families participate for at least two years. We are currently accepting new families.

Eligibility requirement:

n Pregnant or have a child under 36 months oldn Identify as Native American (no CIB required)n Live in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Cibola or Valencia County

Please call 345-6289 to enroll.

About NAPPR, Inc.Our Vision—Healthy Families, Strong Communities.Our Mission—NAPPR empowers, educates and provides supportive services to buildhealthy Native American children and families.

NAPPR moved onOctober 1, 2012

to a new location!

NAPPR, Inc.2201 San Pedro NE

Building #3, Suite 210Albuquerque, NM 87110

THV Updates n 6

www.parentsasteachers.org

Please note our new address:

NAPPR, Inc.2201 San Pedro NEBuilding #3, Suite 210Albuquerque, NM 87110Tel: 505.345.6289 Fax: 505.345.6478

www.nappr.org

What do you thinkthis baby is thinking?

“Like” Us on Facebook andWin a Free Android Tablet!

Help NAPPRreach 500 “Likes”by liking NAPPRon Facebook byOctober 31, 2012,

5:00pm MST.

All active FB “Likes” will be enteredinto a drawing for a free AndroidTablet (a $349 value)!

* NAPPR employees, family of employees and Board ofDirectors are excluded from the drawing.