Local Early Childhood Coalitions

Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, The Montana Coalition, Inc. (HMHB) hosts monthly calls and coordinates various projects with local early childhood coalitions around the state. Contact Stephanie Morton at stephanie@hmhb-mt.org if you have questions.

Interested in joining a local coalition? Visit the links below to find out more.

2023 Connecting SUD Prevention Efforts to Early Childhood Coalitions (Year 4)

HMHB is pleased to coordinate Year 4 of this project! The DPHHS SUDS-Opioids Workgroup has created a strategic plan for Montana to both address and prevent substance use disorders. This strategic plan has been reviewed, considered, and applied across community-based local coordination efforts to improve early childhoods and outcomes for individuals in the perinatal period. Using a lifespan approach to preventing substance use disorders in Montana, the workgroup has taken an upstream approach and has intentionally worked to integrate efforts aimed at supporting healthy pregnancies and early childhoods into the larger strategies, knowing that early trauma and adverse childhood experiences increase propensity to later struggles with addiction in adolescence and adulthood. In relation to the DPHHS SUDS-Opioids Workgroup, HMHB serves as a bridge between often disconnected prevention efforts across the public health system and beyond, ensuring that the workgroup is well informed of local P-3 prevention effort and that local efforts can engage with regional or state level efforts.

  • Local strategies include:
    1. Updating and expand listings on the LIFTS Online Resource Guide,
    2. Participate in four (4) family engagement events and submit six (6) Bright By Text messages regarding services in your area, and
    3. Promote knowledge of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) in your service area through a community meeting with stakeholders.
  • State-level strategies include:
    1. Offering a web-based P-3 resource guide, LIFTS Online Resource Guide.
    2. Publishing the 3rd Annual edition of LIFTS Magazine to tell stories about when help has helped and breaks down stigma related to accessing support for parental health and well-being and substance
      use disorders. Participating coalitions, please complete the forms below for the project and submit them at this online Submission Form. Note that the questions at this link will change to allow you to submit the forms at the appropriate time for each phase.

Getting Started
Memorandum of Understanding (Contact us)
Budget Form
Invoice Template

Element 1: Additional Targeted Community Asset Mapping

Update and expand LIFTS resources and family-friendly events, enlarging the directory to include the service area of infant and early childhood mental health and developmental supports for at-risk newborns. 

  1. Update list of community-based drug and alcohol-free, family friendly events and activities.

Participants must use the Submit an Event function located on the LIFTS Online Resource Guide. The link to the form is located in the footer of each page on the site.  During the time frame of the grant, March 1st through August 15th, 2023, HMHB will monitor and report back on events entered for the grantees county or reservation.  It is not required that the coordinator enter all the events and information.  We encourage grantees to ask those hosting events in your community.

  1. Update list prenatal through age 3 (P3) supports and expand to include any family-centered treatment programs, infant and early childhood mental health, and development support services for at-risk newborns.

For technical assistance updating and expanding LIFTS events and services contact Dawn Gunderson at dawn@hmhb-mt.org.

Element 2: Build awareness of the impact of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) in relationship to preventing substance use disorders.

Attend a training about PCEs and learn about the findings in the Montana HOPE Report, hosted by HMHB.  Sarah Corbally presented this training was held on March 21st, 2023 and is viewable here.

Grantee will then host and facilitate a discussion with their community to share the findings and discuss the potential to grow awareness of the impact of PCEs in their community and explore ways to engage additional community members to build resiliency by promoting PCEs. ECCs will ensure that sharing family supports listed on LIFTS is one strategy discussed.

You can use and edit the PowerPoint presentation below for your community meeting. There are conversation questions included on Slide 23.

ECC – ACEs and HOPE – Community Presentation Template
Agenda for Community Conversations

This has been developed in collaboration with the MT State Health Improvement Plan-ACEs Working Group.

When completed, ECCs will provide a summary of the community meeting, including suggestions for increasing awareness and opportunities for promoting PCEs in Montana.

Community Conversations Summary Form

Technical Assistance for this deliverable is provided by Sarah Corbally.  Please feel free to reach out to Sarah at csclmontana@gmail.com.

Element 3: Family Engagement to Promote Resilient Families

Complete four family engagement activities (may be online) which will connect families to their local community-based resources/events/activities.

  1. Develop a local outreach plan to participate in or host four (4) family engagement activities with the goal of connecting caregivers to P3 supports and tools, including sharing LIFTS, promoting use of Bright by Text, and other supportive resources for families (example: Parenting groups or Week of the Young Child).
  2. Participate in the Montana Bright by Text program, creating 6 messages based on local resources, events, and activities.
  3. Designated coalition member/s implement the outreach plan, capturing data on attendance and engagement.

For technical assistance with Bright by Text please reach out to Maia Dickerson at mdickerson@uwyellowstone.org.  Maia serves as the statewide coordinator  and can assist with message creation including link creation. Bright By Text supporting materials can be accessed through this Dropbox link.

Bright By Text Form
Family Engagement Form

Wrapping Up

Budget Form
Invoice Form