2022-2027
The Center for Indigenous Research Collaborations and Learning for Home Visiting (CIRCLE-HV) contract was awarded in 2022 to James Bell Associates, in partnership with the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Center. CIRCLE-HV supports two types of research-practice collaborations to build evidence and understanding about home visiting and well-being in Indigenous communities. CIRCLE-HV’s actively engaged approach follows the principles of A Roadmap for Collaborative and Effective Evaluation in Tribal Communities. The project aims to:
- Provide awards for research-practice partnerships to research entities that will pursue innovative research and evaluation of mutual interest with home visiting programs that serve Indigenous children and families
- Partner closely with home visiting programs that serve Indigenous children and families to pursue cross-site research and evaluation on shared priority topics
CIRCLE-HV informs the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Learning Agenda (PDF) and expands on several federally-funded efforts with Indigenous home visiting programs. These include evaluation technical assistance provided by the Tribal Home Visiting Evaluation Institute (TEI), co-creation of knowledge through the measurement development communities of learning of the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center (TRC), and the Multi-Site Implementation Evaluation of MIECHV Home Visiting with AIAN Families (MUSE). Through innovative projects, cross-site efforts, and an expanded population of focus, CIRCLE-HV represents the next step toward MIECHV-funded contribution of knowledge about home visiting in Indigenous communities.
CIRCLE-HV includes active engagement with an array of Indigenous communities and programs funded through MIECHV and other sources, including federally recognized tribal nations, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities, Native Hawaiians, U.S. Pacific territories, members of state-recognized tribes, urban Indian organizations, and tribal consortia. In addition to collaboration with these indigenous communities, CIRCLE-HV convenes and gathers input from a community expert group. This group is comprised of thought leaders and representatives from the home visiting and Indigenous human service and early childhood practice and research fields. CIRCLE-HV’s planning phase includes knowledge development, active engagement, and planning and infrastructure development for the future Research-Practice Partnerships and Cross-Site Study.
With the exercise of Optional Service Component 2, the study team will develop request for proposals for Research-Practice Partnerships and co-create a cross-site study with interested home visiting programs. Other activities include selection, support, and oversight of research-practice partnerships and collection, analysis, and reporting of cross-site study data. At the conclusion of the project, the CIRCLE-HV team will report on its experience of initiating and sustaining research-practice collaborations (i.e., Research-Practice Partnerships and Cross-Site Study) to build evidence and understanding about home visiting in Indigenous communities.
Points of contact: Nicole Denmark, Aleta Meyer, Rebecca Hjelm