Staff Spotlight:
In honor of Women's History Month, we want to lift up the voices and victories of women. Today, we spoke with Senior Research Manager Stacey Hoffman, whose work focuses on disaster behavioral health response planning and program management, risk and crisis communication, public health monitoring system evaluation, and community program evaluation.
Q&A with Stacey Hoffman
- What is one way your life/work has been impacted by women?
There are so many ways. The PPC and the University having women in prominent leadership roles provide examples of what women can accomplish.
- Can you think of a specific project you have worked on that directly impacts women?
The Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting Program capacity assessment wrapped up in the fall of 2020. We examined capacity to meet the needs of home visiting services across Nebraska to provide education to families about the needs of children 0 to 5 years of age. Service providers have varying criteria for the families who qualify—usually these are families in or near poverty, involved with the child protection or court systems, and/or with a caregiver who has a mental health or substance use disorder. The programs target families with young children, not specifically women, but these programs do work with a large number of new mothers. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, along with Nebraska Department of Education and the Sixpence Early Learning Fund, are using the results of this capacity assessment to inform expansion of services into high need areas statewide.