Sarah Ostyn
Advancing Quality Measurement in Maternal-Infant Home Visiting
Sarah Ostyn, our 2019-2021 MDHHS fellow, supported MDHHS’ efforts to improve maternal and infant health in Michigan. Within the Maternal Infant Health Unit at MDHHS, Sarah focused on developing and implementing quality measurement strategies for the Maternal-Infant Health Program, Michigan’s largest evidence-based home visiting program for Medicaid-eligible pregnant individuals and their infants. In her first year, Sarah worked collaboratively with the department staff to streamline program documents and create a more equitable process for reviewing provider compliance with requirements of the home visiting model and Medicaid policies. In her second year, Sarah developed, piloted, and analyzed a quality measurement strategy for MIHP that is aligned with national best practices and quality strategies in use by other home visiting programs in the state of Michigan.
Prior to this, Sarah was an intern with the Kids Count project at the Michigan League for Public Policy. She also has over eight years of experience in early childhood education, primarily serving children and families enrolled in Head Start programs in Kansas City, MO and Lansing, MI. Sarah holds BA degrees in Family Community Services and Business Administration from Michigan State University and an MPA from the University of Kansas.