MCHB is seeking input on the Maternal and Child Health Bureau Strategic Plan (PDF - 94 KB).
How to submit: Please submit comments to MCHStrategy.hrsa@hrsa.gov.
Who can respond: We encourage input from a broad range of organizational and individual stakeholders, including maternal and child health service providers, states and localities, health service delivery and other community-based organizations, health care providers, researchers, community members, patients, consumers, families, caregivers, advocates, and other interested parties.
Deadline: By 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, December 18, 2020
Responses: HRSA will not respond to any individual comments, except to clarify written responses. HRSA will also not respond to questions about potential policy issues related to this RFI.
Please note: Responses to this RFI may be made publicly available; do not include any proprietary or confidential information.
MCHB is part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an operating division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Mission
To improve the health and well-being of America's mothers, children, and families.
Vision
An America where all mothers, children, and families are thriving and reach their full potential.
Approach
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau administers programs, supports research, and invests in workforce training to ensure the health and well-being of mothers, children, and families across their lives. In partnership with states and communities, the Bureau supports health care and public health services for an estimated 60 million people nationwide.
Our commitment aligns with the broader goals of HRSA:
Improve access to quality health care and services
MCHB supports patient-centered, evidence-based programs that improve healthcare access and quality for families.
- In 2019, the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Program funded 59 states and jurisdictions to provide health care and public health services for an estimated 60 million people. Services reached 92% of all pregnant women, 98% of infants, and 60% of children nationwide, including children with special health care needs.
- The Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program works to ensure that all children in America, when they are seriously sick or injured, have access to the same high-quality pediatric emergency care.
- The National Maternal and Child Center for Oral Health Systems Integration and Improvement serves as a center of excellence in oral health technical assistance and training and resource development, providing technical assistance and training to state Title V MCH Block Grant programs and oral health Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) award recipients to increase sustainable access to and utilization of improved integrated preventive oral health services in MCH systems of care.
Strengthen the health workforce
We support the next generation of interdisciplinary leaders in maternal and child health.
MCH Workforce Development grants develop trainees for leadership roles in teaching, research, clinical practice, public health administration and policymaking, and community-based programs. In FY2016, the grant programs supported more than 36,000 trainees.
We partner with states, communities, and families to respond to the unique health needs of mothers and children throughout the nation.
Through the Healthy Start program, we reduce racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality to improve birth outcomes. The program focuses on women’s health before, between, and beyond pregnancies; improving the quality of care provided to pregnant women; making families strong; and strengthening father involvement.
At the community level, Healthy Start gives families the opportunity to make the choices that allow them to live long, healthy lives, regardless of their income, education, or racial or ethnic background. Healthy Start grantees help coordinate other perinatal health activities in their communities.
The Bright Futures Program improves the quality of primary and preventive care for children and adolescents through the use of age-specific, evidence-driven clinical guidelines which establish the latest, state-of-the-art design for effective preventive checkups. Bright Futures provides visit-by-visit guidance for primary care clinicians, healthcare professionals and families – enabling consistent, quality care across a multi-disciplinary sector.
We aim to give every child and family a fair shot at reaching their fullest potential.
- The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program serves many of the nation’s most vulnerable families. In FY 2019: 70% of participating families had household incomes at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty guidelines ($25,750 for a family four), and 41% were at or below 50% of those guidelines.
- The MCH Research Program supports research that addresses the needs of underserved populations, including families and children:
Engaging stakeholders at all levels, we transformed the Title V Block Grant Program to ensure continued effectiveness and readiness to respond to current and future needs facing the Nation’s mothers and children, including children with special health care needs.
We aimed to reduce state burden, maintain flexibility for states in meeting their individual needs, and improve accountability.
Our areas of expertise
MCHB programs (PDF - 2.7 MB) seek to ensure the health and well-being of women and children across their lives:
- when a woman is of childbearing age;
- when a woman is pregnant;
- when a child is born;
- if the child has special health care needs; and
- as a child grows.
Primarily, we support states and jurisdictions through the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant. Title V complements our portfolio of discretionary and appropriated grant programs.
Along with partners from other federal agencies, states, communities, professional groups, and family organizations, MCHB’s divisions and offices collaborate to support MCHB’s overall mission.
To ensure optimal health and development across the lifespan of the MCH population, all programs and efforts focus on the following five areas:
How our programs and policies span across a child's life
Each step in a child’s growth is crucial to their physical, emotional, and social well-being.
Our programs and policies allow states and communities to do the following:
- Recommend immunizations
- Improve and maintain oral health
- Reduce obesity through access to information and programs that promote proper nutrition and physical activity
- Prevent tobacco use
How we prioritize research and training
To put research into practice and policy, we take an integrative and transdisciplinary approach to investigate and address maternal and child health problems.
We provide access to data on a wide range of key child health indicators — at both the state and national levels — through our National Survey of Children’s Health and by supporting original research on the most pressing challenges facing American children and their families.
Complementing this research, our investments in training supports the practicing MCH workforce and the next generation of MCH leaders.
How we measure success
We tie each of our efforts to specific measurements that monitor performance and outcomes to most effectively improve health for U.S. mothers, children, and families.
Use the Title V Information System (TVIS) and the Discretionary Grants Information System (DGIS) to search for data.
