Search Results: MCHLine

Annotation: This fact sheet provides information about Iowa children's oral health in 2025. Information about the I-Smile program is included, along with information about Cavity Free Iowa, an initiative that promotes applying fluoride varnish to young children's teeth during well child visits. The fact sheet also describes three I-Smile videos on brushing flossing, and healthy eating. Ongoing challenges for some families seeking oral health care are discussed, and statistics on the impact of I-Smile on infants and children from birth through age 12 in 2025 are presented.

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Keywords: Data, Dental caries, Fluoride, Health care utilization, Iowa, Oral health, Prevention, Screening tests, State programs

Annotation: This report summarizes the second meeting of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's Secretary's Postpartum Maternal Health Collaborative, held January 10, 2025. The document describes how six states (Iowa, New Mexico, Minnesota, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Michigan) implemented evidence-based practices over a 10-month period to reduce postpartum morbidity and mortality. Three states focused on mental health and substance use disorders while three addressed cardiovascular conditions. The report details specific state-level initiatives, including improved screening, care coordination, and follow-up processes, highlighting successful cross-sector collaborations between state health departments, Medicaid agencies, healthcare facilities, and community organizations. Key insights include the importance of standardizing care pathways while tailoring patient engagement strategies, leveraging quality improvement initiatives, and investing in data infrastructure. The document concludes with lessons learned about the benefits of cross-state collaboration and federal technical assistance in implementing facility-level changes that can improve maternal health outcomes.

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Keywords: Collaboration, Conference proceedings, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maternal health, Michigan , Minnesota, Models, New Mexico, Postpartum care, Quality improvement, Standards

Annotation: This report presents case studies highlighting 4 state programs (in Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin), among 15 that received Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding in 2024 to improve oral health in their state. Each case study provides information on what the program is doing to improve students' oral health, what has worked for the state's dental sealant program, how the state has advanced infection control and prevention, and lessons learned.

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Keywords: Dental sealants, Government funding, Infection control, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Oral health, School age children, State programs, Wisconsin

Annotation: This online resource from the American Academy of Pediatrics for state Title V programs and their partners describes strategies to improve systems of services for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families. It presents vignettes from Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wyoming that highlight peer-to-peer learning and cross-sector partnerships. Featured activities include engaging families and young adults with lived experience, developing electronic referral systems, and integrating national standards for systems of care into needs assessment processes. The resource also discusses provider toolkits for developmental screening, Medicaid payment incentives for health care transition services, and the use of telehealth for care coordination in rural and frontier areas.

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Keywords: Arizona, Child health, Children with special health care needs, Colorado, Developmental screening, Intersectoral collaboration, Iowa, Louisiana, Partnerships, Program coordination, Rhode Island, State initiatives, Title V programs, Utah Wyoming, Youth, Youth in transition programs

Annotation: This blog post details policy and programmatic strategies states are implementing to strengthen the perinatal health care system, improve maternal health outcomes, and address disparities, particularly noting that Black women are 2.6 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women. Based on an analysis of states’ strategic plans, the key priorities for supporting pregnant and postpartum women include (1) ensuring access to timely and high-quality care, citing examples such as Iowa’s Obstetrics Mobile Simulation Training Program and North Carolina’s Region IV Provider Support Network; (2) developing and sustaining the perinatal workforce, citing examples such as Illinois DocAssist, a free statewide psychiatric access program, and New Jersey’s Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center; and (3) supporting high-quality care coordination, citing examples such as California’s Enhanced Care Management Birth Equity Population of Focus under CalAIM and Texas’s High-Risk Maternal Care Coordination Services Program.

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Keywords: Access to care, Blacks, California, Healthcare disparities, Illinois, Iowa, Maternal health, New Jersey, North Carolina, Perinatal care, Policy, State initiatives, Strategic plans, Texas

Annotation: This report provides information about the number of children in Iowa who received a required oral health screening at school during the 2022–2023 school year. The report presents information, by county, on the following categories: number of children enrolled, with valid screening certificates, with treatment needs, provider types, and with valid exemption certificates (religious or financial hardship). A key with more information about each category is included.

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Keywords: Iowa, Oral health, School age children, Screening tests, State information

Annotation: This report presents information about the Iowa Department of Health's School-Based Dental Sealant Program for school year 2021–2022. Information is presented, by agency, on the number and percentage of children in the state with a history of tooth decay and with untreated decay relative to the child's payment source for oral health care (private insurance, self-pay, Medicaid, or Hawk-i [a state program that provides health coverage for uninsured children in working families in Iowa]). The report also presents information about children who participated in the National School Lunch Program who received an oral health screening and who received dental sealants. Also presented is information about children who received an oral health screening, received sealants, had a history of decay, had untreated decay, had a dental visit within the last 12 months, and who received fluoride, by payment source, age, sex, and race.

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Keywords: Dental caries, Health care utilization, Health insurance, Iowa, Low income groups, Medicaid, Oral health, School age children, School lunch programs, Screening tests, Fluoride, Dental sealants, State information, State programs

Annotation: This guide provides information about adjusting fluoride in drinking water across the state to optimal levels to improve oral health outcomes for all Idahoans. The guide introduces the issue and covers the following topics: an overview of Healthy People 2030, including its recognition that community-level interventions like community water fluoridation can help improve oral health by emphasizing healthy equity; an overview of community water fluoridation in Iowa; goals, objectives, and an action plan; and program management. Promotional resources are provided.

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Keywords: Community health services, Fluoride, Health equity, Iowa, Oral health, State programs

Annotation: This brief provides information about how Crescent Community Health Center (CHC) in Iowa has implemented a care-coordination effort using community health workers as a part of the Midwest Network for Oral Health Integration project, part of the federally funded Networks for Oral Health Integration (NOHI) Within the Maternal and Child Health Safety Net program, which supports the efforts of community health centers in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio to increase access to oral health care among children. The brief describes the CHC’s goals, activities, and accomplishments; offers background about the CHC; and discusses its plans for expansion. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

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Keywords: Community health centers, Iowa, Oral health, Service integration, State programs

Annotation: This website presents a comprehensive overview of state harm reduction strategies aimed at improving outcomes for reproductive-aged women who use substances, developed as a collaborative project between AMCHP and NASADAD (National Association of State and Alcohol Drug Abuse Directors). The site outlines the critical context of substance use disorders (SUDs) in the United States, noting that women comprise 40% of individuals with SUDs and are most vulnerable during their reproductive years. It explains harm reduction approaches, which include practices like naloxone distribution, SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment), medication-assisted treatment, and syringe services programs. The website addresses COVID-19's impact on harm reduction services and provides an extensive glossary of relevant terms and acronyms. It also includes state-by-state profiles highlighting successful collaborations between state Maternal and Child Health programs and alcohol and drug abuse agencies, with particular attention to evidence-based practices and replicable strategies for future implementation.

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Keywords: MCH programs, Title V programs, Mental health, Substance abusing mothers, Substance abusing pregnant women, Substance abuse prevention programs, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Annotation: This report provides information about I-Smile, a preventive school-based dental program that focuses on improving the oral health of Iowa’s students. The report describes the program; the services it offers, which include oral health screenings, risk assessments, dental sealant and fluoride varnish application, and classroom and individual oral health education; student and school participation in the program; and program impact. Accompanying reports provide data for school years 2020-2021-present.

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Keywords: , Dental sealants, Fluoride, Iowa, Low income groups, Oral health, Prevention, State programs

Annotation: This report presents results from a 2020 survey of senior state and territory health officials on maternal and child health (MCH) policy topics, including oral health. Selected topics include policy initiatives to address socioeconomic disparities among mothers and children, birth outcomes and early childhood, and strategies states are pursuing to advance early childhood health, including oral health, and development. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

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Keywords: , Iowa, Low income groups, Oral health, Prevention, State initiatives

Annotation: This report provides information about a survey of children who were enrolled and participating in Iowa’s Head Start program from February 1, 2021, through May 31, 2021. The survey was coordinated by the Iowa Department of Public Health. This report discusses the importance of oral health, presents survey methods and results, and discusses the impact of the I-Smile Dental Home Initiative on children’s oral health in Iowa.

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Keywords: Head Start, Iowa, Low income groups, Oral health, State surveys, Young children

Annotation: This report provides information about the I-Smile Dental Home Initiative, the goal of which is to help children in Iowa have good oral health beginning at an early age. It describes what I-Smile coordinators do and discusses the availability of preventive oral health services for children enrolled in Medicaid in Iowa and the increase in the percentage of this population that has received preventive services since the establishment of I-Smile. The state of children’s oral health in Iowa is also discussed.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Iowa, Medicaid, Oral health, Prevention, State programs, Young children

Annotation: This report provides information about Iowa’s I-Smile Program. Topics include background, oral health in Iowa, I-Smile in practice, I-Smile @ School, a division of I-Smile that helps children access oral health care by providing oral health screenings, dental sealants, fluoride varnish, and education in elementary and middle schools during the school day. It also describes I-Smile Silver, a pilot program implemented across 10 counties in Iowa to help adults access oral health care. The report also discusses key takeaways, challenges, and next steps.

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Keywords: Adult health, Iowa, Oral health, Prevention, School health, State programs

Annotation: This fact sheet describes a toolkit developed by the Iowa WIC program to increase WIC staff knowledge of the cultural traditions of WIC clientele. The toolkit includes information to help WIC counselors recognize the food-related practices and beliefs of different cultures. It also provides suggestions for adapting counseling methods based on traditional communication styles and interpersonal behaviors, such as body language, vocal volume, distance, and touch. It provides contact information for obtaining a copy of the toolkit.

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Keywords: Infant nutrition, Iowa, Maternal nutrition, Nutrition services, State programs, WIC program

Annotation: These presentation slides outline partnership strategies and opportunities within Iowa's Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant program, specifically focusing on Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN). They describe Iowa's unique structure, where the CYSHCN program is housed within the University of Iowa, and details their 2021-2026 priorities. The presentation provides guidance for other states on developing partnerships with Title V programs, emphasizing the importance of reviewing state Block Grant applications to identify partnership opportunities, and suggests focusing on specific sections like the Needs Assessment and State Action Plan for Children and CYSHCN populations.

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Keywords: Children with special health care needs, Title V programs, Iowa

Annotation: This poster presents findings from an evaluation of the Iowa Family Leadership Training Institute (IFLTI), a program that provides training to parents and primary caregivers of children and youth with special health care needs to develop leadership and advocacy skills. The poster describes the program's objectives, methodology, and results from interviews with 15 IFLTI graduates and pre/post-assessments. Key findings demonstrate that participants gained improved individual leadership skills (100% reported at least one leadership opportunity after completion), increased community impact (including better identification of community needs), enhanced system-level advocacy (73% reported increased involvement with legislators), and stronger partner collaboration.

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Keywords: Children with special health care needs, Iowa, Title V programs, Staff development, Collaboration

Annotation: This brochure describes the Iowa Family Leadership Training Institute (IFLTI), a program offering leadership training for parents and primary caregivers of children with special health care needs. It outlines the program's four in-person sessions focused on developing leadership and advocacy skills across individual, community, and policy levels, using the Maternal and Child Health Leadership Competencies framework. Key components include training topics such as disability history, servant leadership, storytelling, and policy advocacy, along with mentored Community Service Projects that provide practical application of learned skills (e.g., installing adult changing tables and creating safety presentations for first responders).

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Keywords: Iowa, Children with special health care needs, Materials for parents, Parent education,

Annotation: This slide presentation outlines key aspects of the Iowa Family Leadership Training Institute (IFLTI), focusing on three main areas: community service projects, the importance of recruiting diverse family leaders, and post-training engagement activities. The presentation uses data from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health to justify the program's continuation, showing that only 79.5% of Iowa families consistently demonstrate all four qualities of family resilience (talking together, problem-solving, recognizing strengths, and maintaining hope). It includes participant data from 2016-2020, refers to the Innovation Station toolkit, and lists a panel of program participants, providing a comprehensive overview of the program's structure, impact, and ongoing development.

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Keywords: Iowa, Children with special health care needs, Parent education,