Search Results: MCHLine

Annotation: This report provides an introduction to the Head Start-State Collaboration Projects, which involve Head Start in state planning and policy making efforts that affect low income children and families. It includes some fact sheets on the Collaboration Projects, project profiles and contact list, legislation regarding Head Start-State Collaboration Projects, and an excerpt from the report of the Advisory Committee on Head Start Quality and Expansion.

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Keywords: Collaboration, Early childhood education, Family support, Head Start, Low income groups, Policy development, Program descriptions, Public private partnerships, State initiatives, Statewide planning

Annotation: These toolkits for consumers and employers provide information to address the challenges of low income wage earners returning to work while continuing to breastfeed. Contents include five individual toolkits. A toolkit for mothers provides information on how to talk with supervisors, coworkers, and child care providers and how to store and handle breast milk, as well as checklists, tips, sample schedules, and food ideas. A toolkit for family members explains the role grandparents and partners play while dispelling myths that can be held by others, and how to give support and care for a breastfed infant. Additional toolkits are designed to help employers comply with state and federal laws; offer guidance for mothers and employers on interpreting the laws and resources; and provide sample letters and policies.

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Keywords: Breastfeeding, Employer initiatives, Legislation, Low income groups, New York, State programs, Supported employment, Workplace health promotion

Annotation: This state oral health plan for 2022–2027 summarizes goals of the Tennessee Department of Health related to improving the oral health of Tennessee residents. The report discusses the importance of oral health, the department's past oral-health-related accomplishments, and the department's role in providing oral health care. Also discussed are access to oral health care, oral health education and advocacy, oral disease prevention, oral health resources, and the oral health workforce. The state's Healthy Smiles Initiative is described, along with the future of oral health in Tennessee.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Advocacy, Dental caries, Dental sealants, Fluoride varnish, Health education, Oral health, Prevention, Silver diamine fluoride, State initiatives, State materials, Tennessee, Workforce

Annotation: This fact sheet from the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ILPQC) promotes scheduling early maternal health safety checks within two weeks postpartum to improve care for new mothers. It presents data showing that 80% of pregnancy-associated deaths in Illinois between 2014-2016 occurred in the year following birth, with 24% occurring within 42 days postpartum before the traditional six-week visit. The fact sheet outlines key elements of these early postpartum safety checks, describes the aim and strategies of the ILPQC Improving Postpartum Access to Care (IPAC) Initiative launched in May 2019, and shares early successes from participating hospitals.

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Keywords: Illinois, Perinatal care: Postpartum care: Safety, Quality improvement, Standards, State initiatives

Annotation: This document provides guidance from the Indiana Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative (IPQIC) on standardizing discharge planning and referrals to ongoing services and support for postpartum patients with substance use disorders. It outlines recommended hospital procedures, including urine drug screening, monitoring for withdrawal symptoms, offering medication-assisted treatment, and providing referrals to treatment programs and resources. The document emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive discharge plan that includes outpatient follow-up with pediatric, substance use, and primary care providers, as well as newborn safe sleep education and contraception planning. Additional resources are provided for further information and referrals.

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Keywords: Guidelines, Indiana, Perinatal care, Postpartum care, Quality improvement, Standards, State initiatives

Annotation: This toolkit provides resources for providers supporting pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and families related to doula care. It includes a description of doulas as non-medical professionals providing emotional, physical, and informational support before, during, and after childbirth. The toolkit outlines documentation and service recommendation requirements for doula services to be covered by Kansas Medicaid, including the types of licensed healthcare providers who can recommend doula services and acceptable methods for providing those recommendations. It also contains links to additional resources in English and Spanish aimed at reducing maternal and infant health inequities by increasing access to doula care.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Doulas, Kansas, Medicaid, Postpartum women, Pregnant women, Resources for professionals, State initiatives

Annotation: This document provides an overview of maternal health landscape in Mississippi and outlines its vision, mission and purpose. It serves as a road map for the development, planning and implementation of prevention strategies for adverse outcomes in maternal health. This plan seeks to direct efforts to improve maternal health outcomes in Mississippi by advocating for equitable access to healthcare, promoting education and awareness about maternal health issues, supporting healthcare providers in underserved areas, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders and community organizations to address maternal health disparities.

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Keywords: Access to care, Collaboration, Health care equity, Maternal health, Plans, State MCH programs, State initiatives

Annotation: This perinatal mental health screening protocol and briefing guide is designed to provide a culturally responsive framework for screening Black birthing persons. The protocol aims to address the urgent need for improved screening and quality care for this population, which is at higher risk for perinatal depression and anxiety. Informed by focus groups with Black birthing people, Black birth workers, perinatal service providers, and a literature review, the guide outlines five key steps for conducting screenings: fostering an atmosphere of trust and safety, starting a conversation, providing choice and transparency, discussing results with patients, and making referrals with follow-through. The briefing includes considerations for providers before screening, such as assessing biases, serving with cultural humility, understanding community fears and stigma, and recognizing common phrases used to indicate anxiety or depression. The protocol also provides guidance on establishing an organizational screening process and building culturally responsive referral partnerships.

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Keywords: Blacks, Child birth, Culutral sensitivity, Mental health, Ohio, Perinatal care, Protocol, Quality improvement, Screening, State initiatives

Annotation: This brief presents initial findings from interviews with providers and mothers with Medicaid in Texas about the implementation of the state's Medicaid 12-month postpartum extension. Interviewees identified significant implementation challenges, including lack of awareness, confusion about which providers should serve postpartum women, and administrative hurdles. The document also highlights the need for more mental health supports for new mothers and additional Medicaid benefits and providers, particularly in rural areas. It offers policy recommendations to increase awareness of the postpartum benefit, support mental health through community programs, and improve access to services and providers in the Medicaid network.

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Keywords: Healthcare reform, Interviews, Medicaid, Postpartum care, Quality improvement, State initiatives, Texas

Annotation: This report focuses on the Future Oral Health Workforce project, which launched in 2024 with the goal of improving oral health equity and access to oral health care in the state. The project synthesized insights from statewide studies, expert consultations, and community convenings to develop recommendations for building a more equitable and effective oral health care system in New York. This report highlights challenges related to oral health care in the state and offers strategies for improving access to care and addressing the state’s persistent workforce shortages.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Initiatives, New York, Oral health, Oral health equity, State information, State programs, Work force

Annotation: This report presents a roadmap of California's Birthing Care Pathway initiative launched by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to address maternal health disparities and improve outcomes for pregnant and postpartum Medi-Cal members. It describes the current state of maternal health in California, highlighting concerning trends in pregnancy-related mortality and severe maternal morbidity with significant racial disparities affecting Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander individuals. The document outlines DHCS' strategic approach to improve maternal health through policy solutions developed with input from diverse stakeholders, including Medi-Cal members. Key components include strengthening provider access, enhancing clinical care coordination, providing whole-person care, and modernizing maternity care payment systems. The report details recent Medi-Cal policy enhancements for perinatal care and describes California's participation in the federal Transforming Maternal Health Model to further strengthen delivery systems in selected Central Valley counties.

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Keywords: California, Health care disparities, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Model programs, Perinatal care, Policy development, Postpartum care, Quality improvement, State initiatives, Trends

Annotation: This research brief provides an overview of funding mechanisms for state paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs in the United States. The brief explains that PFML programs are self-sustaining, funded through payroll contributions (premiums) from workers, employers, or both, with no ongoing state funding required. The document features diagrams showing funding flows, premium rates across states, and historical premium trends, highlighting that PFML premiums remain affordable, typically below 1% of wages. The brief details key policy decisions states must make regarding start-up funding, premium responsibility, contribution wage bases, small business exemptions, and premium caps. It includes several state policy spotlights, such as California's elimination of wage thresholds for premium collection and Minnesota's scaled premium reductions for small businesses. The document includes additional resources for policymakers considering PFML programs.

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Keywords: California, Employee assistance programs, Employee benefits, Family leave, Funding, Initiatives, Minnesota, Parental leave, Policy development, State programs

Annotation: This final report describes the five-year Children's Healthy Weight State Capacity Building Project, which provided funding and support from the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN) to state Title V MCH programs in North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin. The report covers the project background, implementation model, evaluation methods, and key findings on how the states built partnerships, increased workforce knowledge, improved data capabilities, and incorporated nutrition into Title V activities. State-specific accomplishments are highlighted, such as North Dakota's grant programs, Oregon's work on tribal food sovereignty, and Wisconsin's statewide training initiative. The value of ASPHN's intensive technical assistance and support is examined, along with challenges, success factors, and lessons learned. The report concludes with state recommendations and reflections on the project's impact and replication potential.

• Final Valuation Report 2025
• Evaluation Report September 30 2022

Keywords: Child health, Child nutrition, Disease prevention, Health programs, Maternal health, North Dakota, Nutrition, Oregon, State initiatives, Title V programs, Wisconsin

Annotation: This fact sheet describes the State Systems Development Initiative (SSDI) program, which aims to improve maternal and child health outcomes in 59 states and jurisdictions by increasing capacity to collect, analyze, and use reliable data for Title V MCH Services Block Grant policy and program development. The document explains that SSDI is funded through the Special Projects of Regional and National Significance portion of the Title V Block Grant, distributing up to $100,000 annually to state and jurisdiction awardees to support expansion of data linkages, improved access to data on fair access to care, and translation of data into action. It outlines SSDI's alignment with the Title V MCH Services Block Grant by serving as the sole program supporting the data systems and capacity that Title V programs rely on for planning, implementation, and evaluation. The fact sheet emphasizes that all 59 states and jurisdictions receive SSDI support, providing examples of impact including linking datasets to improve data accuracy, expanding public health dashboards, and identifying areas with poor outcomes for targeted interventions.

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Keywords: Data analysis, Data collection, Grants, MCH programs, Services delivery systems, State initiatives, Title V

Annotation: This fact sheet describes the State Maternal Health Innovation (MHI) Program, a federal investment launched in 2019 as a Special Project of Regional and National Significance by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The program supports states in building comprehensive, data-driven, and collaborative maternal health systems through competitive grants that enable states to develop tailored strategies reflecting their unique populations and care landscapes. It describes the program's alignment with the Title V MCH Services Block Grant by filling a critical gap in facilitating relationships, coordination, and innovation capacity to move state maternal health systems from fragmentation toward alignment. The fact sheet emphasizes that the State MHI Program is the only federal program funding states to weave together relationships into cohesive maternal health systems and warns that without continued funding, state alliances and innovations would stagnate while maternal health efforts would become fragmented.

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Keywords: Federal programs, Funding, Grants, MCH Programs, Model programs, Service delivery systems, State initiatives

Annotation: This report provides information on the Community Oral Health Transformation (COrHT) initiative, an effort to improve oral health equity and oral-health-care delivery across North Carolina. the Initiative sought to align community needs with person-centered, integrated care principles through cross-sector collaboration, advocacy, and systems transformation. The report discusses challenges to attaining optimal oral health for many people, provides COrHT background and selection criteria, and includes an impact assessment. A path forward is presented.

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Keywords: Advocacy, Community health, Initiatives, North Carolina, Oral health, Oral health equity, Service delivery systems, State programs

Annotation: This report highlights Wisconsin's accomplishments in the Children's Healthy Weight State Capacity Building Project. Key initiatives included offering the University of Minnesota's Systems Approaches for Healthy Communities course to 51 local and tribal health agencies; engaging MCH Nutrition Trainees and UW-Madison Population Health Fellows to expand program capacity; conducting Community Conversations in diverse communities to inform PSE changes and the Title V Needs Assessment; converting and translating nutrition assessment tools and linking them to the state's childcare Quality Rating and Improvement System; and intentionally identifying and tracking partnerships to sustain efforts beyond the project period.

Keywords: Child health, Health programs, Maternal health, Native Americans, Needs assessment, Nutrition, State initiatives, Title V programs, Wisconsin

Annotation: This two-page report summarizes Oregon's accomplishments in the Children's Healthy Weight State Capacity Building Project. Oregon strengthened relationships with Tribal communities to support food sovereignty and focused on workforce development, data collection, and data use. Key achievements included developing an online Childhood Food Insecurity training module, mentoring student interns to create a Lactation Support Toolkit for home visitors, facilitating food preservation workshops in Tribal communities, and conducting a program evaluation of Title V breastfeeding and food insecurity priorities. The state team also worked to integrate nutrition across various programs and agencies, identified and compiled nutrition data sources, and engaged in cross-agency collaborations to update workplace breastfeeding policies.

Keywords: Child health, Evaluation, Health programs, Maternal health, Native Americans, Nutrition, Oregon , State initiatives, Title V programs

Annotation: This two-page report describes North Dakota's progress and accomplishments in the Children's Healthy Weight State Capacity Building Project. The state team collaborated with North Dakota State University to conduct a Public Health Nutrition Workforce Assessment, which identified a need for policy, systems, and environment training to build the capacity of local public health units (LPHUs). Over the five-year project, North Dakota provided 66 Title V grants to LPHUs and tribal entities to support breastfeeding, nutrition, and physical activity initiatives. These included Farm to School and Farm to Early Childhood Education projects that reached hundreds of children and educators. The state team also worked to strengthen its data capabilities by adding nutrition questions to the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System survey. Key strategies for building LPHU capacity were offering the University of Minnesota's Systems Approaches for Healthy Communities course and providing Title V funding to support local projects.

Keywords: Child health, Grants, Health programs, Maternal health, Native Americans, North Dakota, Nutrition, State initiatives, Title V programs

Annotation: This toolkit for families describes the different types of perinatal care available and offers guidance on finding providers who will honor and respect their cultural backgrounds during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period in Georgia. It defines cultural competence and cultural sensitivity in healthcare settings and provides key considerations when choosing providers such as insurance acceptance, accessibility, values alignment, and cultural appropriateness of support services. The toolkit describes the benefits of various perinatal support providers including midwives, obstetricians/gynecologists, pelvic floor therapists, prenatal massage therapists, maternal mental health therapists, chiropractors, nutritionists, lactation consultants, and doulas, with specific provider referrals for each type throughout Georgia. It includes a list of organizations that provide referrals and resources, emphasizing the importance of respectful, culturally responsive perinatal support that meets families' unique cultural traditions and needs.

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Keywords: Cultural sensitivity, Culturally competence services, Families, Georgia, Labor, Perinatal care, Postpartum care, Pregnancy, Prenatal care, State initiatives