From the CEO

CEO Transition Update

By Barbara Laura, MS

I am glad to report that the CEO search continues to move forward. The Search Committee will start interviews toward the end of October, but we continue to welcome resumes from outstanding candidates. Please take a moment and think whether you may know someone who cares passionately about maternal and child health, and has the experience and skills to lead an outstanding national association.

From my perspective as an interim CEO, I see many things in place that would appeal to a leader. AMCHP has a dedicated and talented staff, a motivated board and membership who are moving maternal and child health issues forward statewide and nationally, committed partners and grantors, and programs that bring MCH professionals together to share, learn and take our collective work on behalf of women and children to the highest level. So one more time, send good candidates our way! You can find more about the position here.

In the meantime, I want to assure you that while the government was shut down, AMCHP was not. In early October, AMCHP and its federal and association partners hosted an exciting meeting with state health officials, MCH leaders, and others to share successes and discuss the continuing implementation of the CoIIN project. Planning for our annual conference in January is well underway. Our board has been engaged in ongoing discussions to develop recommendations about the future of Title V, and we expect to be working with Dr. Lu to host listening sessions for members later this fall. Every day, the staff at AMCHP is doing their job to serve our membership and keep them connected and informed.

Thanks for your support during this time – we look forward to an exciting fall and a great conference in January!

AMCHP Releases Life Course Indicators

Earlier this month, AMCHP released a final set of life course indicators, which is the final product of the Life Course Metrics Project supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The project began approximately two years ago in response to a growing need for a standardized approach to measuring the success of MCH programming guided by a life course framework.

Guided by a national expert panel, the selection of the final set of indicators took place over a 12-month collaborative process with seven state teams: Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska and North Carolina. The teams refined 413 proposed indicators down to approximately 100 by assessing the indicators on three data and five life course criteria. The final set of 59 indicators was selected by vote at an in-person meeting in June. Throughout July, AMCHP invited public comments on the draft final set of indicators, and these comments were used to refine and clarify the indicators.

The indicators are currently available on the project website at amchp.org/lifecourseindicators. Here users can find the final set in three formats: an interactive tool for browsing the indicators by category, domain, or data source; a printer-friendly PDF; or an excel spreadsheet for sorting and exploring the indicators on your own. The website also includes tools for use, such as a “Short List” of 13 indicators and a FAQ. We are adding narratives for each of the 59 indicators throughout the fall of 2013, so please check back to our website often for these additions. We also will add tools for promotion and use over the coming year; if you have an idea for a tool or resource that you might need, please e-mail us at lifecourseindicators@amchp.org.