The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) released a new strategic plan to strengthen the infrastructure of the maternal and child health field and to improve health support for women, children, and families in several critical areas.

The plan, titled A Bridge for Action, targets such key areas as workforce development, investments in MCH, evidence-based policies, family and youth engagement, substance abuse and mental health, and support for children and youth with special health care needs. It emphasizes AMCHP's role as a bridge between MCH staff and leaders and the resources they need to succeed, including training, evidence, and supportive federal policies and funding.

"AMCHP's new plan proudly places emphasis on outcomes, strategic partnership, and innovation," said AMCHP Board President Cate Wilcox. "Developed with input from our members, staff, and partners, the plan lays out AMCHP's strategy along two main pillars: 1) Infrastructure – building the capacity of the MCH public health field to address any issue, and 2) Impact – specific health issues affecting our members and the people they serve."

The strategies to "Mobilize the MCH Ecosystem" cover four areas:

Evidence: Build Capacity Through Training and Technical Assistance to Achieve Optimal Health Outcomes
Workforce: Attract and Retain Highly Competent People in the MCH Public Health Workforce
Investment: Increase Visibility of MCH Issues and Advocate for Policies that Support the Health of Women and Children.
Impact: Support Innovation and Strategic Partnership

The strategies to "Make a Major Impact" focus on five areas:

Chasing Zero: Drive Down Maternal and Infant Deaths
Optimize Health for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs
Support and Model Youth and Family-Engaged Work
Reduce the Burden of Substance Abuse and Unmet Mental Health Needs on Women, Children, Families, and Communities
Identify and Address Critical Issues for Our Members

AMCHP and Got Transition Unveil New Implementation Toolkit to Help Title V Agencies Meet National Performance Measure 12 on Transition

The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP), in partnership with Got Transition, released a new implementation toolkit to help Title V agencies meet National Performance Measure (NPM) 12, focused on the transition to adult health care for youth with and without special health care needs.

The NPM 12 Toolkit is part of a series of toolkits that provide evidence-based and -informed practices, reports, publications, and other resources geared toward each NPM. The information within the toolkits can be implemented at the state, territory, and community levels. Toolkits include implementation-focused resources and guidance from AMCHP, including AMCHP's Innovation Station, with contributions from Title V agencies and other partners in MCH and linkages to Got Transition's website for additional resources.

The first five toolkits on the Well-Woman Visit (NPM 1), Breastfeeding (NPM 4), Developmental Screening (NPM 6), Bullying (NPM 9), and the Adolescent Well-Visit (NPM 10) can be found on AMCHP's Implementation Toolkits page.

We hope these toolkits will encourage Title V programs to learn from one another and share their strategies and resources to improve maternal and child health practice across the country.

Board Corner

Join the AMCHP Board of Directors!

AMCHP member delegates are encouraged to consider applying for one of several open positions on our board of directors. AMCHP is accepting nominations through Sept. 30 for elections to be held in January. Please see our Call for Nominations page for additional information. Your help is needed to fill these important roles!

Legislation and Policy

Congress Breaks for August Recess: Where Things Stand

As of Aug. 1, both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate are in recess until after Labor Day. Below is an update on where things stand in a few key areas.

Federal Budget

Before adjourning, Congress passed an updated budget agreement that set top-line funding levels for the next two fiscal years, raised the budget caps, and eliminated the threat of sequestration to discretionary programs. President Trump signed the agreement into law on Aug. 2. This is a huge victory that removes a great deal of uncertainty for funding levels and will enable Congress to proceed on finalizing appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2020.

Appropriations for FY 2020

The U.S. House of Representatives has already completed much of its appropriations work for FY 2020. Over the August recess, the U.S. Senate will proceed with negotiations of its FY2020 appropriations bills. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) bill, which is where funding for Title V MCH Block Grant and most other key maternal and child health programs reside, is slated to be one of the first bills considered by the U.S. Senate when the chamber is back in session in September. As a reminder, the Title V MCH Block Grant was funded at $712 million (a $34 million increase over FY 2019) in the House FY 2020 Labor-HHS appropriations bill. However, the final budget agreement provided a lower overall amount of funding than the House bill included, which means we might see slightly lower numbers in the final FY 2020 appropriations bill.

Reauthorizations

Several critical MCH programs in need of reauthorization have progressed through Congress in recent weeks; AMCHP was proud to endorse them and see their passage! For those bills that have only been passed so far by the U.S. House of Representatives, we will keep you posted on anticipated movement in the U.S. Senate in September.

Passed into law: Passed by the House:

Emergency Medical Services for Children Newborn Screening Saves Lives

Family-to-Family Health Information Centers Autism CARES Act

Get Involved

Get Up-To-Date on Federal MCH Policy

The next event in the All-Member National MCH Policy Call series will take place on Thursday, September 5 from 2-3 p.m. ET.

Call For Proposals

The Adolescent Health Initiative issued a call for proposals for breakout sessions, oral presentations, and poster presentations for the 7th Annual Conference on Adolescent Health.

The conference, on April 20-21, in Detroit, will feature sessions on clinical care, innovative programming, quality improvement, substance abuse, sexual and mental health, and other related topics within adolescent health. Conference attendees include a multi-disciplinary audience of physicians, nurses, health educators, social workers, researchers, and other professionals and students in the field.

Webinars

Moving the Needle on Health Equity: Two Experts Share Successful Programs and Lessons Learned

National Institute for Children's Health Quality (NICHQ)

Aug. 21, 1-2 p.m. ET
Interested in learning how children's health programs and organizations can move the needle on health equity? This webinar will share strategies from two health equity experts: Arthur James, M.D., and Denise Evans, M.M., M.A. Attendees will gain insight on successful programs that have addressed health equity, lessons learned on what led to those programs' successes, and strategies that programs and organizations can use to champion health equity in their work.

Publications & Resources

Child & Adolescent Health

Collaboration Aims to Improve Depression Screening, Care for Adolescents and Young Adults

The Adolescent and Young Adult Health National Resource Center (AYAHNRC) is pleased to announce the five states selected for a new collaboration to increase and improve depression screening and follow-up for young people.

The inaugural cohort of the AYA Behavioral Health Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN) is composed of multidisciplinary teams from Indiana, Minnesota, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The teams will operate through their public health systems (led by state Title V/maternal and child health programs) and primary care systems (led by clinical partners and practices).

Although depression is increasing among young people, screening rates and referrals to treatment remain low. Clinicians in busy practices often lack the skills to screen for depression, and even when they can find time to do the screening, many are faced with few options for further assessment and treatment for young people and their families.

In 2017, 13.3 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (or 3.2 million people) and 13.1 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds (or 4.4 million people) reported having a major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year.i According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, ii 31.5 percent of students had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year, while 17.2 percent of high school students had seriously considered attempting suicide – both of which are significant increases over the past 10 years.

To respond to this growing health crisis, the AYAH-NRC is mobilizing the collaboration to improve depression screening and follow-up for young people through systems-level behavioral health integration in primary care, and by increasing screening rates for MDEs in clinical settings using practice-based quality improvement tools and methods.

The goal is to achieve an 80 percent screening rate for MDE in patients ages 12 to 25 using an age-appropriate standardized tool, with documentation of a follow-up plan when screen results are positive.

"This collaboration will produce on-the-ground strategies to confront this crisis among young people," said Jonathan Webb, CEO of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP), a member of the collaboration and a co-leader of the CoIIN. The teams will address key drivers of unmet behavioral health needs for adolescents and young adults.

The CoIIN will foster reciprocal capacity-building in the public health and primary care sectors to improve population health outcomes in primary care settings through the collaboration of state team members and local quality improvement representatives. The teams met at a summit in Washington July 24-25 to share knowledge, discuss strategies and measures, and garner cross-collaboration and capacity-building among the public health and primary care sectors.

The AYAH-NRC is funded by a cooperative agreement with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The center's work focuses on improving the health of adolescent and young adults (ages 10-25) by strengthening the capacity of state maternal and child health programs and their clinical partners to address the needs of those populations. Participation in the AYAH-CoIIN will last approximately 18 months. The National Improvement Partnership Network (NIPN) and AMCHP will partner as the backbone organizations to coordinate and facilitate all elements of the collaboration. The public health work will be led by AMCHP, while NIPN will support the primary care initiatives.

The AYAH-NRC collaboration is led by the National Adolescent and Young Adult Health Information Center at the University of California, San Francisco, in partnership with AMCHP, the University of Minnesota's State Adolescent Health Resource Center, and the University of Vermont National Improvement Partnership Network.

National Non-profit Groups Join Together to Educate Public on the Importance of Healthy Vision for Kids

Prevent Blindness and the National Optometric Association (NOA) are teaming up to declare August as Children's Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month to educate parents and caregivers on the steps that should be taken to ensure that students are provided with the best opportunity to have a successful school year through healthy vision.

To help educate parents and in celebration of its 10^th anniversary, the National Center for Children's Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness is offering the newly revised "Guide to Vision Health for Your Newborn, Infant, and Toddler." This no-cost comprehensive resource offers information on a variety of topics, including common milestones for visual development, how to help your baby's vision to develop, warning signs of possible vision problems, and more. The earlier a vision disorder can be identified and treated, the stronger start to learning and development a child will have.

To download a copy of the Guide to Vision Health for Your Newborn, Infant, and Toddler or for more information on children's eye health and safety, the NCCVEH, or financial assistance programs, please call Prevent Blindness at (800) 331-2020 or visit preventblindness.org.

Funding

CMS Funding Opportunities to Increase Medicaid Provider Capacity to Deliver SUD Treatment and Recovery ServicesCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Deadline: Aug. 9
To increase the capacity of Medicaid providers to deliver substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services. Up to five states that receive planning grants will be selected to implement 36-month demonstration projects and receive enhanced federal reimbursement for increases expenditures for SUD treatment and recovery services.

Maternal Nutrition and Pre-pregnancy Obesity: Effects on Mothers, Infants, and Children
National Institutes of Health
Deadline: Oct. 13
To improve health outcomes for women, infants, and children, by stimulating interdisciplinary research focused on maternal nutrition and pre-pregnancy obesity. Maternal health significantly impacts not only the mother but also the intrauterine environment, and subsequently fetal development and the health of the newborn.

Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program
Health Resources and Services Administration
Deadline: Oct. 28
To inform and educate the public about services offered through the RESEP program; disseminate information on radiogenic diseases and the importance of early detection; screen eligible individuals for cancer and other radiogenic diseases; provide appropriate referrals for medical treatment; and facilitate putative applicants in the documentation of Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) claims.