Publications & Resources

Zika Corner
 
Evaluation of Placental and Fetal Tissue Specimens for Zika Virus Infection
CDC scientists analyzed Zika pathology testing in 2016 from pregnancies in the states and Washington, D.C., finding that tissue testing is a valuable tool to identify Zika cases when blood tests from a pregnant woman were not definitive for Zika, or when the woman's Zika tests were conducted outside the window when blood tests will work.

General & Maternal Child Health
 
The Opioid Epidemic, MCH, and Title V
As the nation's maternal and child health professionals witness the impact of the opioid epidemic on children and families, AMCHP released an issue brief to help them understand and combat the crisis. The Opioid Epidemic: Implications for MCH Populations summarizes the scope of the epidemic, national policy efforts to address it, and state and local strategies for opioid abuse prevention and treatment through the federal Title V program.

AMCHP/ASTHO Opioid Webinar Archive
On May 9, AMCHP and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) partnered to host a webinar, Public Health Approaches to Address the Opioid Epidemic: Cross-sector Collaboration in Maternal And Child Health. The webinar focused on prevention efforts and cross-sector collaborations. The event featured perspectives from Dr. Jay Butler, Alaska state health official and current ASTHO president; Dr. Dina Lieser, senior advisor at HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau's Division of Home Visiting and Early Childhood Systems; Christina Mullins, director of Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health in West Virginia; and Patricia M. Tilley, chief of Bureau of Population Health & Community Services in New Hampshire. A recording of the webinar is available here.

Stories from the Front Lines of the Opioid Crisis
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is participating in a national listening tour on the opioid epidemic to hear from families and communities affected by the crisis, and is publishing a blog series based on his tour. Read the blogs about visits to Michigan and West Virginia and to Maine and New Hampshire.

Epidemiology and MCH
 
2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book
The Annie E. Casey Foundation published a new KIDS COUNT Data Book, which focuses on trends in child well-being between 2010 and 2015, and notes several areas of concern, including an increase in children living in high-poverty communities.

Child & Adolescent Health
 
Standards for Systems of Care for CYSHCN Streamlined and Updated
The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs released an updated version of the National Standards for Systems of Care that strive to serve the nation's 11 million children and youth with special health care needs. Version 2.0 of the National Standards for Systems of Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs, produced in partnership with the National Academy for State Health Policy with support from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, sets the core components for the structure and process of effective systems of care while streamlining content for easier use by states and stakeholders.

Website Seeks to Strengthen Maternal Mortality Reviews to Reduce Pregnancy-Related Deaths
AMCHP has launched a website to promote the maternal mortality review process as the gold standard for measuring and reducing pregnancy related death. Review to Action advances the measurement of pregnancy-related deaths and the translation of maternal mortality review findings into population-based solutions and interventions, and serves as a resource for best practices in maternal mortality review.

This website was developed by AMCHP in partnership with the CDC Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control's Division of Reproductive Health, and is a product of a larger initiative entitled, Building U.S. Capacity to Review and Prevent Maternal Deaths, led by the CDC Foundation and supported by funding from Merck.Contact mmr@amchp.org with questions or feedback.