FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. – Today, Belinda D. Pettiford, MPH, President of the Board of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP), testified before the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee as part of their Fiscal Year 2023 Public Witness Day. In her testimony, Ms. Pettiford urged the Subcommittee to fund the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant at $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2023.
Ms. Pettiford was one of a small group of organizational representatives selected to provide oral testimony to Subcommittee lawmakers as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Public Witness Day. Ms. Pettiford’s testimony centered on the essential role of Title V in improving the health and well-being of our nation’s women, children, including those with special health care needs, and their families.
“Maternal and child health programs and the maternal and child health workforce need sustained, increased investment to rebuild, recover, and best serve the nation’s maternal and child health populations now and into the future,” testified Ms. Pettiford. “Further, our nation has long-standing racial, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic inequities in maternal and child health outcomes.
“While incremental funding increases to programs like the Title V MCH Block Grant make a difference in advancing maternal and child health, to make transformational improvements that finally address these inequities will require transformational investments in the Block Grant and complementary federal programs that support maternal and child health, including CDC’s Safe Motherhood funding line, HRSA’s Healthy Start program, and CDC’s Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies Network.”
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are expected to release their respective Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bills this summer with the goal of reaching consensus ahead of the end of the current fiscal year on September 30, 2022. The AMCHP Government Affairs Team will continue to monitor the progress of the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations process and seek opportunities to elevate Congressional support for a robust increase to Title V in the coming fiscal year.
You can now watch or read Ms. Pettiford’s full testimony to the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. To learn more about AMCHP’s policy and advocacy work, including our Federal Policy Agenda and Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations requests, please visit our website.
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The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) is a national resource, partner, and advocate for state public health leaders and others working to improve the health of women, infants, children, youth, parents, families, and communities. AMCHP builds successful programs to serve its members by disseminating best practices; advocating on their behalf in Washington, DC; providing technical assistance; convening leaders to share experiences and ideas; and advising states about involving partners to reach our common goal of healthy children, healthy families, and healthy communities. For more information visit www.amchp.org and follow AMCHP on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Please contact Chery Manon Espinal (202-843-9304, cmanonespinal@amchp.org) for questions or media requests.
Download the full press release HERE.
