May 18, 2023

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May 18, 2023

Banner with text: Member Briefs, a bi-weekly, AMCHP newsletter. Image of mother with her two kids.

AMCHP Announcements

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AMCHP Honors the Life, Leadership, and Legacy of Amy St. Pierre

We are shocked and saddened by the loss of our AMCHP friend and colleague, Amy St. Pierre, who was tragically murdered in a mass shooting on May 3, 2023. AMCHP staff and members have worked with Amy for many years in her capacity as a leader in strengthening our nation’s capacity to address maternal mortality. We will remember her as a dedicated mother who devoted herself to saving the lives of other mothers and equipping others to do the same. Her contributions to this field are immeasurable, and we will strive to honor her memory by building upon the foundation she has laid in the pursuit of improved, more equitable pregnancy-related health outcomes. Our hearts go out to her family, her friends, and her colleagues.

AMCHP staff first met Amy St. Pierre on March 1, 2016, in Atlanta to kick off a new partnership for our organizations. Through an exciting public-private partnership model, Merck for Mothers was partnering with the CDC Foundation, CDC Division of Reproductive Health, and AMCHP to launch a new chapter of intensive support for state Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs). The day was an exciting mash-up of brainstorming, David Bowie references, and above all, optimism – that this partnership could set the foundation for a transformation in standard data collection for MMRCs and what we as a nation could learn from them. AMCHP could never have imagined how it would snowball: how the leadership of the CDC team, influenced tremendously by Amy’s steady hand, would transform years of in-person regional meetings, abstractor trainings, and developing and making available training manuals and best practices into a national movement. None of this would have been possible without Amy’s focus, her diligence, and her ability to see the forest for the trees.

“Amy was a truly dedicated public health leader,” said AMCHP Board President Belinda Pettiford. “Our paths crossed years ago during our early stages in North Carolina of developing the legislation and then implementation of our Maternal Mortality Review Committee. She was dedicated to elevating the issue of maternal mortality and its impact on our country. Several of our staff attended the recent MMRIA Users (MUM) meeting in Atlanta and were able to see her there. This is so very sad and beyond devastating for her family. Continuing to keep her family, friends, and colleagues in prayer. It is yet another reason that gun violence continues to be a public health issue.”

AMCHP Commits to Workplace Well-Being

Graphic alerting of organizational commitment to workplace well-being. Learn more at bit.ly/AMCHP_WB. AMCHP is committed to reimagining the centrality of wellness in our work ecosystem and ways to shift organizational culture and policies to promote workplace well-being. View our newly released Commitment to Workplace Well-Being and associated press release to learn more about our dedication to this work. AMCHP’s Mental Health Team, a cross-cutting internal workgroup, championed the development of AMCHP’s Organizational Commitment to Workplace Well-Being. The driving purposes of the Organizational Commitment are to establish AMCHP’s ongoing commitment to uncover workplace well-being disparities, promote meaningful change in organizational policies, practices, and culture, and develop resources to improve workplace well-being.

New Pulse Newsletter Issue Available

Graphic alerting new Pulse Issue available for April 2023. A bi-monthly AMCHP newsletter. Image of woman and young child on her back. The latest issue of our Pulse newsletter is now live! April’s Pulse issue covers Supreme Court decisions that impact the maternal and child health (MCH) community, embodying cultural humility for better MCH outcomes, and the remaining disparities in autism diagnoses. It also features a message from our CEO and an interview with AMCHP’s Board President, as well as highlights the work of March of Dimes, a longstanding AMCHP partner.

Read the articles:

Do you want to receive our Pulse newsletter directly in your inbox? Subscribe to our email list!

Celebrating the 2023 AMCHP Annual Award Winners

AMCHP is pleased to celebrate the winners of its 2023 AMCHP Annual Awards. The awards recognize maternal and child health (MCH) leaders for their outstanding contributions to the field and will be presented at the 2023 AMCHP Annual Conference, held May 6-9, 2023.

Awardees of the 2023 AMCHP Annual Awards include:

Dr. Fleda Mask Jackson (John MacQueen Lecture Award)
Dr. Vanessa Walker Harris (Excellence in State MCH Leadership Award)
Dr. Emily Naiser (Vince Hutchins Leadership Award)
Gina Pola Money (Merle McPherson Family Leadership Award)

Awardees for the 2023 Emerging MCH Professional category include:

William Arias (Region I)
Dr. Dane De Silva (Region III)
Dr. Anne Odusanya (Region IV)
Sara Haig (Region V)
Audrey Young (Region VI)
Dr. Stephanie Radke (Region VII)
Angie Goodger (Region VIII)
Ipuniuesea Eliapo-Unutoa (Region IX)
Caroline Sedano (Region X)

This year’s edition of the AMCHP Annual Awards also recognizes Resilient Kern (Innovation Hub Best Practices Award), EACH Mom and Baby Collaborative (Innovation Hub Empowerment and Partnership Award), and Building Capacity for Food Systems and Health Systems to Partner (Innovation Hub Advancing Health Equity Award).

Congratulations to all the winners! For more information about this year’s awardees please visit our blog post.

AMCHP and Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures© Hosted Crescent City SMILEFEST for Elementary School Children in New Orleans

Collage with images of AMCHP CEO Terrance E. Moore at the event. On Friday, May 5, AMCHP and Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures© hosted a Crescent City SMILEFEST for hundreds of children at Sherwood Forest Elementary School, in New Orleans. The event highlighted the importance of Establishing and Maintaining habits that promote good oral health, hygiene, nutrition, and fitness.

SMILEFEST featured a host of games and activities focused on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) that tested students’ health and wellness knowledge and provided tips and information to help them care for their health, minds, and bodies. The students visited the Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures© mobile dental van, where they received free dental screenings, oral health education, treatment referrals, and product giveaways. New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Trey Murphy III also made a special appearance and joined the students, teachers, parents, and other guests in a SMILEFEST second-line strut.

The SMILEFEST celebration kicked off the 2023 AMCHP Annual Conference, providing AMCHP’s leadership and early conferees an opportunity to participate in a day of community service, interact with state and local health professionals, and promote strategies for improving the health and lives of Louisiana mothers, children, and families.

“Integrating oral health practices at a young age is a key building block to good overall health across the lifespan,” said Terrance E. Moore, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. “We are thrilled to be here today to support learning and dental care for children and their families, one of the simplest yet unmet health needs in the U.S.”

Read the full news release.

New MCH Bridges Podcast – The Joy of Autism: A New Way of Thinking

Graphic alerting of MCH Bridges episode 15 "The Joy of Autism: A New Way of Thinking"

Our newest MCH Bridges episode is live! Episode 14– “The Joy of Autism: A New Way of Thinking”

Listen to this MCH Bridges episode to learn from AMCHP’s State Public Health Autism Resource Center’s (SPHARC) Autistic Faculty about the Autistic experience in a world that is centered around neurotypical people. You’ll hear from Autistic Faculty members Dave Caudel, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, and Haley Moss about neurodiversity, ways that Autistic and non-Autistic people are similar and how we are all connected as humans, and what celebrating autistic joy means to them.

Tune in now to listen to host Maura Leahy and speakers Dave, Morénike, and Haley as they share their experiences and insights.

Why tune in to MCH Bridges?

MCH Bridges is intended to help our listeners create new connections to MCH leaders, organizations, and ideas. We aim to inspire and guide listeners towards actions that will improve the systems that impact MCH populations. 

Who should listen to MCH Bridges?

MCH Bridges is designed for Title V MCH & CYSHCN leaders, state and jurisdictional health department staff, individuals with lived experience and their families, MCH faculty and students, public health professionals, and others wanting to learn more about supporting MCH populations and equitable systems of care. 

Recent AMCHP Announcements

Bonus MCH Bridges Podcast Episode- The AMCHP Annual Conference Experience

AMCHP Annual Conference

AMCHP 2023 Annual Conference Banner includes an icon of a human holding their hands up with different shades of green leaves above it so it looks like it's growing. Next to it is the theme displayed in green, "Cultivating Diverse Leaders in Maternal & Child Health", and the date/location of the conference in white on a brown rectangle background, "May 6-9, 2023 | New Orleans, LA"

Thank you to the more than 1,300 maternal and child health (MCH) leaders and thinkers that joined us in New Orleans or virtually from May 6–9, 2023 for our 2023 AMCHP Annual Conference. Over 1,000 individuals joined us in person and more than 300 virtually, making this event again one of the largest gatherings of MCH professionals in the United States.

Subscribe to our mailing list at the bottom of our conference webpage to be among the first to receive updates about our conference in 2024 and share the subscribe link with your friends and peers! Stay up to date with the latest on MCH and AMCHP information, resources, events, and job openings by following us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

AMCHP 2023 Post-Conference Evaluation Survey

Keep an eye out for an email with a survey link to evaluate the conference! This survey is extremely important for AMCHP to continue putting your voice first when crafting the next conference experience. Help our conference planning committee serve you better by filling out the survey to the best of your ability!

The survey will be sent directly from SurveyMonkey – please check your spam/junk folder if you don’t see it in your inbox.

You Still Have Access to All Conference Content!

Do you wish to revisit your favorite session or engage with the live content you might have missed? For a year, registered participants will have access to all the on-demand content, live plenary sessions, workshops, and more! Visit the conference platform, log in with your access key, and continue to be inspired by all the outstanding speakers and participants this year on your own time.

Continuing Education

Virtual and in-person workshops and plenaries have been granted Continuing Education (CE) credits through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The maximum number of credits for Virtual Credits for CNE, CME, and CHES is fifteen (15). The maximum number of credits for In-Person Credits for CNE, CME, and CHES is twenty-one (21). Additional CE information is available on the conference platform.

To receive CE credits for CM4652 – 2023 AMCHP Annual Conference: Limited Virtual, please visit TCEO and follow these 9 Simple Steps before June 12, 2023.

Call to Action: Nurturing the Now Plenary Session

Thank you to those who joined our closing plenary at AMCHP 2023: Nurturing the Now. You can further support our presenters by following @eyeforprevention and @neworleansyouthalliance on Instagram and by visiting their websites, StrongerWithout.com and NewOrleansYouthAlliance.org! You can also connect with our presenters and artists directly:

Sedona Moreno-Castelan: Revolutionarysedona@gmail.com | Instagram: @RevolutionarySedona
Aariyah Johnson: Aariyah30@gmail.com
Ahmaad Lott: ahmaad@neworleansyouthalliance.org
Nakeshia Buckner: nbuckner@eqaschools.org
Julio Bermudez: Julio@sonofsaint.org
Akiala I: Website | Direct link to Amazon
Jovanny Moreno-Castelan: Jovanny120221@gmail.com
Deja Jones: dejamjones96@gmail.com

Call to action:

Do your own inner healing work to be able to show up to help bring forth this change.
Be a trusted adult / accomplice for youth
Plan and invest in authentic youth engagement. One way to do that is to plan to bring a young person to the conference next year.

Share your feedback:

The EYE for Prevention Team is interested in understanding the outcomes of this presentation to assist them with grant reporting requirements and would appreciate your open and honest feedback. This anonymous survey should take you less than 5 minutes to complete. Note: This is a different survey than the general conference evaluation sent directly to your inbox.

Let us continue to NURTURE THE NOW!

AMCHP Conference Investment Letter Survey

As a part of our strategic plan, AMCHP is trying to institutionalize opportunities to cultivate high-quality relationships with community-based organizations, people with lived experience, thought leaders, and others who can advance our mission and initiatives. One way AMCHP has done this is by creating and disseminating an investment letter for youth, community-based organizations (CBOs), and family leaders with the aim of making the conference more inclusive. The purpose of this letter is to encourage state Title V programs and others to financially support youth, CBOs, and family leaders to attend the conference and share their insights and expertise with others. Please complete the following brief survey to help us better understand the reach and impact of the letter as well as ways we can better disseminate this in the future.

AMCHP Social Offset

AMCHP has partnered with SocialOffset to offer meeting attendees the opportunity to contribute to local organizations in New Orleans that make a difference in people’s lives. Donating provides a way to channel the discomfort or internal conflict some attendees feel about the location into meaningful action.

We invite you to use this campaign to offset any tax spending in New Orleans that doesn’t align with your values by supporting local charities that do. Take action now.

Recent AMCHP 2023 Blog Posts

Interested in revisiting information on the 2023 AMCHP Annual Conference? Make sure to visit our blog and podcast page to read the latest on this year’s conference!

An AMCHP 2023 Plenary Session: Sharing Your How – At AMCHP 2023, we heard from a number of individuals from the MCH community as a part of the “Sharing Your How” plenary session. We heard their stories and learned about strategies and activities that support the development of diverse leaders in MCH. Check out these inspiring testimonials in our blog post!

Save the Date for AMCHP 2024 and Beyond!

Save the date graphic for AMHCP 2024 (Oakland, CA, 4/13-4/16), AMCHP 2025 (Washington DC, 3/15-3/18), and AMCHP 2026 (Washington DC, 3/7-3/10).

AMCHP Events & Webinars

AMCHP TA Virtual Roundtable Series: Exploring Birth Defects Surveillance Programs and Engaging Families and People with Lived Experience

Graphic alerting of AMCHP TA virtual roundtable series: Exploring Birth Defects Surveillance Programs and Engaging Families and People with Lived Experience. May 23, 2023 from 3-4:30pm ET. Presenter: Rhode Island Birth Defects Programs. Join us on Tuesday, May 23 at 3-4:30pm ET and hear how the Rhode Island Birth Defects Program engages with families through community health work to inform their advisory committees, referral systems, program/quality improvement, etc. Following the presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to connect with peers nationwide to share challenges and strategies in working with families to inform programmatic work. Learn more and register for the roundtable session!

Innovation Hub Learning Community: Upcoming Webinar

AMCHP recently launched the Innovation Hub Learning Community (IHLC). The IHLC is the latest evolution of the programmatic support and learning opportunities offered through Innovation Hub and is an expansion of the previous Cutting-Edge Learning Community (CELC). The IHLC webinar series focuses on skills and strategies that you can apply to your work to improve your organizational processes, expand the scope and impact of your practice, and plan for program sustainability.

The next session Starting from Your Strengths: Planning for Sustainability is on Tuesday, May 23 at 3-4pm ET and will take an assets-based approach to help you explore your program’s strengths and plan for a sustainable future. Learn more and register for the webinar!

Upcoming Coffee Chat with AMCHP CEO: MCH Talent

Graphic alerting to join our Workforce Development and Leadership Committee for Coffee Chats with AMCHP CEO Terrance E. Moore. Tuesday, June 20 from 1-2:15pm ET. Register at bit.ly/CEO_WLDC3. Join our Workforce and Leadership Development Committee for our last session of the Coffee Chats with AMCHP CEO, Terrance E. Moore series to discuss one of the core areas of our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan: Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Talent.

From these discussions, we hope to provide our members and current/potential partners with:

An overview of available workforce-related data relevant to the MCH field;
An open forum to share and gather strategies that AMCHP can implement to achieve our MCH talent and workforce objectives; and
Opportunities to inform and guide our strategic plan.

If you are an AMCHP Member interested in joining, please register for this session happening virtually on June 20, 1-2:15 PM ET.

Registration for NBDPN 2023 is Open

NBDPN Conference Banner alerting the date; August 14-16, 2023; location, Atlanta, Georgia; and theme, Connect. Share. Collaborate. Also pictured is a digitized image of a pregnant woman on the far left.

Registration for the National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) Conference, held August 14-16 in Atlanta, GA, is open! Please visit this link to register. Visit the website to learn about the conference and information regarding registration, hotel, and much more. For questions about this event, please contact NBDPNmeetings@conferencemanagers.com. We hope to see you there!

AMCHP Information & Resources

Medicaid Redetermination is Here!

Graphic alerting states will restart Medicaid & CHIP eligibility reviews. Don't risk a gap in coverage & inform others. To ensure coverage for children and families during the pandemic, states have provided continuous enrollment for all Medicaid beneficiaries since March 2020. But the continuous coverage provision is ending, and all Medicaid enrollees, including children, must be redetermined for eligibility within a one-year period, beginning April 1, 2023. Medicaid and CHIP provide critical health benefits for many children and families across the country. MCH programs are trusted community messengers and can play an important role in supporting families during this process.

AMCHP has a new fact sheet that provides an overview of the Medicaid redetermination process, shares tips and strategies for MCH professionals, and includes a robust list of resources from national and local partners. AMCHP and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families recently hosted a webinar on this topic, which provides important details on the unwinding of Medicaid continuous enrollment and the impact this may have on families and particularly children. Listen to the recording here. As the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision is unwinding, we want to hear from you! Please use this jamboard link to share what you are hearing and experiencing in your state.  

AMCHP Mental Health Corner

Graphic alerting May is Mental Health Month. Graphic alerting of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month.

May is Mental Health Month. The theme is Look Around, Look Within. From your neighborhood to genetics, many factors come into play when it comes to mental health conditions. Learn more from Mental Health America’s webpage.

May is also Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month. Maternal Mental Health disorders, like postpartum depression and substance use disorder, are the leading causes of maternal mortality. Postpartum Support International and The Blue Dot Project champion Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month and Week, respectively.

Mental health is an important component of well-being for maternal, child, and adolescent health (MCAH) populations. Read more about AMCHP’s organizational work on mental health and substance use.

Interested in receiving more information on what’s happening related to mental health/substance use and MCH? Sign-up for the PRISM Digest, our monthly mental health/substance use newsletter, by emailing jsimon@amchp.org, and check out the #AMCHPMentalHealth hashtag on Twitter. Have questions or want to learn more? Contact the mental health team at mentalhealth@amchp.org.

Legislation & Policy

Explore our revamped Maternal Health Bill Tracker for more information about pending federal legislation to improve maternal health. Also, download AMCHP’s 2023 Federal Policy Agenda outlining where we intend to focus our advocacy work.

AMCHP Leads on Funding for Federal Maternal Health Programs Through the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Process

As Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations negotiations progress on Capitol Hill, AMCHP has engaged national organizations, academic institutions, and Members of Congress in urging funding for federal maternal health programs, including Title V. AMCHP has led on a series of letters addressed to the leadership of House and Senate Appropriations Committees demonstrating the broad, bipartisan support for myriad federal programs to improve maternal and child health. Read the letters and view signers below:

Support for funding federal maternal and child health programs

Support for funding the CDC Surveillance for Emerging Threat to Mothers and Babies (SET-NET) initiative:

AMCHP Policy and Partnerships Town Halls

Thank you to those of you who joined us for AMCHP Policy and Partnerships Town Halls. You can find the full recordings of past Town Halls on our Government Affairs webpage. Town Halls occur on the second Thursday of every month from 2-3 PM ET. We invite you to register for all future Town Halls at this link.

Opportunities & Funding 

AMCHP Career Center: Connecting Talent with Opportunity

AMCHP lists the top jobs available in our industry. Access the AMCHP Career Center to search and apply for open positions or post your jobs and opportunities! Search for Jobs | Post a Job. 

AMCHP Career Opportunities

Be part of our team! AMCHP is seeking individuals for the role listed below. AMCHP offers a 100% virtual work/telework environment for all positions.

Program Analyst, Reproductive and Maternal Health: This position supports AMCHP member capacity to sustain transformational partnerships with community-rooted organizations, programs, and thought leaders to advance equity in reproductive and perinatal health. The Program Analyst implements and evaluates program activities that impact health outcomes across the life course and disrupt sources of historical, structural, and institutional racism and oppression in governmental public health agencies and health systems that drive inequities in sexual and reproductive wellbeing and maternal health. The position reports to the Associate Director, Women’s and Infant Health. [learn more and apply]