November 1, 2024

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November 1, 2024

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AMCHP Announcements

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Call for New AMCHP Association Committee Members is Open Through November 8

Are you interested in effecting meaningful change nationally and have your voice heard on maternal and child health (MCH) matters? AMCHP is pleased to announce that our 2025 Call for New Association Committee Members is now open through November 8!

The AMCHP Association Committees assist our organization in carrying out our mission, goals, and strategic plan. Committees provide critical guidance to our board and staff and recommendations for policy analysis and development. They are comprised of AMCHP members, board members, family representatives, youth, and staff liaisons. They may also include representatives from federal agencies and involve partner organizations when appropriate.

Join one of our committees below. We offer seven open options to choose from that align with your passion, work, and interests. To learn more about each committee, please visit our website.

AMCHP Annual Conference
Governance
Family LEAD
Health Equity
Legislative & Health Policy
MCH Innovations
Workforce & Leadership Development

Although AMCHP has committees specifically dedicated to working with family leaders (Family LEAD) and youth (Youth Voice Amplified), we highly encourage family leaders, students, and youth to consider applying to any of our open committees, as we aim to have your voices represented across all of AMCHP’s work.

Why Become an AMCHP Association Committee Member?

Serving as a committee member offers rich professional development and networking opportunities and, potentially, provides a future pathway toward greater leadership roles at AMCHP. Committees also offer student, youth, and young adult leaders the opportunity to ensure their voices are elevated and their diverse and unique lived experience is included in our organization and the broader MCH field through AMCHP’s programs and policies activities.

How to Apply?

AMCHP requires all committee volunteers to be active members of our organization. If you are not an active member, this is a great time to join us! Please visit our website to learn more about becoming a member of AMCHP and our special rates for students, Title V alumni, and family associates.

To apply to be newly appointed to one of our committees, serving from January through December 2025, active members of our organization are encouraged to fill out our new committee member application by Friday, November 8.

The call for new committee members will remain open throughout the year, and you may be contacted as committee openings arise. If you have any questions about becoming a member of an AMCHP Association Committee, please contact us at info@amchp.org.

Share this information with your peers! Download our Call for New Committee Member informational flyer.

Call for 2025 AMCHP Annual Award Nominations is Now Open

We are excited to announce that we are accepting nominations for the 2025 AMCHP Annual Award s! The awards will be presented at the AMCHP Annual Conference, held in person only from March 15-18, 2025, in Washington, DC.

Every year, AMCHP recognizes individuals in the maternal and child health (MCH) community who have gone above and beyond to positively impact those around them. Leaders, innovators, professionals, youth, and legislators are nominated and selected based on their commitment and contributions to advancing MCH. All award winners are invited to accept their award at the conference. Limited travel support is available for some awards.

Award Categories:

John C. MacQueen Lecture Award: For innovation in the field of maternal and child health. Candidates must be able to record the lecture for distribution during the AMCHP Annual Conference in March 2025.
Community Partnership Award: For exemplary collaborations between Title V entities and community-based organizations. This award uplifts the importance of sustainable and outcome-focused partnerships in promoting the dignity and overall well-being of communities.
Emerging MCH Professional Award: For outstanding state MCH professionals under age 45 or with less than 10 years of experience whose work has made substantial contributions to their state’s MCH program, their state’s MCH outcomes, or made other significant contributions to promoting and protecting the health of women, children, and families in their state or jurisdiction.
Excellence in State MCH Leadership Award: For an outstanding state MCH professional whose career has made significant contributions to the health of women, children, and families in their state or jurisdiction.
Merle McPherson Family Leadership Award: For exemplary contributions to further family/professional collaboration within a state or jurisdictional Title V Program and AMCHP.
Ryan Colburn Scholarship Award: For a young adult who identifies as having complex health care needs or disabilities to attend the AMCHP Annual Conference, grow as a leader in MCH, and continue to honor Ryan’s legacy.
Vince Hutchins Leadership Award: For leadership in promoting a society responsive to the needs of women, children, youth, and families.

Interested in nominating someone?

Save the date to join our webinar on Monday, November 18, at 11:00 AM ET to learn more about the nomination process from AMCHP Staff and Board leadership. You can also visit our webpage to view past winners from 2024 and 2023 for inspiration.

Ready to nominate?

If you would like to get started, please fill out this online nomination form and submit it along with all nomination materials by December 16.

New MCH Bridges Podcast Episode – Navigating Prenatal Diagnoses: Fostering Equity & Reducing Harm for Parents of Children with Down Syndrome

Our newest MCH Bridges episode is now live! Episode 21 – Navigating Prenatal Diagnoses: Fostering Equity & Reducing Harm for Parents of Children with Down Syndrome

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. Listen to our latest episode where guest host and Lettercase Program Director Dr. Stephanie Meredith reviews some of the findings from her recent study focused on the experiences of parents receiving a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Dr. Meredith approaches her research as the mother of a 24-year-old son with Down syndrome. Additionally, listeners will gain insight from a recent project aimed at improving support for Black and Hispanic new and expectant parents of children with Down syndrome.

Throughout the episode, Dr. Meredith uplifts the lived experiences of guest speakers Ayah Ibrahim and Tatiana Salinas, two mothers of children with Down syndrome, and emphasizes the importance and real-world impact of their diagnosis experiences. You will also hear from Katie Stoll, providing the perspective of a healthcare professional and leader of the Genetic Support Foundation on how to best support clinicians and families who receive care.

Tune in to witness an important conversation between our guest host and speakers as they delve into what advocates and healthcare professionals can do to reduce emotional harm and disability bias and, instead, empower parents with information and support during this critical time.

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

AMCHP Annual Conference

The AMCHP Annual Conference is one of the largest gatherings of maternal and child health (MCH) professionals in the United States. Every year, our conference aims to highlight MCH programs’ impact at all levels on women, children, and families and to provide participants with tools and resources to develop, enhance, and sustain vital MCH programs and services.

Save the dates to attend AMCHP 2025 in person in Washington, DC! Subscribe to our Annual Conference Newsletter to be the first to receive updates and information about AMCHP 2025.

AMCHP 2025: An In-Person Only Opportunity for Greater Impact in MCH

The 2025 AMCHP Annual Conference will be an in-person-only event. AMCHP is delighted to have offered hybrid experiences for the past two years, and while we will miss seeing you in the virtual space, we cannot wait to see you in person in Washington, DC!

Are you planning to attend AMCHP 2025? Start getting ready now and register on our conference platform to save your spot!

Early Bird Registration for AMCHP 2025 is Open Through January 17

Early bird registration for the 2025 AMCHP Annual Conference is open!

You can now take advantage of our early bird pricing to attend our much-awaited annual conference in person from March 15 – 18, 2025, at The Westin, Washington DC Downtown, in Washington, DC.

Don’t miss out on our early bird rates! Register by January 17, 2025, and complete your payment later to secure your spot at the best price.

This year, the conference theme is Partnering for Impact. This theme embodies our collective commitment to creating a world where everyone has equitable access and outcomes, as well as the opportunity to thrive. It’s a powerful reminder of why we partner to make things happen.

Register now for an outstanding opportunity to place results in the spotlight at AMCHP 2025 as we continue our journey to impacting our communities for the better.

The AMCHP 2025 Website is Live

The conference website with updates and information about AMCHP 2025 is now live. Visit it now to learn about:

The schedule at-a-glance
Registration
Hotel & travel information
Things to do in Washington, DC
Exhibits & sponsor information
Health & Safety at AMCHP 2025
Information about AMCHP, including accessibility at the conference, the meeting conduct policy, and how to connect with us

Visit the AMCHP 2025 website regularly! This website will be updated frequently to reflect the latest about our 2025 conference.

The AMCHP 2025 Theme: Partnering for Impact

In 2024, AMCHP’s theme of Partnering with Purpose highlighted how essential meaningful and purposeful partnerships are for achieving our goals in maternal and child health (MCH). The theme of partnership resonated deeply and widely with our participants, leading us to revisit it in 2025 with the theme Partnering for Impact. This theme captures our collective commitment to making our world better – where people have equitable access, equitable outcomes, and the opportunity to thrive. This theme takes us a step further in our purposeful partnerships towards the “why” of partnership—we partner to make things happen.

Partnering for Impact places results in the spotlight. Our collective work together matters because of what we hope to accomplish together. We model partnering intentionally to change the status quo, disrupt harmful narratives, and close the gaps in MCH outcomes. We partner not just because it looks good on paper or because it feels good to work with like-minded people but because we want to impact our communities for the better. We are difference-makers. We are change-makers. We are partnering for impact.

AMCHP’s goal is to have at least 50% of accepted proposal submissions directly address the conference theme. Visit our conference page to explore our AMCHP 2025 learning objectives.

AMCHP Events & Webinars

Join AMCHP’s MCH Housing Champion Forum Two-Part Workshop

The federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) recently added a new National Performance Measure (NPM) that aims to track and reduce housing instability among women with a recent live birth and children ages 0 through 11. Recognizing that this work may be new to some in Title V, AMCHP wants to support you in identifying your existing strengths and resources, determining what a possible role in the housing space might look like for your specific context, as well as designing concrete next steps to work towards positively impacting housing stability for MCH populations.

Join our two-part workshop series, AMCHP’s MCH Housing Champion Forum, to learn about tools, resources, and examples from the field that you and your colleagues can use to incorporate housing as a priority in MCH policies and programs and to encourage prioritization of MCH populations in broader housing efforts.

November 20, 1-2:30 PM ET – Strong Foundations: Exploring Possible Avenues for Prioritizing Housing in your MCH Work
December 18, 2-3:30 PM ET – Laying the Bricks: Implementing, Evaluating, and Communicating about MCH Programs with a Housing Emphasis

Learn more and register for our workshops!

Final Innovation Hub Learning Community (IHLC) Webinar on November 21

Join us for the FINAL Innovation Hub Learning Community (IHLC) webinar on November 21 from 3-4 PM ET! The IHLC offers programmatic support to all practices in the MCH Innovations Database through one-on-one tailored coaching, didactic webinars, and peer-sharing opportunities. In 2024, AMCHP is hosting four webinars on topics related to programmatic best practices that all MCH professionals and advocates are welcome to attend.

Our final session of the year, “Cultivating Community Connection: Incorporating Community-Rooted Evidence into your Evaluation Plan & Programmatic Activities”, will define community-rooted evidence (CRE) and explore ways your organization can incorporate community-rooted evidence into your evaluation plan and programmatic activities. This interactive session will provide a window into AMCHP’s ongoing efforts to understand how community-rooted evidence currently informs programmatic activities and evaluation planning, as well as how joint partnerships with CRE can build the capacity of community-based organizations to capture, define, and disseminate their own evidence. Register for this webinar!

Legislation & Policy

Explore our Maternal & Child Health Bill Tracker for more information about pending federal legislation to improve maternal health. Also, download AMCHP’s 2024 Federal Policy Agenda outlining where we are focusing our advocacy work this year.

Subscribe to AMCHP’s Legislative Alerts and Policy Digest to stay up to date with the latest policy information.

AMCHP Policy and Partnerships Town Halls

Thank you to those of you who joined us for our last AMCHP Policy and Partnerships Town Hall! 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, including our final edition this year on November 14. We invite you to register for all future Town Halls at this registration 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.

Applications Extended! Title V Teams Invited to Apply for the 2025 Learning Journey by November 11

The National MCH Workforce Development Center is now accepting applications for the 2025 Learning Journey! This 10-month experience supports Title V state and jurisdictional teams who want to increase their workforce capacity and address a complex health transformation challenge.

The experience includes learning opportunities, coaching, consultation, and other supports to help teams move from the “current state” to a “desired state” on a priority challenge of their choice.

Learn more and apply. Application deadline extended to Monday, November 11.

Publications & Resources

New AIM Community Birth Transfer Kit (CBTRK)

The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) has created a new resource in collaboration with community birth experts, the Community Birth Transfer Resource Kit (CBTRK)!

This resource kit provides best practices for safe and timely transfers regardless of birth setting or care model. In this resource kit, “community birth” refers to planned birth at home or in a freestanding birth center, most commonly in a midwifery model of care. Creating systems that promote safer birth in all scenarios is a key component to improving the safety and quality of care provided to all patients.

Download the full resource kit!

New 2022-2023 NSCH NPM and NOM Data is Available Now!

We are excited to announce that new data from the 2022-2023 combined year National Survey of Children’s Health is available on the Data Research Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DRC) website. With this new data, you can learn how your state is doing on more than 40 National Outcome and National Performance Measures and Standardized Measures by subgroups such as race/ethnicity, poverty level, medical home, insurance type, adverse childhood experiences, and more.

For more information and resources about the NSCH, such as fast facts, a guide to topics and questions, changes across years, survey methodology, survey instruments, and more, please visit the DRC NSCH Overview page. There are also numerous resources available on HRSA MCHB’s NSCH webpage.

The NSCH is a national survey, funded and directed by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA MCHB), that provides rich data on multiple, intersecting aspects of children’s health and well-being – including physical and mental health, access to and quality of health care, and the child’s family, neighborhood, school, and social context. Request NSCH datasets in SAS, Stata, and SPSS formats with accompanying codebooks on the DRC website.

The DRC is brought to you by the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI). For more information, take a short video tour or contact the CAHMI-DRC team through the Ask Us a Question page.