The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) continues to lead partners and collaborate with Congressional champions in support of federal maternal and child health (MCH) programs through the annual federal appropriations process for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). AMCHP has led efforts to obtain signatories on a series of letters addressed to the leadership of House and Senate Appropriations Committees demonstrating the broad, bipartisan support for funding a myriad of federal programs to improve maternal and child health. Read the letters and view the signers below.

Congressional letters supporting funding for various federal maternal and child health programs, including the Title V MCH Block Grant, in FY26: 

• Bipartisan Senate letter supporting the Title V MCH Block Grant, Healthy Start, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) Safe Motherhood portfolio, and NIH pregnancy-related research 
• Bipartisan House letter supporting the Title V MCH Block Grant, Healthy Start, CDC’s Safe Motherhood portfolio, and NIH pregnancy-related research 
• Bipartisan Senate letter supporting programs authorized in the Rural MOMS Act and the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act, including the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) Program 
• Bipartisan House letter supporting programs authorized in the Rural MOMS Act and the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act, including the AIM Program 
• Senate letter supporting CDC’s Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies (SET-NET) program 
• Bipartisan House letter supporting CDC’s SET-NET program 

External organization sign-on letters supporting funding for maternal and child health programs and initiatives in FY26: 

• National, state, and academic organization letter supporting the Title V MCH Block Grant 
• National, state, and academic organization letter supporting CDC’s SET-NET program 

While the Congressional appropriations process continues to ramp up, the Administration has recently been releasing documents containing budget recommendations to Congress. As a reminder, Congress has the authority to approve, reject, or modify the administration’s budget recommendations.  

On May 2, the White House released the President’s Budget Proposal for FY26, which contained top-level funding requests for federal agencies, including: 

• Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA): (-) $1.732 billion 
  • Proposes to move HRSA into the newly forming Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) 
  • Includes a $274 million decrease in funding for “multiple” Maternal and Child Health programs, “which are duplicative of other federal programs or could be addressed through block grant funding” 
• CDC: (-) $3.588 billion 
  • “Refocuses CDC’s mission on core activities such as emerging and infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigations, and maintaining the Nation’s public health infrastructure, while streamlining programs and eliminating waste” 
  • Proposes elimination of the following: Preventive Health and Human Services Block Grant

On May 30, the White House released an additional budget proposal document, the Department of Health and Human Services Budget-in-Brief. This document includes a request to fund the Title V MCH Block Grant at $767 million, a $46.7 million decrease from the enacted FY24 and FY25 levels. AMCHP is awaiting the release of a forthcoming Congressional Justification (CJ) document from AHA, which is slated to house all HRSA programs, including Title V. That document would contain additional details and specificity on proposed funding level requests for Title V and many other MCH programs. 

Lastly, on June 3, CDC released its agency-specific CJ. This portion of the budget proposal includes: 

• SET-NET  
  • $23 million (level-funded) 
  • Proposes to transfer from the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) to the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases 
• Proposes transferring the following centers to AHA: 
  • National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 
  • NCBDDD (except the aforementioned SET-NET program) 
  • National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCDPHP) 
  • *Please note: it is unclear if the above Centers’ transfers would be inclusive of all current programs and activities or just in part  

AMCHP is deeply concerned by any proposed cuts to critical MCH programs. We are committed to urging Congress to fund the Title V MCH Block Grant at $1 billion in FY26, including increased investments to both the state formula fund and the Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS), in recognition of the significant role the Title V MCH Block Grant plays in the health and well-being of our nation’s women, children, and families. 

AMCHP’s Government Affairs Team will continue to follow the FY26 appropriations process and provide additional updates. In the meantime, we encourage you to review the following resources for more information: 

• AMCHP Title V MCH Block Grant: FY26 Funding Ask Sheet; 
• AMCHP CDC Safe Motherhood Portfolio: FY26 Funding Ask Sheet; 
• AMCHP CDC SET-NET: FY26 Funding Ask Sheet; 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Government Affairs Team with questions: Sherie Lou Santos (ssantos@amchp.org), Gabrielle Galusha (ggalusha@amchp.org), and Karina Collins (kcollins@amchp.org).