August 13, 2026

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August 13, 2026

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AMCHP Announcements

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Call for Proposals for AMCHP 2027 Open Until September 30

Get ready to present at AMCHP 2027! The Call for Proposals for the 2027 AMCHP Annual Conference (AMCHP 2027) is open until September 30. AMCHP 2027, one of the largest gatherings of maternal and child health leaders and thinkers in the U.S., will take place in person in Washington, DC, from March 6 – 9, 2027.

Each year, the AMCHP conference attracts over 1,000 participants from across the country. For AMCHP 2027, presenters will have the opportunity to showcase their work on a prominent stage through various session formats, including Workshops, Lightning Talks, Student and Early Career Professional Grand Rounds, and Discussions. These sessions will focus on the latest developments in maternal and child health, aligned with our 2027 theme: “Recharge, Reimagine, and Rise.“

For more information, please visit the call for proposals website and register to attend the informational webinar on August 27 at 3:00 PM ET to learn about the submission process.

Deadline Approaching! Apply for AMCHP’s Leadership Lab by August 28

AMCHP is seeking participants and mentors for our 2026-2027 Leadership Lab cohort, and the deadline to apply is fast approaching!

Leadership Lab is a unique opportunity for those affiliated or working with jurisdictional Title V programs (staff, consultants, volunteers) to accelerate their professional development in a way that is framed by the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Leadership Competencies and guided by adult learning principles. AMCHP believes that achieving our vision of a skilled and flexible workforce starts with investing in the leadership journeys of individuals serving in many different roles and settings.

One of the core components of the program is that participants are matched with a mentor who can share what it means to lead with intention and compassion.  Mentors offer their expertise, wisdom, and support across program activities. Mentors work with AMCHP staff members to help plan and facilitate sessions, make time to connect with their matched mentees, and support the development and implementation of their individualized leadership development plans. 

Leadership Lab is one of the primary ways that AMCHP supports professional and career development for individuals working in or in close relationship with jurisdictional Title V programs. Comprised of five (5) unique cohorts that run concurrently from October 2026 through May 2027, Leadership Lab exposes participants to information and resources that are relevant for their current and future roles; encourages the development and continuous revision of individualized leadership plans; challenges participants through collaborative activities and thoughtful discussions; cultivates a peer learning and accountability network; and provides participants with ongoing support from a matched mentor and AMCHP staff.

The current cohorts include:

New Director Leaders Cohort (NDLC) – for new jurisdictional MCH/CYSHCN Directors 
Management Accelerator Cohort (MAC) – for state/jurisdictional Title V staff at any point in their career arc who manage programs or domain-specific portfolios.
Family Leaders Cohort (FLC) – for family members of a child or youth served by a Title V program and who has demonstrated some degree of community leadership 
MCH Epi Peer-to-Peer Cohort (MCH Epi P2P) – for epidemiologists and data specialists working in or in partnership with a jurisdictional Title V program 
Adolescent Health Leaders Cohort (AHLC) – for Adolescent Health Coordinators and other professionals seeking to build capacity to address adolescent health priorities

Are you or someone on your staff looking for a great professional development opportunity?  Want to share your passion for MCH with others? Check out the Leadership Lab page of our website for more information – including a description of core program components and application links for both participants and mentors. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 28, and decisions will be communicated to applicants by Monday, September 14.

Deadline Approaching! Apply for AMCHP’s Youth Voice Amplified Committee by August 28

Are you—or do you know—a young person who wants to make a difference?

Applications are now open for AMCHP’s Youth Voice Amplified (YVA), a national youth committee that brings together young people ages 15–25 from across the country to share their ideas, build leadership skills, and help improve programs and policies that affect children, youth, and families.

YVA is built on the idea “Nothing About Us Without Us,” which means young people should have a voice in the decisions that affect them.

As a YVA member, you’ll have opportunities to:

Share your experiences and ideas
Build leadership skills
Connect with other young leaders from across the country
Help shape programs, policies, partnerships, and projects that support children, youth, and families

We’re looking for young people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. You don’t need to be a policy expert, just someone who cares about making a difference, wants to learn, and is excited to work with others.

If this sounds like you, we’d love you to apply. If someone came to mind while reading this, please share this opportunity with them or encourage them to apply.

Applications are open through August 28, or until we receive the first 100 applications, whichever comes first.

If you have questions or need accommodations to complete the application, please contact YouthVoice@amchp.org. Thank you for helping us amplify youth voices!

Submit to AMCHP’s MCH Innovations Database by September 16

AMCHP invites you to submit your work to the MCH Innovations Database ahead of our Fall 2026 Review! This is your opportunity to showcase your practices, policies, or tools that are advancing MCH and strengthening communities.

Deadline for Fall 2026 Review: Submit by Wednesday, September 16, to be included in this review cycle. Submissions on or after September 17 will be rolled over to be considered in Spring 2027. All application materials, including submission forms for each practice or policy designation, are currently available on AMCHP’s Innovation Hub webpage.

AMCHP also invites community-based organizations to submit their practices to the Hub, regardless of whether the practice has been evaluated by experimental or “traditional” methods. We believe in the power of community- and practice-defined evidence and promote its use in MCH practice.

Submissions to the database are assessed along a practice continuum and, if accepted, receive a designation of Cutting-Edge, Emerging, Promising, or Best Practice, depending on the practice’s demonstrated impact among other criteria. The Innovation Hub has also expanded to include tools and policies; Policies have their own criteria to sort them into the appropriate designation including Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. Tools and policies are accepted on a rolling basis and can be submitted at any point.

How to Submit a Practice? Access the practice submission forms on our webpage and learn more about how you can submit your practice for review! All submissions must be sent to evidence@amchp.org by September 16 to be considered for Fall review, but are still accepted on a rolling basis. 

Not sure which designation to submit to? Check out our Minimum Criteria Checklist  to figure out which designation is right for your practice.

How to Submit a Policy? Access the policy submission forms on our webpage and learn more about how you can submit your policy for review! All submissions should be sent to evidence@amchp.org by September 16 to be considered for Fall review, but are still accepted on a rolling basis.

Not sure which designation to submit to? Email us at evidence@amchp.org.

Refer a Practice or Policy: Don’t have anything to submit but know of one that would be a great fit for the MCH Innovations Database? Refer a practice/policy to the database on our website, and we’ll reach out to them.

Need Help? Our team is here to support you! Email evidence@amchp.org with any questions about submission categories, requirements, evidence, or whether your evaluation data would be appropriate for the database.

AMCHP Events & Webinars

Upcoming AMCHP Webinar August 27: Sustaining Programming to Address Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Series

Interested in sustaining your work but unsure where to start? Join AMCHP for our new webinar series, “Sustaining Programming to Address Perinatal Substance Use Disorder (SUD).”

This 3-part webinar series is designed to provide participants with a strong grounding in sustainability tools and concepts. During the course of the series, participants will assess the strengths of their own program(s) and identify opportunities for growth as they learn about the different domains of sustainability, including:

Funding Stability
Organizational Capacity
Adaptation
Continuous Quality Improvement

Webinar #2 – Fiscal Stability as a Pathway to Sustainability

Join AMCHP and our partners from Team Lily on August 27, from 3:00 – 4:30 PM ET for an interactive workshop on strategies, tools, and resources to support long-term program sustainability in the perinatal SUD space. This session will focus on fiscal sustainability and practical strategies to secure the resources needed for long-term program success.

What to Expect

Participants should:

Be prepared to engage!
Come with a particular perinatal SUD program or initiative in mind

Participants will:

Learn about sustainability tools and resources to apply to your program.
Hear real-world insights and lessons learned on sustaining perinatal SUD initiatives.
Spend dedicated time in breakout groups with presenters.
Explore strategies to strengthen the fiscal sustainability of your program.

Learn more and register.

ICYMI – Over 1,100 MCH Leaders Joined Our July 27 National MCH Strategy Webinar

Thank you to those who joined us for our July 27 National Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Strategy webinar. We’re grateful for your interest and enthusiasm as we work towards a shared vision for improving maternal and child health in the United States, creating a common direction for our field that aligns our collective efforts, strengthens collaboration, and positions us to achieve greater impact together.

During this first call, over 1,100 MCH leaders from across the country joined us to learn about the strategy and share their questions regarding the initiative. Whether you joined the call or not, we are excited to share the materials presented during the call so that you are up to speed on what was discussed:

Hot off the press! Make sure to visit the newly launched website for this initiative, www.nationalmchstrategy.org, to learn more about the strategy and access key resources to help you stay engaged with the ongoing developments of this initiative.

Legislation & Policy

Explore our Maternal & Child Health Bill Tracker for more information about pending federal legislation to improve maternal health. Additionally, download AMCHP’s Federal Policy Agenda, which outlines our current advocacy focus.

Subscribe to AMCHP’s Policy Alerts and 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 previous AMCHP Policy and Partnerships Town Hall! You can find the full recordings of past Town Halls on our Government Affairs webpage.

We will not have a Town Hall in August, but please register to join us for our next edition on September 10, from 2-3 PM ET at this registration link.

Opportunities & Funding

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.

Intern, Policy Team: AMCHP is recruiting a policy team intern for the Fall of 2026. This is a paid part-time position that requires a minimum of 15 hours per week. AMCHP’s internship program is open to currently enrolled students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Individuals who have recently graduated are also eligible. Candidates located in or near the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area, and with experience in Congressional affairs are preferred. [Learn more and apply]

Applications Now Open: National Step Up Together® Action Collaborative

Applications are now open for the next Step Up Together National Action Collaborative, beginning this September.

This virtual learning collaborative brings together interdisciplinary teams from birth centers, home birth practices, hospitals, EMS agencies, and other partners to strengthen emergency preparedness and improve community-to-hospital transfer systems through simulation-based quality improvement.

Over the course of the collaborative, participating teams receive coaching from national faculty, conduct interdisciplinary emergency transfer drills using open-access Step Up Together Drill Kits, and join a community of practice dedicated to improving communication, teamwork, and patient safety across care settings. The model has already been implemented in multiple states and was recently shown to improve participants’ confidence, preparedness, and collaboration in a published evaluation.

This opportunity may be of particular interest to Maternal Health Innovation (MHI) grantees working to strengthen maternal health infrastructure, rural maternity care, emergency preparedness, community birth integration, or cross-sector collaboration.

Applications are being accepted through August 17 for both birth center and planned home birth cohorts. Learn more and apply.

In addition to the national collaborative, Step Up Together also partners with states, health systems, Perinatal Quality Collaboratives, and other stakeholders to launch regional Action Collaboratives and build local implementation capacity through certified facilitator training. If your organization is interested in sponsoring a statewide or regional initiative, contact info@stepuptogether.com.

Apply for the 2027 Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health MCH Program Evaluation Practicum by September 11

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) Program Evaluation Practicum is a unique learning and experiential opportunity for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) public health programs and students. The Practicum offers state, tribal, local, and other health organization MCH programs the chance to:

Receive a comprehensive, ready‑to‑use evaluation plan tailored to your MCH program, developed by students with input from your team and instructors.
Build your team’s evaluation skills through participation in lessons.
Strengthen your program’s ability to demonstrate impact and areas for growth.

HSPH will offer this Winter Session course in January 2027. Staff from selected programs and students will participate in a three-day virtual program evaluation training at the host site (i.e., your state/local/tribal health department or program) (January 6—8, 2027) followed by a week where students meet with health department or organization staff to learn details of the program to be evaluated and begin development of the evaluation plan (January 11—15, 2027).

Learn more and email the completed proposal form to Olivia Hiller (osmith@hsph.hardvard.edu) by September 11.

Free Resource for Job Seekers – The AMCHP Career Center: Connecting Talent with Opportunity

AMCHP offers access to top job opportunities in our industry. Job seekers can access the AMCHP Career Center to search and apply for open positions at no cost, while employers can post their jobs for a fee! Search for Jobs | Post a Job.

Do you know someone who is looking for a new job or opportunity? Share the AMCHP Career Center with them!

Partner Events & Webinars

Register to Join the 2026 Syphilis Solutions Summit: Expanding Screening and Treatment Across the Pregnancy-to-Neonatal Care Continuum

Registration is open for the 2026 Syphilis Solutions Summit: Expanding Screening and Treatment Across the Pregnancy-to-Neonatal Care Continuum. Focused on expanding screening and treatment across the pregnancy-to-neonatal care continuum, this free webinar will be hosted by New Insights in Sexual Health (NISH), a Child Trends project, on Tuesday, August 18, from 1:00-2:30 PM ET.

The event is free and open to anyone working in or interested in public health, maternal and child health, or infectious disease prevention, but registration is required to attend. Register before Sunday, August 16.

Webinar Series: Strengthening Recruitment and Retention in Early Intervention (EI) and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) Workforce

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC), in collaboration with the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA), invites you to join us for a 5-session workforce webinar taking place August through October 2026.

This 5-session webinar series provides state and local leaders with practical, evidence-based strategies to effectively recruit, retain, and sustain a strong workforce in early childhood education, early intervention, and early childhood special education. Drawing on resources from the ECTA, participants will explore key areas of recruitment and retention strategies, including:

Compensation and incentives
“Grow Your Own” pathways
Supportive work environments
Leadership and advancement opportunities
Ongoing professional learning
Public awareness

The sessions will feature real-world examples and interactive planning activities. Each session is designed to help teams translate national guidance into actionable, data-informed workforce solutions.

Session 2: Attracting the Workforce
August 25, 2026, 3:00–4:30 PM ET
Session 3: Building the Pathways
September 9, 2026, 2:30–4:00 PM ET
Session 4: Retaining the Workforce
September 22, 2026, 3:00–4:30 PM ET
Session 5: Sustaining and Advancing the Workforce
October 13, 2026, 3:00–4:30 PM ET