AMCHP Annual Conference
Have you saved the date for the 2024 Annual Conference? Mark your calendars to join us April 13-16, 2024, at the Oakland Marriott City Center, in Oakland, California! We will continue to offer content in-person and virtually through our conference platform with the theme Partnering with Purpose. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to receive updates and information about the conference!
Call for Proposals is Now Open!
The Call for Proposals for the 2024 AMCHP Annual Conference is now open! AMCHP is seeking proposals for skills–building sessions, workshops, posters, and roundtables that support the theme, Partnering with Purpose.
Our theme focuses on how people who work in MCH have the power to be intentional about who we partner with and how we can engage with partners to make a positive impact on children and families. Partnering with purpose opens up a space for us to clarify our intentions and combine our resources, ideas, and skills for greater impact in our communities. The conference theme invites us to ask important questions about power – How do good partnerships share and build power? How are our partnerships amplifying the voices of the people we serve?
Inspired by our theme and want to know more? Register for our informational how-to webinar on the proposal process on Tuesday, September 26 at 3:30pm ET. This webinar will be recorded and shared as a resource to aid your proposal development and submission.
Ready to get started? Submit a proposal under one of 10 subject-focused tracks by Friday, November 3 at 11:59 pm PT. Submitters with completed proposals by this deadline will be notified of their session status by the end of December.
Revisit AMCHP 2023 Annual Conference
For one 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.
AMCHP Announcements
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AMCHP Staff Member Mallory Cyr Recognized by the de Beaumont Foundation as a Leader in Public Health
AMCHP is delighted to share that our very own Mallory Cyr has been recognized as one of the 40 Under 40 in Public Health! The de Beaumont Foundation announced its 2023 honorees this morning after reviewing nominations from hundreds of leaders in public health. The class was selected by a distinguished panel of public health professionals for their leadership and impact on their community’s health.
“We are so proud of Mallory for this well-deserved recognition of her work and dedication to not only our organization, but public health as a whole,” said Terrance E. Moore, Chief Executive Officer of AMCHP. “Mallory truly exemplifies the values of equity and inclusion we aim to uphold as leaders in maternal and child health.”
Mallory is a disability justice leader and change agent who actively works to challenge our public health systems and shift narratives to be more accessible, equitable, and inclusive. She has made significant contributions to making disability justice a core component of public health education and programming. In 2021, Mallory received the Boston University School of Public Health 2021 Maternal and Child Health Alumni Award for designing a course, titled Disability Justice through the Lifecourse: Programs, Policies, and Turning Advocacy into Action. Over the last few years, Mallory has applied her decades of professional and lived experience to several AMCHP projects focused on amplifying community voices, such as the Building Resilience from Lived Experience series, a collection of written and video testimonials from those impacted by public health emergencies.
Register for the Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Federal-State Partnership Meeting
We are excited to announce that AMCHP is partnering with the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to convene the Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Federal-State Partnership Meeting.
The Title V MCH Federal-State Partnership Meeting will be held at the historic Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, DC from Sunday, November 5 – Wednesday, November 8, 2023. Optional pre-meeting sessions will begin the afternoon of November 5, with the required meeting beginning on November 6.
Registration is now open and will close Friday, October 13. There is no registration fee; however, advanced registration is required.
Visit our webpage for more information such as hotel booking and the preliminary agenda.
Submit to the MCH Innovations Database Ahead of our Fall 2023 Review Period
The Fall Review for the MCH Innovations Database begins on Friday, September 15! This means that all submissions received on or before September 15 will be included in this 2023 Fall Review cycle. All submissions received after this date (on or after September 16) will be rolled into our Spring 2024 review cycle (date to be announced). Application materials including submission forms for each practice designation are currently available on AMCHP’s Innovation Hub site on the “Submit a Practice” tab. Check out this short overview video of the submission process to learn more.
AMCHP recognizes the validity of many forms of evidence, given that public health work is context-specific and happens in real life. We strongly believe in the power of community-defined evidence and seek to promote its use in the MCH field to center and highlight the expertise and perspectives of those with lived experience. AMCHP encourages community-based organizations to submit their practices and policies to the MCH Innovations Database, regardless of whether it’s been evaluated by traditional methods. Learn more about how AMCHP thinks about evidence and view an example of community-defined evidence.
How to Submit a Practice? Access our submission forms under the “How do I Submit a Practice?” tab and learn more about how you can submit your practice for the Fall! All submissions must be sent to evidence@amchp.org. 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 our submission forms under the “How do I Submit a Policy?” tab and learn more about how you can submit your policy for review! All submissions should be sent to evidence@amchp.org. Not sure which track to submit to? Check out our Policy Track Criteria to figure out which designation is right for your policy.
Refer a Practice/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.
If you would like assistance with which practice designation or policy track to submit to or have any questions, please email us at evidence@amchp.org, and we will be happy to help you!
Recent AMCHP Announcements
Voices of AMCHP
Dawn Bailey, Family Representative (2023-2026)
As part of our Voices of AMCHP series, designed to highlight our dedicated Board members and their work, we invited Dawn to share some insights on her background, experience serving on AMCHP’s Board of Directors, and her advice for other family leaders who want to make an impact on their community.
What motivated you to join AMCHP’s Board of Directors?
When I became a Family Delegate in 2015, I had the chance to attend my first AMCHP Conference and to see that there were Family Representatives on the Board of Directors was really encouraging to me. As I had the chance over the years to meet some of the Family Delegates and prior Family Representatives on the Board, I saw a great opportunity to lend my voice to the work and appreciated the opportunities that AMCHP supported for those voices.
How do your background and experience contribute to your role as a Family Representative on AMCHP’s Board of Directors?
Having the opportunity to be a family advisor directly embedded with Arizona’s Title V program has given me an opportunity to learn more about the programmatic side of Arizona’s work and how it interacts with the other systems of care in Arizona. I am able to connect that with my lived experience as a user of these systems and programs. I believe having a lens into both sides allows me an opportunity to braid both sides for more impactful solutions.
AMCHP Events & Webinars
AMCHP and the American Academy of Pediatrics Virtual Learning Café on Pediatric Mental Health
Please join AMCHP and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) for webinar on Tuesday, September 26, from 1-2 pm ET. The webinar focuses on advancing perinatal substance use policy with people with lived experience. Register today!
Punitive policies, stigmatization, and discrimination harm families and pregnant people seeking support for a substance use disorder (SUD), leading to adverse maternal and infant health outcomes. This virtual learning session will explore opportunities for public health programs to authentically and equitably engage people impacted by perinatal SUD via examples from the field, storytelling strategies, and a discussion of key considerations for trauma-informed engagement and policy approaches.
Speakers include:
- Brittany Westmoreland, Certified Addiction Technician and Peer Support Specialist at the University of Colorado’s Perinatal Peer Support Doula Program
- Jenné Massie, DrPH, MS, Senior Research Scientist at George Washington University’s Intersectionality Research Institute
- Ruchi Fitzgerald, MD, Family Medicine Physician and Addiction Specialist, Chief of Inpatient Addiction Medicine at PCC Wellness Center
AMCHP and the American Academy of Pediatrics Virtual Learning Café Series on Pediatric Mental Health
Come learn about how Title V is addressing the youth mental health crisis. AMCHP and the American Academy of Pediatrics are hosting a virtual learning café series to increase awareness of community-based mental health supports that are available to children, youth, and families. Each learning café will include a short didactic presentation, followed by peer-to-peer discussion and questions. Presenters will include staff from MCH Title V programs who have ongoing mental health programs that involve Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) programs and/or pediatric primary care professionals.
The next virtual café will be on December 7, from 12-1 pm ET. Please register for the second virtual café. The final two sessions of the four-part series will occur in early 2024. These dates will be released soon.
AMCHP Information & Resources
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, as of August 24, less than five months into the redetermination process, 5.4 million Medicaid and CHIP enrollees nationwide have lost their coverage. Many who have lost coverage for process/procedural reasons may still be eligible for coverage. In the 15 states reporting age breakouts, children accounted for over four in ten (43%) Medicaid disenrollments.
The disenrollment numbers are not going unnoticed. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently sent letters to all states, reviewing their respective data on procedural terminations, call center wait times and renewal application processing time. CMS has called for an ‘all-hands-on-deck‘ approach to ensuring continuity of coverage and a fair redetermination process. The agency has developed a host of resources on the Medicaid/CHIP renewal process, including a communications toolkit. CMS has also offered states a robust list of strategies to minimize procedural disenrollments.
As AMCHP continues to monitor this issue, we encourage you to visit AMCHP’s Resource Library and filter by “Promoting Coverage for MCH” to find more information, facts sheets, toolkits, webinar recordings, and more.
Be sure to also follow AMCHP on social media as we will continue to post timely information, resources, and events on this topic. If you have any questions or want to connect with an AMCHP team member on this topic, please contact Atyya Chaudhry at achaudhry@amchp.org.
AMCHP Mental Health Corner
Mental health is an important component of well-being for maternal, child, and adolescent health (MCAH) populations. Read more about our Commitment to Workplace Well-Being as well as 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 MCAH? 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 & Child 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 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.
- Chief Government Affairs Officer: This position is accountable for the development and implementation of AMCHP’s public policy and government affairs strategies and the advancement of maternal and child health (MCH) in the U.S. by working on initiatives that support AMCHP’s legislative agenda. This individual maintains a commitment to dismantling structural racism and rebuilding the policy systems that serve our communities in ways that center racial and other forms of equity. The position reports to the CEO. [learn more and apply]
Call for Letters of Interest for the 2024 National MCH Workforce Development Center Learning Journey
Join the National MCH Workforce Development Center for an engaging and interactive Learning Journey designed to develop your team, explore core challenges, consider the evidence, and plan next steps.
What is included?
- Ongoing support from a Center coach experienced in working with teams of MCH professionals
- A two-day, virtual Systems Exploration Workshop to help you examine your challenge
- A four-day, in-person Learning Institute
- Monthly learning webinars designed to help you apply new tools and skills
- An in-state consultation by a team of WDC experts co-designed by your team and Center coach
- Additional support and coaching for team co-leads
- Additional support and coaching for individuals interested in measurement and evaluation
- Opportunities to connect with Title V peers from across the country
Interested Title V professionals are invited to join the optional Informational Call on Tuesday, September 19, at 3:00pm ET.
Letters of interest will be accepted until Monday, October 2, and should be sent via email to Thea Calhoun (Dorothea_Calhoun@UNC.edu).
Partner Events & Webinars
AMCHP Staff are Presenting at the 2023 CityMatCH Leadership Conference
Are you registered for the 2023 CityMatCH Maternal and Child Health Leadership Conference? AMCHP subject matter experts Mallory Cyr and Maura Leahy will be leading the Disability Equity in Public Health: Moving the Work from “For” to “With” session on Friday, September 22 from 8am-9:30am CT. This session will address how to infuse disability equity into public health programs, policies, and practices. While we often think of accessibility as physical access to a building, true equity, and inclusion means much more, especially as we think about our work in public health. As efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) continue to grow, disability must be a part of these conversations. Participants will learn foundational concepts of disability equity, and apply the concepts to real-life scenarios, exploring ways to make their work more accessible and inclusive. View the full preliminary agenda and don’t forget to check out our session!
Publications & Resources
Article: This Nonprofit is Helping Pregnant and Postpartum People During the Maui Wildfires
The needs of pregnant and postpartum people are often forgotten in climate disasters. Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, a reproductive health nonprofit, is working to support pregnant and postpartum mothers who have been impacted by the Maui wildfires. Read this recent article from the 19th News(letter) to learn about the organization’s efforts to provide essential resources, supplies, and assistance for those in need.
How the Well Project is Changing the Narrative Around Breastfeeding for People Living With HIV
August is National Breastfeeding Month! Research shows that breastfeeding has many benefits for moms and babies, yet significant disparities persist in the support that women receive in their breastfeeding journeys. This is especially true for birthing parents living with HIV, who have been actively dissuaded from breastfeeding despite evidence showing that breastfeeding does not pose a risk of transmission in cases where the birthing parent has an undetectable viral load and is taking antiretroviral therapy.
The Well Project is a non-profit organization that is working to advance research on breastfeeding and HIV. The Well Project leverages web-based technology to improve health outcomes and quality of life for women who are living with, and are vulnerable to, HIV across the gender spectrum. Their virtual platforms host a plethora of resources including streaming expert conversations, research posters, and factsheets featuring evidence-based, accessible information to support parents living with HIV in their infant-feeding decision-making.
In 2023, thanks to years of advocacy centering the leadership and lived expertise of women living with HIV, in which The Well Project has been a leading voice, the US Perinatal HIV Treatment Guidelines were rigorously updated to:
- Remove language discouraging breast/chestfeeding
- Reflect current knowledge about the low likelihood of HIV transmission through breast milk when the breast/chestfeeding person is taking effective HIV treatment
- Discuss the benefits of breast/chestfeeding
- Encourage informed, shared decision making
Although there is still work to be done, the HHS’s recommendations mark a hallmark moment in the goal of ensuring that policies and recommendations for breastfeeding in this population are rooted in evidence, not stigma.
Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health: How Is My State Performing on NOMs and NPMs?
On the Data Research Center for Child and Adolescent Health (DRC), a project of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), you can see how your state is performing on 19 National Outcome and National Performance Measures (NOMs and NPMs). There are three ways to compare data across states using the DRC website:
- View findings on single indicators (and by subgroups) for all states using our Across-States Interactive Data Query, and compare to the nation or other states
- Compare states on all NSCH-derived Title V National Outcome and Performance Measures using our Across-State Comparison Tables
- View US maps shaded to indicate how each state’s data differs from the nation on Title V National Outcome and Performance Measures using our Across-State Comparison Maps
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. For more information, take a short video tour or contact the CAHMI-DRC team through our Ask Us a Question page or email info@cahmi.org.
Commemorations
September 2023
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
National Cholesterol Education Month
National ITP (Platelet Disorder) Awareness Month
National Pediculosis Prevention Month/Head Lice Prevention Month
Newborn Screening Awareness Month
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Month
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Sports Eye Safety Awareness Month
Weeks to Note:
National Folic Acid Awareness Week, September 10-16
Malnutrition Awareness Week, September 18-22
Global ITP Awareness Week, September 25-30
Days to Note:
National Women’s Health and Fitness Day, September 27
