May 16, 2024

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May 16, 2024

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AMCHP Announcements

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Deadline Approaching: Call for Nominations for the AMCHP Board of Directors is Open through May 17

The Governance Committee is seeking nominations for the 2024 election cycle of the AMCHP Board of Directors.

As a board director, you would help shape AMCHP’s policies and positions, represent your Title V peers from across the country, ensure the organization’s future viability and financial stability, work directly with federal and community partners, and gain leadership experience in a national association.

The following upcoming vacancies are now open for nominations as of April 26, 2024, for elections to be held in late May 2024. Nominations will remain open from April 26 through May 17, unless further notice is provided.

Region III [DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV]
Region IV [AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN]
Region VIII [CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY]
Director-At-Large
Family Representative

AMCHP member delegates are encouraged to consider applying. Your help is needed to fill these important positions! Thank you in advance for your interest, ongoing support, and representation of your state or region.

To learn more about the election, terms, responsibilities, and the process for applying or submitting a nomination, please visit our call for nomination on our website.

New MCH Bridges Podcast Episode: What the Health is Food Insecurity?!

Our newest MCH Bridges episode is now live! Episode 18– “What the Health is Food Insecurity?!”

The latest MCH Bridges and What the Health?! crossover episode, led by AMCHP’s Youth Voice Amplified (YVA) committee, talks about the food insecurity crisis in the United States from a systems and lived experience point of view, and how these perspectives impact each other. This episode shares an overview of the state of food insecurity in this country, a background of different terms in the food justice space, and the inequities that present challenges for many in our communities. You will also hear about the importance of empowering communities and understanding solutions to accessing nourishing foods they connect with to create positive health outcomes.

Tune in now to listen and learn from guest host Amber Woodside and speakers Serena Sakkal and Bennett K. who share their experiences and insights on how to restore the connection between food and joy.

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. 

AMCHP Launched Its 2024 Federal Policy Agenda

Interested in learning about our 2024 Federal Policy Agenda? Download it from our website!

Our 2024 Federal Policy Agenda outlines where AMCHP intends to focus our advocacy work this year in support of federal programs and policies across Congress and the Executive Branch that improve the health of women, children, and their families.

We also reinforce AMCHP’s acknowledgment of racism as a public health crisis that directly impacts the health outcomes of the communities we serve and reiterate our commitment to evaluating policies through the lens of dismantling racism and pursuing health equity and racial equity.

In 2024, AMCHP will play a leadership role to advance policies that:

Robustly fund maternal and child health (MCH) programs and initiatives, including the Health Resources & Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Title V MCH Services Block Grant at $1 billion and additional critical federal MCH programs such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Safe Motherhood Portfolio and HRSA’s Healthy Start Program.
Prevent and respond to MCH concerns, with an emphasis on supporting communities that are disparately impacted. This includes addressing racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and infant mortality and morbidity and responding to emerging MCH issues.
Support the needs of AMCHP’s membership at large by serving as our members’ eyes, ears, and voice in Washington, DC, and uplifting stories to ensure their experiences and needs are reflected in federal policy conversations.

Please visit our website to continue exploring our 2024 Federal Policy Agenda and our other policy areas.

Stay up to date with AMCHP’s policy work by signing up to receive our Legislative Alerts and Policy Digest directly in your inbox and registering for our monthly Policy and Partnership Town Halls.

Recent AMCHP Announcements

AMCHP Annual Conference

Thank you to the more than 1,300 maternal and child health (MCH) leaders and thinkers who joined us in Oakland and virtually from April 13-16 for our 2024 AMCHP Annual Conference! Over 1,000 individuals joined us in person and almost 300 virtually, making this event again one of the largest gatherings of MCH professionals in the United States.

Subscribe to our Annual Conference Newsletter to be the first to receive updates and information about our conferences in 2025 and 2026, and share the subscribe link with your peers!

AMCHP 2024 Post-Conference Evaluation Survey

Please take a few moments to complete the conference evaluation survey by June 12 and share your experience at this year’s AMCHP Annual 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. If you attended virtually or attended live-streamed sessions, we are particularly interested in hearing from you!

The survey was sent out to all registered attendees on April 19 from ‘AMCHP 2024 Conference Evaluation’ (noreply@qemailserver.com) – please check your spam/junk folder if you don’t see it in your inbox.

We appreciate your feedback and look forward to seeing you again at AMCHP 2025 in Washington, DC!

CDC Continuing Education Credits

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has granted continuing education (CE) credits for the virtual and in-person workshops and plenary sessions of our 2024 AMCHP Annual Conference. The maximum number of virtual and in-person credits for those earning CNE, CME, and CHES is 12.5 credits.

CE credits will be available for each plenary session and one workshop for this year’s conference within each block. To identify workshops eligible for CE credits, look for those labeled “CE Offered” in the title; these workshops will be the 4th session within each block.

To receive CE credits for CM4762 – AMCHP Annual Conference – Oakland, CA – April 13-16, 2024, please visit TCEO and follow these 9 simple steps before May 20.

Course Code: CM4762

Course Access Code: AMCHP24

AMCHP Announced Award Winners

On Monday, April 8, 2024, AMCHP announced the winners of its 2024 AMCHP Annual Awards. The awards recognize MCH leaders for their outstanding contributions to the field and were presented at the 2024 AMCHP Annual Conference, held April 13-16, 2024, in person at the Oakland Marriot City Center in Oakland, CA, and virtually through our virtual conference platform.

Read the news release.

Acceptance Remarks from AMCHP 2024 Award Winners

AMCHP presented awards for MCH leaders at the 2024 AMCHP Annual Conference, April 13-16, 2024. We wanted to take this moment to celebrate these awardees and share their acceptance remarks with our community.

Visit our YouTube playlist to revisit all of the acceptance remarks and continue celebrating all the amazing awardees!

AMCHP 2024 Highlight: Policy Leaders’ Reflections on Black Maternal Health Week

AMCHP’s 2024 Annual Conference in Oakland, California, coincided with Black Maternal Health Week. To highlight the amazing work being done in this space, we featured influential Black maternal health policy leaders in videos played during our conference plenary session. The first video features Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), Co-Chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus and Sponsor of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, historic legislation to save moms’ lives and address every driver of maternal mortality, morbidity, and disparities in the United States. 

The second video features Okunsola M. Amadou, Founder and CEO of Jamaa Birth Village and the AMCHP 2024 John MacQueen Lecture Award recipient; Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), a Black maternal health champion representing California’s 12th congressional district, which is based in Oakland; and Breana Lipscomb, Senior Adviser of Maternal Health & Rights at the Center for Reproductive Rights. 

Each advocate for Black maternal health was invited to share their reflections on the significance of Black Maternal Health Week and their efforts to drive policy improvements in this critical area. We encourage you to take a few moments to hear their insights on their inspiration for advocating in this field, the policy avenues they envision for enhancing Black maternal health, and how collaborative efforts within the maternal and child health community can facilitate meaningful policy reform.

View these videos on our website, and share them with your network!

AMCHP 2024 Local Organization Spotlight

AMCHP is excited to have welcomed attendees at this year’s AMCHP Annual Conference, which featured a variety of organizations dedicated to improving the health of women, children, and families.

In April, we invited United And Guided and SisterWeb to answer questions to uplift their work on developing economic security, emotional wellness, reproductive justice, and birth equity for Black and Brown families. We hope these interviews inspire you to reflect, purposefully partner with, and uplift the work of local San Francisco Bay organizations committed to advancing MCH.

Read the interviews: United And Guided and SisterWeb.

Revisit AMCHP 2024 Live-Streamed Content Now Available on the Conference Platform

Do you wish to revisit your favorite session or engage with the live content you might have missed? The wait is over! Live-streamed session recordings are now available on the conference platform, including all three plenary sessions.

For one year, registered participants of AMCHP 2024 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. You can also visit our blog and podcast page to revisit some significant milestones of AMCHP 2024.

Save the Dates for AMCHP 2025 and AMCHP 2026 in Washington, DC!

This graphic includes two images of Washington, DC, and Save the Date information for AMCHP 2025, which will be held from March 15 to 18, and AMCHP 2026, which will be held from March 7 to 10.

AMCHP Events & Webinars

Webinar: Take Action for Adolescents – A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being

AMCHP and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Population Affairs (OPA) are hosting a virtual webinar on Tuesday, May 21, from 2-4pm ET on OPA’s Take Action for Adolescents – A Call to Action for Adolescent Health and Well-Being™. Take Action for Adolescents aims to ensure that all adolescents in the United States have the safety, support, and resources they need to thrive, be healthy, and have equitable opportunities to realize their full potential.

The webinar will bring together Title V Block Grant Administrators and State Adolescent Health Coordinators to discuss how to use Take Action for Adolescents’ goals, action steps, and resources – including the Take Action Toolkit – to improve adolescent health and well-being in their communities.

Registration link

Webinar: Strengthening Early Childhood Systems – The Roles of Title V, ECCS, and MIECHV

The goals of the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) Health Integration Prenatal-to-Three program, and the Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program are closely aligned: all are focused on supporting the health and wellbeing of parents and young children, and on developing a coordinated and equitable system of care, especially for families that have been systematically excluded. In recent years, a growing number of recipients of these awards are working together to better serve families. Examples include bringing together cross-agency partners for projects like coordinated referral systems, and initiatives to increase newborn screenings.

In this webinar, to be held on Thursday, June 6 at 3pm ET, experts from the Early Childhood Systems TA and Coordination Center (ECS TACC), AMCHP, and the MIECHV Technical Assistance Resource Center (TARC) will explore opportunities for building statewide systems, underscoring the value that each partner brings to the table. Participants will hear from two states where partnership efforts are underway.

Audience: MIECHV, Title V, and ECCS awardees. MIECHV awardees are encouraged to share this webinar invite with Title V and ECCS leads within their state/territory (where applicable).

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Define the goals of Title V, ECCS, and MIECHV programs
Describe examples of common statewide systems
Identify common challenges experienced when developing statewide systems
Describe examples of statewide systems engaging more than one maternal child health programs in Louisiana and New Jersey

Registration link

Save the Date: AMCHP Annual Business Meeting

Graphic promoting to save the date for AMCHP's Annual Business Meeting, June 13, 1-3pm ET on Zoom.

AMCHP invites our members to our Annual Business Meeting, which will be held on June 13 from 2-3pm ET via Zoom.

Save the date to join us to recognize newly appointed Board members and welcome 2024 officers! Registration information to come soon

AMCHP Information & Resources

New AMCHP Issue Brief: Opportunities to Leverage Opioid Settlement Funding for State Maternal and Child Health Priorities

AMCHP’s new issue brief, Opportunities to Leverage Opioid Settlement Funding for State Maternal and Child Health Priorities, provides an overview of the opioid settlements, which are funds paid to states by the opioid industry to compensate for the costs associated with the opioid epidemic. The brief features case studies from four state public health departments that demonstrate how settlement funds can be leveraged to support families impacted by substance use.

Billions of dollars are flowing to states from the settlements. The issue brief provides maternal and child health (MCH) professionals with recommendations to influence state decision-making to ensure that settlement funding benefits MCH priorities. As subject matter experts in this area, state MCH programs can be influential advocates for comprehensive, evidence-based programs, policies, and strategies that support families affected by perinatal substance use disorder.

Explore and download our new issue brief, and share this resource with your peers!

AMCHP, Family Voices, and the Catalyst Center Resources on the Medicaid Redetermination Process

AMCHP, Family Voices, and the Catalyst Center at the Boston University School of Social Work) have developed new fact sheet resources for families and maternal and child health (MCH) professionals on the Medicaid redetermination process.

Tailored to each audience, these fact sheets explain the options for children and adults determined to be ineligible for Medicaid, including the processes for reinstatement, appeal, reapplication, and alternative coverage sources such as CHIP and the Marketplace. Because Medicaid renewal is an annual process for children, these resources are useful for providing state MCH staff and advocates with a baseline knowledge of the redetermination process.

The family resources are also available in multiple languages including Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic.

AMCHP Mental Health Corner

Join AMCHP in Honoring Mental Health Awareness Month in May

Every year in May, our country recognizes Mental Health Awareness Month, which aims to increase awareness of and destigmatize mental health by providing relevant information and resources. Started by Clifford W. Beers, the founder of Mental Health America, this annual one-week awareness campaign was originally intended to celebrate recovery from mental illness and to educate the general public on mental health conditions. Launched in 1949 as a full month, Mental Health Awareness Month now seeks to increase awareness of the state of mental health in the United States.

Visit our blog post to learn more about AMCHP’s efforts to create a workplace environment supportive of well-being, and explore partner resources to promote Mental Health Awareness Month.

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 Applauds the Biden-Harris Administration’s Release of the Maternal Mental Health Task Force National Strategy to Improve Maternal Mental Health Care

On the heels of Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the release of a national strategy to address maternal mental health and substance use issues. During the perinatal period, an estimated one in five individuals are impacted by mental health conditions and substance use disorders, which are the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S., accounting for more than 22% of those deaths.

The National Strategy to Improve Maternal Mental Health Care is accompanied by a Report to Congress as a part of broader federal efforts to address women’s overall health, and maternal health in particular, across the nation, consistent with the White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis and the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

Read the full Legislative Alert.

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 2-3pm ET. We will not have a town hall for June due to the AMCHP Annual Business Meeting, but we invite you to register for all future Town Halls, including our next meeting on July 11, 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.

Partner Events & Webinars

Happening Today: Webinar on Applying a Framework to Early Childhood Systems

Join ZERO TO THREE’s Early Childhood Developmental Health Systems (ECDHS): Evidence to Impact Center on Thursday, May 16 from 4-5:30pm ET for the webinar “Systems Change in Early Childhood Using the Water of Systems Change Framework.”

Presenters Melissa Passarelli, MA, associate director of implementation and system-building at Help Me Grow National Center, and Jennifer Splansky Juster, MBA, executive director at Collective Impact Forum, will introduce The Water of Systems Change and how it can be applied to early childhood systems-building efforts. They will explore six interdependent conditions that vary from “explicit” to “implicit”:

Structural Change (explicit): policies, practices, resource flows
Relational Change (semi-explicit): relationships & connections, power dynamics
Transformative Change (implicit): mental models

This webinar will help early childhood and health systems leaders – such as Title V; Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs; Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems; Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting; Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five; and similar program leaders – identify potential strategies for their work.

Registration link

Possibilities for Change Webinar on Empowering Professionals

Join Possibilities for Change on Tuesday, May 21 at 3pm ET for a webinar on Empowering Professionals: Risk Screening and Coaching Best Practices.

Many professionals need support in providing quality youth risk screening and coaching, asking questions like: Which screening tool will be most effective? What do the results mean and what do I do next? How do I provide effective risk reduction coaching? How do I use population data to inform my practice?

If this is you, you’re not alone!  In this 45-minute session, you will get to dive into best practices in youth risk screening and coaching.

Participants will:

Understand the role of screening in reducing risk
Discover practical, efficient methods for conducting screening
Feel empowered to address identified risks with evidence-based strategies
Plan actionable, next steps to integrate new practices into their work

Whether you’re new to the field or looking to refine your approach, this webinar will provide valuable insights into risk screening and coaching, and tangible next steps to help you improve outcomes in youth risk. 

 Registration link

Publications & Resources

New Report from the Vanderbilt Cultural Contexts of Health and Wellbeing Initiative Explores Centering Children in Policymaking

Childhood is more than biology. Our bodies may grow in similar ways, but a person’s experience of childhood is defined and shaped by culture. In the United States, policies that are designed to address children’s health and well-being often miss this. 

A report from the Vanderbilt Cultural Contexts of Health and Wellbeing Initiative puts cultural assumptions and biases around childhood into perspective by exploring how childhoods are understood globally. 

Learn how decision-makers in El Salvador, Guatemala, Scotland, and New Zealand are working to center children’s worldviews and experiences in policymaking and community building. Discover how inviting children’s engagement can lead to better policies and better health for all kids in the United States.

Explore the full report, Rethinking Childhoods: The Cultural Contexts Shaping Children’s Health and Wellbeing, or read a one-page summary of their work.

New Article by CDC Scientists: Syphilis Treatment Among People Who are Pregnant in Six U.S. States – SET NET, 2018-2021

On Wednesday, April 17, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientists published an article in Obstetrics & Gynecology entitled “Syphilis Treatment Among People Who are Pregnant in Six U.S. States – SET-NET, 2018-2021.”

Syphilis during pregnancy has dramatically increased in recent years. When left untreated, syphilis can lead to serious illness for pregnant people and their babies. This study looks at syphilis treatment patterns during pregnancy in six states from 2018-2021:

In this study, fewer than two-thirds of people with syphilis during pregnancy were adequately treated.
People without timely prenatal care (at least one visit more than 30 days before the end of pregnancy) or no prenatal care were less likely to be adequately treated. However, nearly one-third of those with timely prenatal care were still inadequately or not treated.
People with complicated lived experiences, such as reported substance use or being unhoused, were twice as likely to receive inadequate or no treatment.

We can do more about syphilis.

We need earlier testing during pregnancy and a faster turnaround of testing and treatment. This can help ensure adequate treatment is initiated more than 30 days before delivery. Any healthcare encounter during pregnancy is prenatal care and is an opportunity for syphilis screening and prompt treatment. In addition to improving access to prenatal care, approaches to improve syphilis care in settings outside of traditional prenatal care settings, including emergency rooms, substance use treatment facilities, jails/prisons, and shelters serving unhoused individuals, are needed.

New Heat and Health Assessment Tool from CDC and NOAA

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the nation’s first health-based heat alert system and heat guidance for clinicians.

The new initiative has three resources, which combined enable proactive steps people can take to protect themselves:

The HeatRisk Forecast Tool, developed by CDC and NOAA, provides a seven-day national-scale heat forecast that tells you when temperatures reach levels that could harm health.
CDC’s HeatRisk Dashboard serves as a portal into all our new heat resources for the nation and includes the HeatRisk Forecast Tool, details on local air quality, and actions to stay safe on hot days or days with poor air quality.
CDC clinical guidance that we expect will enable clinicians and their patients to create personalized plans that will help ensure we can continue to safely enjoy warmer months. Even though heat can impact anyone’s physical and mental health, many groups may be particularly sensitive to heat and our guidance has focused initially on children with asthma, pregnant women, and people with cardiovascular disease.