Maternal and Child Health Bureau

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The Maternal and Child Health Bureau is a part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Key Facts 3 Maternal and Child Health 4 History 5 Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Program 6 Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) 7 Healthy Start Program 8 Other Maternal and Child Health Programs 8.1 Universal Newborn Hearing Screening 8.2 Traumatic Brain Injury 8.3 Emergency Medical Services for Children 8.4 Delivering Genetic Services 8.5 Family-to-Family Health Information Centers 9 References

[edit] Overview

Families look to HRSA to ensure a healthy start and a healthy future for the next generation.

[edit] Key Facts

• HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau administers programs that serve more than 32 million women, infants, and children each year. About 60 percent of U.S. women who give birth receive services through HRSA-supported programs.

• Most MCHB funds are sent to States through formula-based block grants, which totaled $566 million in FY 2007. These block grants support vital immunizations and newborn screenings, along with transportation and case management services that help families access care. States also use block grant funds to develop and implement community-based, family-centered systems of care for children with special health needs and their families.

• Additionally, HRSA supports nearly 100 Healthy Start sites in 38 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that provide community-based outreach, case management, depression screening, and educational activities for women in communities with high rates of infant mortality and limited access to health care providers.

• HRSA also collects survey data on the physical, behavioral, and emotional health of children in the United States and each year disseminates information on the health of women and children through publications such as Women’s Health USA and Child Health USA.

[edit] Maternal and Child Health

HRSA administers a broad range of programs that address the needs of the Nation’s maternal and child health population. This population includes pregnant women, mothers, infants, children and their families, and children with special health care needs. The largest of the programs, the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, includes State Formula Block Grants, Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS), and Community Integrated Service Systems projects. HRSA’s other programs designed to improve the health of the Nation’s women and children are Universal Newborn Hearing Screening, Traumatic Brain Injury, Healthy Start, Sickle Cell Service Demonstrations, Family to Family Health Information Centers, and Emergency Medical Services for Children.

[edit] History

The Federal commitment to addressing maternal and child health can be traced first to the Children’s Bureau (established in 1912) and then to Title V of the Social Security Act (enacted in 1935), which focuses on maternal and child health services. Title V converted to a Block Grant Program in 1981. The MCH Timeline [1]traces the complete history of maternal and child health services in the U.S.

[edit] Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Program

The Maternal and Child Health Services Block Program provides grants to States to reduce infant mortality; provide access to comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care for women; increase the number of children receiving health assessments and follow-up diagnostic and treatment; and provide access to preventive (including efforts to increase immunization rates) as well as rehabilitative services for children. States must spend 30 percent of their funding on children with special health care needs.

This grant program supports Federal and state partnerships that provide gap-filling maternal health services to more than 2.3 million women and primary and preventive care to more than 27.8 million infants and children, including approximately 1 million children with special health care needs.

[edit] Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS)

HRSA also administers the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant set aside programs of SPRANS and Community Integrated Service Systems. Through grants and contracts, SPRANS projects support training and research for maternal and child health improvement. The Heritable Disorders and Newborn Screening efforts are also partly funded within the SPRANS Program, which includes funding for an Advisory Committee and regional collaborative grants for genetic services.

[edit] Healthy Start Program

Healthy Start provides services tailored to the needs of high-risk pregnant women, infants and mothers in communities with exceptionally high rates of infant mortality. Communities in the 37 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that are served by Healthy Start have large minority populations, high rates of unemployment and poverty, and limited access to safe housing and medical providers. Healthy Start supports community-driven programs in these areas to reduce the prevalence of risk factors that contribute to infant mortality.

Since its inception in 1991, Healthy Start has served hundreds of thousands of families. In Healthy Start projects in 1998, first trimester entry into prenatal care by project participants was only 41.8 percent. By 2004, first-trimester entry into prenatal care had increased to 70 percent. From 2002-2005, 13 Healthy Start communities reported no infant deaths among program participants.

[edit] Other Maternal and Child Health Programs

[edit] Universal Newborn Hearing Screening

HRSA provides funds to states to establish statewide programs for screening, diagnosis and intervention for infants with newborn hearing disorders.

[edit] Traumatic Brain Injury

HRSA provides funds to states to improve access to health and other services for individuals with traumatic brain injury and their families. Grants support the development of core capacity components to provide state traumatic brain injury infrastructure.

[edit] Emergency Medical Services for Children

This program is designed to reduce child and youth disability and death due to severe illness and injury. Emergency Medical Services for Children grants fund states, U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and schools of medicine to improve existing emergency medical services (EMS) systems and to develop and evaluate improved procedures and protocols for treating children.

[edit] Delivering Genetic Services

These programs are designed to integrate federal, state or local genetics services within communities into existing systems of care to reduce duplication and fragmentation of services, while enhancing outreach, and improving availability, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and quality of care.

[edit] Family-to-Family Health Information Centers

Provides grants to family-run organizations to ensure families have access to adequate information about health care, community resources, and support in order to make informed decisions around their children’s health care.

[edit] References

[2] HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau