Emerging Issues in Maternal and Child Health

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This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Emerging Issues in Maternal and Child Health Program. The purpose of this program is to strengthen the capacities of state- and/or local-level organizations to respond to emerging public health issues affecting maternal and child health (MCH) populations. This funding opportunity is a mechanism to support capacity-strengthening activities that will improve state- and/or local-level organizations’ abilities to address emerging issues that threaten the health and well-being of MCH populations in an effective, timely manner. For the purposes of this NOFO, MCH populations include the following groups: women, children (birth to 21), children with special health care needs (CSHCN), adolescents, and families. Recipients will implement a set of activities under at least one of the three capacity-strengthening areas below (See Section IV.2 for details) and through these activities address an emerging issue specific to their state or local community. Capacity Areas: 1) Data and Informational Systems 2) Workforce Development 3) Strategic Partnerships “Emerging issues” refers to issues that affect MCH populations at an increased rate, for which there is new knowledge or an increased level of awareness of, or there are new approaches to solving the issue. The challenge is that these issues are difficult to anticipate and thus difficult for which to have funds set aside. Through this program, the HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) aims to increase the ability of states and local communities to anticipate, prepare, and execute timely responses to emerging issues to reduce their negative impact on MCH populations. You will select an emerging issue specific to the needs of your state or local community. Examples of emerging issues include, but are not limited to, increasing rates of opioid and other substance use disorders, emergent environmental health threats, persistent or increasing disparities in maternal mortality, inadequate availability of and access to behavioral health services, disparities in access to health services for CSHCN, and declining immunization coverage. Successful projects will address an emerging issue that affects MCH populations and has reliable, current data to support it. In November 2020, MCHB released summaries of Title V state needs assessments. Every 5 years states complete a comprehensive needs assessment to assess their progress, identify emerging issues and needs, and set priorities going forward. Regardless of the geographic scope of your project, you are encouraged to utilize your state’s needs assessment report at the Title V Information System (TVIS) to inform the selection of an appropriate emerging issue. See Appendix B for guidance on the TVIS and Section IV.2 for a list of all suggested data sources.

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