Maternal and child health are important public health issues. Mothers and children who live in poverty are disproportionately affected by a range of challenges, including poor social determinants of health (SDOH) and related issues such as depression, poor nutrition, and unsafe environments. According to HealthyPeople.gov, “The well-being of mothers, infants, and children determines the health of the next generation.”
Across the United States, EDC builds the capacity of home visiting programs through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Technical Assistance Resource Center to address SDOH and to better serve and support pregnant women, mothers, families, and children. Funded by the Health Resources & Services Administration, the MIECHV Program is designed to build on the strengths of families to ensure the well-being and school readiness of children in low-income communities.
The project is carrying out the following activities:
- Provide individualized technical assistance to build the capacity of 56 state and territorial awardees to provide high-quality home visiting services that meet the needs of low-income families
- Develop user-friendly tools and resources, including webinars, communities of practice, tip sheets, briefs, and videos, which provide practical, actionable strategies to strengthen home visiting services
- Convene a National Coordinating Center to promote the alignment of evaluation designs and measurement strategies across awardees
- Conduct ongoing leadership academies to build the proficiency of awardees in areas such as leadership development, policy and state systems, and fiscal management
- Increase the quality of home visiting services provided annually to over 154,000 families
- Improve maternal and newborn health, school readiness and family self-sufficiency
- Reduce child injuries, abuse, neglect, and domestic violence
Change Matrix, James Bell Associates, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development