MCH Program Background and Services Funding

Federal: Funding from Title V of the federal Social Security Act, the MCH Block Grant, comes to Minnesota via MDH to:

• Assure access to quality MCH services for mothers and children, especially those of low income with limited availability of health services;
• Reduce infant mortality and the incidence of preventable diseases and handicapping conditions among children;
• Reduce the need for inpatient and long term care services and to otherwise promote the health of mothers and children, especially by providing preventive and primary care services for low income mothers and children and prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care for low income mothers;
• Provide rehabilitative services for blind and disabled children under age sixteen receiving benefits under Title XVI of the Social Security Act (to the extent medical assistance under Title XIX for such services is not provided); and
• Provide and promote family-centered, community-based, coordinated care for children with special health care needs and to facilitate the development of community-based systems of services for such children and their families.

State: The Minnesota Legislature (MN Stat 145.88) finds it is in the public interest to assure:

• Statewide planning and coordination of MCH services through:
  • Acquisition and analysis of population-based health data,
  • Provision of technical support and training, and
  • Coordination of various public and private MCH efforts; and
• Support for targeted MCH services in communities with significant populations of high risk, low income families thorough a grants process.

Minnesota's MCH statute (145.882) allocates up to one third of the federal MCH Block Grant funds to MDH for administrative and technical assistance services, projects of regional or statewide significance, direct services to children with chronic illness/handicapping conditions, and other activities of the Commissioner.

Two thirds of the MCH Block Grant funds, supplemented by state general funds, are allocated to Community Health Services (CHS) areas using a formula. Funded activities are targeted to low income and high risk mothers and children in four state wide service areas: improved pregnancy outcomes, family planning, children with chronic illness/handicapping conditions, and childhood injury prevention. These are the Maternal and Child Health Special Project (MCHSP) grants reviewed every other year by the Task Force.

Each year MDH staff write the application to the federal government for the MCH Block Grant Funds, reviewing the application with the Task Force during a public hearing following each year's June Task force meeting. Beginning in 1998, the structure of the application changed to focus on mandated and discretionary performance measures organized under the four core public health services delivered by MCH agencies, and to incorporate the annual report of a previous year's MCH Block-Grant-funded activities. Full copies of the application are available from the MCH Section, by calling 651-201-3650.