Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant
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Title V Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment
Overview
Every five years, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) conducts a comprehensive, community-focused needs assessment to gather information on the health and well-being of women, mothers, children and youth, including children and youth with special health needs (CYSHN), and their families. This assessment helps to provide direction on Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant program activities for the next five years by identifying statewide MCH priority needs. Ongoing needs assessment activities are also completed to keep apprised of emerging issues within MCH populations. Priorities and strategies, in the form of a five-year action plan, are set and/or modified based on the needs of populations, federal requirements, Community Health Board priorities, and the capacity of MDH and local public health (LPH) agencies.
The statewide health assessment focuses on the following populations:
- Women, Pregnant Women, and Mothers
- Infants
- Children
- Adolescents
- Children and Youth with Special Health Needs
2025 Title V Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment and State Action Plan
Guiding questions
The following questions are being used to guide the 2025 Title V Needs Assessment:
- What do Minnesota’s women, children, and families – including children and youth with special health needs – need to thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
- What barriers and challenges do Minnesota’s women, children, and families – including children and youth with special health needs – experience that prevent them from thriving physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
- What is the capacity (systems, structures, policies, processes) of the Minnesota State Enterprise, Minnesota Department of Health, Child and Family Health Division, Local Public Health, and Community Organizations to meet the needs of Minnesota’s women, children, and families in order for them to thrive physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
- How is the Title V Minnesota team meaningfully integrating equity-centered, intersectional, trauma-informed, and people centered frameworks and practices in the 2025 Title V Needs Assessment planning and implementation processes and structure?
- How is the Title V Minnesota team embedding systems transformation in the 2025 Title V Needs Assessment planning and implementation processes and structure?
Timeline
During phase one (Planning), MDH/Title V staff developed the overall needs assessment process and timeline, drafted initial materials that will be finalized and used across the other four phases – including guiding frameworks, analysis templates, and recruitment materials – and formed the internal working group. For more information about the internal working group purpose and group membership see 2025 Title V Needs Assessment Internal Working Group.
During phase two (Landscape Analysis/Environmental Scan), MDH/Title V staff collected and analyzed over 150 documents from programs across the state – including community health improvement plans, programmatic needs assessments, organizational strategic plans, and others – with the aim to gather information on the current landscape of maternal and child health needs across the state. Many of these efforts summarized in the documents were conducted in partnership with a diverse representation of communities across Minnesota. Findings from the landscape analysis will be used as the foundation for phase three of the needs assessment.
Additionally, a steering committee was developed through an application process to help guide phases three through five of the 2025 needs assessment process including codeveloping the Title V priorities, strategies, activities, and measures. Members are both external and internal stakeholders, made up of representatives from local public health, state agencies, health systems, and community/family members, with expertise across the six population domains: infant/perinatal health, child health, adolescent health, children and youth with special health needs, women/maternal health, and cross-cutting/systems building.
During phase three (Prioritization and Action Planning), findings from the landscape analysis in phase two will be used by MDH/Title V staff, the internal working group, and the steering committee to develop a minimum of five priorities - at least one per each of the focus populations listed above, strategies to address each priority, specific activities within each strategy, and measures to monitor progress and change for each priority selected. During this phase, Title V staff will conduct listening sessions and a feedback survey with staff across MDH, as well as with the 51 community health boards in Minnesota. More information will be provided here as this phase progresses.
During phase four (Public Feedback), MDH/Title V staff, the internal working group, and the steering committee will seek feedback from community members across Minnesota about the drafted priorities, strategies, activities, and measures through community listening sessions and a feedback survey. More information will be provided here as this phase progresses.
During phase five (Dissemination), MDH/Title V staff, the internal working group, and the steering committee will integrate community input from phase four to develop written reflections on the needs assessment processes, findings, and plan for next steps, as well as other formats to disseminate back to Minnesota’s communities. More information will be provided here as this phase progresses.
How to stay involved
Please continue to visit this webpage for ongoing updates regarding the 2025 Needs Assessment and contact Elizabeth Taylor-Schiro by emailing elizabeth.taylor-schiro@state.mn.us, if you have any questions about the needs assessment process.