Maternal and child health services - illinois' title v program (title v) is viewed as the state's leader in the maternal and child health field

A primary role of this leadership capacity is to guide MCH priorities, state policy, and foster community support for agencies on a vast spectrum of public health domains. The illinois title v program is seated within the office of women's healthcare and family services (owhfs) in the illinois department of public health (idph). The university of illinois chicago's division of specialized care for children and the owhfs' division of maternal child health (MCH) work collaboratively to administer the title v block grant across illinois. Illinois, as a state, represents a mix of populate urban areas such as chicago and the collar counties that the suburbs LIE in all the way to the largely rural areas of the central and southern parts of the state. There are vastly different healthcare needs given the landscapes illinoisans' live in. In 2021, there were 2.5 million women of reproductive age (ages 15-44) who resided in illinois. In 2021, there were approximately 132,000 births to illinois residents, with 55% born to white women, 16% to black women, 21% to hispanic women, 6% to asian women, 0.3% to american indian/alaska native women, and 1.4% to non-hispanic women of other races (includes native hawaiian or other pacific islander, other race, and multiple-race women). In 2021, nearly 1 in 4 (22.1%) illinois residents were under age 18 - a total of approximately 2.8 million children. Approximately 6% of the total population, around 700,000 children, is under the age of 5. Nearly three-fourths of the illinois population resides in cook county (includes chicago) and the five surrounding counties. The remainder of the population lives in smaller urban areas or rural areas. More than two-thirds of its 102 counties are classified as non-metropolitan, and approximately 1.4 million illinoisans live in rural communities. There is substantial geographic variation in the availability of health care, which impacts MCH outcomes. Idph's work is paramount to ensuring all illinoisan's have access to equitable health care and family support services. Programs provided by block grant funding allows implementation of a broad system level approach to improve the health and well-being of mothers, infants, children, children with special healthcare needs, and adolescents across illinois. Title v funds are leveraged to expand building systems that coordinate services across domains, while keeping the primary goal of investing in policies that support the most vulnerable populations at the forefront. Illinois' title v staff convene stakeholders, disseminates data, and implements best practice programs to improve population health. Title v leadership sits at many state and local tables to ensure that priorities are aligned and that opportunities to utilize title v funds are leveraged appropriately. In addition, IT uses its position to assist in addressing health care system challenges, such as improving the quality of services, highlighting the need for adequacy of insurance, improving health literacy, and emphasizing the importance of addressing social determinants of health in the MCH population.