Maternal and child health services - the kentucky title v program is committed to assuring the health and well-being of kentucky's maternal and child health populations

As defined in section 501(a)(1) of the title v legislation, the purpose of the MCH services block grant program is to enable each state: a. To provide and to assure mothers and children access to quality MCH services; b. To reduce infant mortality and the incidence of preventable diseases and handicapping conditions among children, to reduce the need for inpatient and long-term care services, to increase the number of children appropriately immunized, and otherwise to promote the health of mothers and infants by providing prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care for low income, at-risk pregnant women, and to promote the health of children by providing preventive and primary care services for low income children; c. To provide rehabilitation services for blind and disabled individuals under the age of 16 receiving benefits under title XVI, to the extent medical assistance for such services are not provided under title XIX; and d. To provide and to 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. Title v requires a comprehensive needs assessment every five years and state priorities are determined based on the findings. The priorities identified in the 2020-2025 title v needs assessment were: maternal morbidity infant mortality injury (child abuse and neglect) overweight and obesity among teens oral health substance abuse transitions services for children with special health care needs access to care and services for children with special health care needs adequate health insurance coverage data capacity for children with special health care needs in kentucky, 34.9% of the title v block grant is provided to the commission for children with special health care needs. Of the remaining MCH funds, more than half goes to local health departments to provide direct, enabling, and public health services/system building activities depending on the needs of the local MCH populations. The state assures these funds will be used appropriately through a select list of MCH evidence informed strategies that are focused on the identified priorities. The remainder of the MCH allocation is budgeted for public health services and systems. These include surveillance (maternal mortality, child fatality review), workforce development and trainings, information technology systems for data collection, regionalized perinatal care, and technical assistance to local health departments and other agencies for pediatric injury prevention.