Missouri Department Of Health & Senior Services

Missouri Department Of Health & Senior Services (MDHSS), a child entity of the State of Missouri, operates as a federal grant and contract recipient delivering public health, nutrition, and vital statistics services to over seventy federal agencies. The agency acts predominantly as a prime recipient on formula grants and cooperative agreements rather than as a federal contractor competing for work; nearly all awards are federal grants flowing through MDHSS to support state-level public health operations and pass-through funding to local sub-recipients.

MDHSS's federal footprint spans three primary capability areas. Nutrition and child welfare programs represent the largest dollar concentration: the agency administers multiple Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) formula grants (CFDA 10.557) covering food expenses, administration, and breastfeeding peer counseling; Child Nutrition Program (CNP) formula grants supporting National School Lunch Program meal reimbursement and Child and Adult Care Food Program administration (CFDA 10.555, 10.560, 10.558); and Commodity Supplemental Food Program administration (CFDA 10.565). The agency also manages Older Americans Act formula grants across Title III congregate and home-delivered meals, supportive services, family caregiver support, disease prevention, and ombudsman services (CFDA 93.044, 93.045, 93.052, 93.041, 93.042, 93.043), along with adult protective services grants (CFDA 93.698). Vital statistics and laboratory testing form the second capability area: MDHSS holds a $3.65 million indefinite delivery contract with the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) for vital statistics data collection and reporting (CFDA 93.351), with multiple delivery orders issued for birth and death certificate data services. The agency also operates as a federal contractor for human food inspections (FDA, $2.37 million definitive contract awarded September 2026), Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) inspections (FDA, $1.56 million awarded 2022), and enumeration-at-birth records for the Social Security Administration ($2.59 million). Public health emergency preparedness and disease prevention represent the third area: MDHSS is a cooperative agreement recipient under CDC programs addressing immunization, HIV prevention and surveillance, tuberculosis, emerging infectious diseases, and opioid overdose response. The agency also receives grants for environmental health programs including lead hazard reduction (HUD, $1.2 million), Superfund site health education (EPA), radon risk reduction (EPA), and lead testing in schools and childcare facilities (EPA).

Customer concentration is highly fragmented across seventy federal agencies. The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service leads by award count (119 awards) but not by dollar value. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living (111 awards) and the CDC (102 awards) place many smaller formula-grant allocations. By combined potential value, FDA dominates nutrition and inspection contracts ($14.1 million across 20 awards), followed by CDC Pittsburgh ($13.7 million across vital statistics and disease surveillance orders) and the Social Security Administration ($12.7 million for death records and enumeration services). The top five customers account for approximately 40 percent of awards but only 72 percent of combined potential value, indicating that MDHSS manages a high-volume, low-dollar-average grant portfolio typical of state health agency operations.

MDHSS competes exclusively in full-and-open, non-set-aside procurements and receives formula allocations; it does not hold SBA certifications and does not compete on set-aside vehicles. Recent activity shows stable volume: 43 awards in 2022, 51 in 2023, 50 in 2024, and 44 in 2025. Recompete exposure over the next twenty-four months includes 58 awards with combined potential value of $3.3 million—primarily formula grants subject to annual reallocation and renewal rather than traditional contract recompetitions. Vehicle work flows through several standing IDV relationships with HHS agencies, including Basic Ordering Agreements and indefinite delivery contracts for pass-through nutrition and aging services funding.

The agency's federal award portfolio reflects its statutory role as Missouri's state health authority. MDHSS administers over one thousand federal awards spanning health services, vital statistics, regulatory compliance, and nutrition program administration, managing approximately $8.11 billion in obligated federal funding (reflecting cumulative prior-year carryovers and multi-year formula allocations). As a state government recipient, MDHSS distributes the vast majority of federal dollars as sub-awards and pass-through funding to local public health agencies, county health departments, Area Agencies on Aging, school districts, community action agencies, and nonprofit providers across Missouri.