Maternal and Child Health Unit

Title V of the Social Security Act of 1935 established the MCH Services Block Grant. It is designed to assist states in their efforts to improve the health of mothers, children, and families. In Wyoming, the Title V MCH Block Grant is administered through the MCH Unit, within the Wyoming Department of Health. It supports programs that help mothers give birth to healthy babies and promotes access to medical care for children and youth, including those with special health care needs, as they grow and develop.

Every five years, the MCH Unit is required to perform a statewide needs assessment to determine health priorities for women, infants, and children in Wyoming.

• Prevent infant mortality
• Improve breastfeeding duration
• Improve access to, and promote use of, effective family planning
• Promote preventive and quality care for children
• Reduce and prevent childhood obesity
• Prevent injury in children
• Promote preventive and quality care for adolescents
• Promote healthy and safe relationships in adolescents

Title V legislation (Section 505(a)(1)) requires each state to prepare a comprehensive statewide Needs Assessment every five years that identifies (consistent with health status goals and national health objectives) the need for:

• Preventive and primary care services for pregnant women, mothers, and infants up to age one
• Preventive and primary care services for children
• Services for children with special health care needs

The Needs Assessment must consider MCH population health status, MCH program capacity, and partnerships.

The current Needs Assessment process is underway to set Wyoming MCH priorities for 2021-2025. 

Slides from the MCH Unit’s February 10, 2020 Needs Assessment webinar are available here. Proposed focus areas include the following:

• Systems of Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs
• Adolescent Suicide
• Adolescent Motor Vehicle Mortality
• Maternal Mortality
• Infant Mortality
• Childhood Obesity and Overall Health

The MCH Unit invited stakeholders to its Priority Action Team meetings, held March 10-11, 2020, to discuss which strategies related to these focus areas would work best for Wyoming.

The MCH Unit will continue internal strategic planning and seek public input soon. Please check back for more updates.

Please check back for more updates.

To find data related to the MCH priorities and other MCH topics, click here to visit the MCH Epidemiology page.

Your feedback is important to us.  Please take an opportunity to review current and past annual reports and applications.  If you would like to provide us with direct feedback, please contact Danielle Marks, MCH Unit Manager at 307-777-6326 or danielle.marks@wyo.gov.

Current report coming June 2020.

Past reports:

• Final Title V Application and Annual Report (FY20/FY18)
• Final Title V Application and Annual Report (FY19/FY17)
• Final Title V Application and Annual Report (FY18/FY16)
• Final Title V Application and Annual Report (FY17/FY15)

To download the most recent MCH newsletter, click here.