Family partnerships are essential to the success of the MCH program for insights and issues raised that are not reiterated to the program directly.  Family partnership participation is recruited through a variety of methods, including those who use the services, pediatricians, schools, workshops, health fairs, word of mouth, non‐profit organizations and committees.  Several parents of special needs children are members of the Inter agency initiatives.  MCH also partners with the Palau Parents Empowered (PPE), a non-profit organization that supports parents of children with disabilities.  Information and education are being developed for families of CYSHCN to empower them to provide input on policies and program activities and to assist in disseminating program information to families in their network.  It is through this partnership that the program develops and strengthens the interagency committee so that services and care coordination can be fully utilized by those that need it.  The program also partners with Kotel A Deureng for continued growth of the breastfeeding initiative in the clinics, private sectors, policy development and outreaches.  The Title V program works with OMUB (community advisory council for cancer in Palau) to promote cancer prevention efforts through education and behavioral change strategies.

The Title V program is a member of various organizations that promote family centered services, community based and coordinated care for all of our clients.  These are essential ‘family health’ partnerships that have been developed through the years.

1. Family Planning, Information & Education Committee.  This committee advises the family planning program on appropriate information and education materials for the various ethnic backgrounds on the island.  This group also discusses key issues that are happening/impacting users and potential users right now.  Topics range from teen pregnancy, contraception, religion, finances and culture to name a few.  This committee assists plays an important role to the program office as they provide an entry point into their community and peers. 
2. Adolescent Health Program & School Principals:  Each year this team meets to discuss issues and ideas on how to equip teachers with the necessary tools to enable our children to be more active and lead healthier lives.
3. Health Advisory Committee.  This committee discusses health and safety in the head start centers.  The program participates in parent trainings, stakeholder meetings and also participation of inspections before school starts to ensure they follow guidelines.  Parent trainings are provided based on the head start needs assessment that is completed every year as well as specific requests made by individual schools.
4. Nutrition Committee:  This committee adopted breastfeeding as one of its goals to further promote the effectiveness and benefits of breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding through six months. This committee as part of the NCD Mechanism provides education and community awareness on the benefits of breastfeeding.
5. Head Start Policy Council– to ensure that all centers follow policies that cover hiring, personnel receive appropriate training and centers follow safety protocols for all children that are enrolled in the centers.
6.  CSN Committee, review CSN cases (home visits, transportation services) – this committee meet to discuss current children with special health care needs that have been identified by a Pediatrician or Psychiatrist. Every month, clinical providers, head start, special education, partner family NGO meet to discuss progress of children and update on specialty clinics that will be available.
7. UNHSI Advisory Committee – strategic and program planning.  This committee advises the program on how to improve service coordination for children that have been identified with a hearing loss or is suspected of a hearing loss.
8. Health Promotion and Outreach Team – program outreach and awareness.  This is a team that comprises of clinicians, educators and program staff from programs under the division of primary and preventive health.  These programs include immunization, NCD, CDU as well as the health centers to enable access to care to those that would normally not be able to travel to the clinics to access services.
9. Health & PE Planning Committee – this committee works with the Ministry of Education in upskilling the current workforce (teachers/curriculum development personnel) in the areas of health and physical education.  It also provides an annual venue for all schools to convene and share/discuss good practices that have been implemented and delve further on how to improve on current ones. 
10.  Division of Primary & Preventive Health Conference Committee – this conference brings all the programs under the division to look at how we can improve on services that are offered back to the community.  Each program share their goals, report on accomplishments and provide continuing education opportunities for clinical and non-clinical staff.
11.  Public Health Convention Committee – this conference brings all the programs under the Bureau of Public Health to report out to the community.  Through this forum we gather feedback from the community on we can best serve them through the provision of our current services and how to improve/bring in new services.  Each program share their goals, report on accomplishments.
12. Health Care Coalition – this is a coalition of various agencies that assist the National Emergency Management Office and Public Health Emergency Health in response to disasters and emergencies.  The Unit is a partner in this coalition in ensuring that the MCH population, including children and youth with special health care needs, are protected in times of emergencies.
13. Seat belts Are For Everyone (SAFE) Committee – this is a multilateral partnership of government agencies and civil society organizations focused on educating the community, especially children, the benefits of proper road safety and restraint measures as well as the requirements of the new seatbelt law and the importance of wearing a seatbelt.

Palau does not have and is not eligible for Medicaid and SCHIP. Family/Consumer Partnerships