IDPH and DCCH maintain many formal and informal partnerships benefiting Iowa families. This leveraging of resources to plan and implement MCH, including CYSHCN, programs results in a strong statewide network.

MCHB Investments: Iowa manages several MCHB projects, including the State System Development Initiative; Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting; Pediatric Mental Health Initiative; Innovations of Care Coordination for Children and Youth with ASD, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) and Maternal Health Innovation. Other projects include participation in the National MCH Workforce Development Center and other TA opportunities. The Iowa Title V program has a close partnership with Iowa’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disorders Training Program (LEND) through the University of Iowa.

Federal Investments: IDPH and DCCH manage and/or work closely with other federal agency programs that include the PREP, SRAE, Title X Family Planning, Infant and Child Death Review, Early Intervention, and Head Start. Projects through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention include an Oral Disease Prevention grant, a MCH Epidemiologist (CDC assignee), the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, EHDI and Learn the Signs. Act Early. Strong collaborations exist with the US Department of Agriculture’s Special Supplemental Nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children.

HRSA Programs: Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics are important referral sources for MCH contractors for provision of medical and dental care for Medicaid-enrolled families. The MCH program also works with the Behavioral Treatment through In-Home Telehealth for Young Children with Autism and the IPDH STD/HIV/AIDS program.

State and Local MCH Programs: IDPH contracts with local health departments and private, non-profit agencies for MCH program activities. In addition to families, these local MCH contractors work with each county board of health, including participation in regular community health needs assessments and health planning. Projects rely on local coordinators to facilitate partnerships and referrals with medical and dental offices and community organizations. Other state and local partnerships include programs in adolescent health, mental, developmental, and behavioral health programs including Pediatric Integrated Health Homes, Community Circle of Care, and the Regional Autism Assistance program.

IDPH Programs: The MCH program, including CYSHCN, has strong linkages within IDPH Bureaus of Immunizations, Oral and Health Delivery Systems, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, as well as Vital Records & Health Statistics, and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment programs.

Governmental Agencies: A Medicaid policy specialist at DHS provides technical assistance and support to state and local MCH staff. Interagency contracts between IDPH and DHS cover quality service provision for MCH, 1st Five, and I-Smile™; Hawk-i outreach and PE; data sharing; and care coordination reimbursement. Collaborations include the Healthy Child Care Iowa program, work with the Autism Support Program, and training and certification for adults with serious persistent mental illness and families of children with SED. Early Childhood Iowa and the Department of Education’s Early ACCESS (IDEA, Part C), Regional Autism Assistance, Head Start State Collaboration Office, and School Nurse Consultant are also partners.

Public Health and Health Professional Educational Programs and Universities: Iowa has long-standing collaborations with public health and health professional education programs, including UI Colleges of Nursing, Medicine, Public Health, and Dentistry; the University of Northern Iowa; Des Moines University; and community colleges. Activities include education and training for students within health provider training programs, training for MCH contractors about depression screening and Listening Visits, and assistance developing standards of care and evaluating quality of care to reduce mortality and morbidity of infants. Collaborations also include the Iowa LEND program and the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD).

Family/Consumer Partnership and Leadership Programs: Some of the ways that IDPH and DCCH hear family and consumer viewpoints are through focus groups, advisory councils, the Access for Special Kids Resource Center, and Family Voices.

State and Local Public and Private Organizations that Serve the State’s MCH Population: IDPH and DCCH have many public-private partnerships with organizations such as Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation, the Iowa Chapter of the AAP, ChildServe, Blank Children’s Hospital, the Iowa Primary Care Association, the National Alliance on Mental Illness Iowa Chapter, and Common Good Iowa. Opportunities range from funding for school-based dental sealant programs, participation on health advisory councils, and evaluating program data. DCCH is part of the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, Iowa’s only comprehensive children’s hospital.

Family/Consumer Partnerships: DCCH employs a Family and Professional Partnerships Program Manager. This position requires lived experience caregiving for a CYSHCN. The Program Manager assures family partnership at all levels. In addition, DCCH employs 25 family members of CYSHCN as Family Navigators (FN) to work in regional centers and satellite locations. FNs work directly with families to provide family-to-family support and systems navigation. FNs vary in age, urban or rural geographic location, military family status, and special health care needs of their child. DCCH is building a focus on employing FNs from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, DCCH has an active Family Advisory Council, which was started in 2014. Members of the FAC are compensated for meeting attendance and receive stipends for mileage. Both FNs and members of the FAC receive training on MCH core competencies. In 2022, DCCH’s newly formed Youth Advisory Council held it’s first meetings. Eligible applicants were 14-22 years old with special health care needs, or the sibling of a child or youth with special health care needs. The council focuses on building leadership and self-advocacy skills while providing guidance to DCCH programming. In addition DCCH works diligently to expand the workforce for family partnerships through the Family Peer Support program and the Iowa Family Leadership Training Institute.

IDPH maintains family partnerships through 21 MH and 22 CH contract agencies that work directly with families within their service areas, providing care coordination, referral assistance, and gap-filling preventive health services. Families are represented on the Title V MCH Advisory Council (MCHAC) and on local health coalitions and similar types of councils.

Family diversity is woven into the fabric of the MCH program. Contractors regularly respond to the changing needs and backgrounds of families using assessments and feedback from those families and incorporating specific outreach to racial and ethnic communities of color.

The MCHAC includes three family representatives. All members of the MCHAC are given resources for self-training in the MCH core competencies and orientation to the Title V program. Compensation is not provided for participation on MCHAC. The MCHAC assists with assessing needs, prioritizing services, establishing objectives, and encouraging public support for MCH and family planning programs. MCH contractors engage families often and respond to families’ needs based upon interactions. Client surveys help evaluate satisfaction, determine if program services meet client needs, and identify changes to improve program quality. This feedback is not typically compensated.

IDPH works through local Title V MCH contractors to assure health services for families, which include helping clients become better consumers and navigators of the health care system. Contractors report that the majority of family issues they address are related to medical/dental appointments and health issues and services. Contractors also work with families to find assistance with transportation, translation, food, clothing, and housing as well as referrals to other programs.

MCH contractors seek input of families/consumers and respond through changes to programs and policies (e.g. using text messaging for care coordination, use of language lines, and transportation to mental health services).

IDPH provides oversight and consultation for MCH contractors through phone and email communication, annual site visits, quarterly regional meetings, an annual seminar, and regular program-specific meetings such as I-Smile™ trainings. Staff provides technical assistance, monitors data, discusses promising practices, and verifies contractors’ progress toward performance objectives to assure family-centered approaches and overall program quality.