An ongoing technical assistance opportunity for Virginia is to increase capacity to understand best practices in addressing substance use disorder in MCH populations and how to best utilize Title V to accomplish this. In the fall of 2016, the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Marissa Levine declared a Public Health Emergency for Virginia in response to the increase numbers of individuals and families impacted by substance use disorder, particularly opioids. This declaration allowed a priority to be given to opioid use in Virginia and allowed mobilization of agencies to address SUD. Title V has contributed public health expertise in surveillance, assurance, policy development, and workforce development to statewide efforts to address substance use; however, one of the emerging questions raised during interagency discussions is what the main drivers of racial/ethnic disparities in access to and utilizations of MAT and mental health services.

A related emerging opportunity is support in developing a state plan to address maternal and infant mortality and morbidity disparities, with particular focus on identifying key drivers of disparities and efficient, innovative, evidence-based community and clinical interventions.

In addition, Virginia was selected to receive technical assistance (TA) from the National MCH Workforce Development Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as part of the 2015-2016 state cohort. Virginia’s project, the Medical Neighborhood, continues to grow, and the VDH Title V team continues to reach out to the MCH Workforce Development Center for ongoing assistance and resources as necessary. Progress on the medical home and training modules, the first project of the medical neighborhood team, is detailed within the CSHCN annual report.

In 2018, Virginia was also selected to receive TA from the MCH Workforce Development Center on development of a statewide developmental screening initiative, to include implementation science expertise and support for stakeholder engagement on visioning and in-depth systems mapping. The team continues to work closely with the Center to develop of a state plan to strengthen the screening-assessment-referral continuum, which will begin with formation of 6 regional hubs. Progress on the Virginia Developmental Screening Initiative is detailed within the Child Health annual report.