The Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) conducts statewide emergency planning in Maryland. MEMA oversees development of four Operations Plans, including Prevention/Protection, Response, Disaster Recovery, and Mitigations plans. These plans are part of a hierarchy that also includes a Training and Exercise Plan and an All-Hazards Mitigation Plan, which together comprise the Maryland Emergency Preparedness Program that serves as Maryland’s strategic plan for emergency preparedness. Publicly-accessible planning materials are available from as late as 2019-2020. While those materials do not specifically address the needs of at-risk and medically vulnerable women, infants, and children, or MCH populations more generally, the toolkits are available for planning for people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, which indicates attention to vulnerable populations.

Currently, Maryland's Title V leadership is not a direct part of Maryland's incident management structure and has not been involved in statewide plan development or other emergency preparedness planning activities. However, the Title V program has indirect access through a line of communication with the MDH Office of Preparedness and Response, which is housed in a different MDH division than that which houses the Title V program.

Emergency preparedness planning needs for MCH populations have been recognized  through lessons learned from experience in prior disasters or other emergencies. In 2018, the Office of Preparedness and Response partnered with the Maryland Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to conduct a preparedness survey of pediatricians on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This served as a starting point for pediatric preparedness discussions in 2019 between Title V, the Office of Preparedness and Response, and a small group of stakeholders from academic clinical centers. The Title V program has not participated in preparedness training and planning to date, but the 2019 discussions provide a foundation for further planning in SFY 22 around pediatric disaster preparedness and, in turn, maternal and child health more generally.

Discussions of the need for dedicated pediatric emergency preparedness planning developed from an existing relationship between Title V staff and staff in the MDH Office of Preparedness and Response. The Office of Preparedness and Response partnered with in 2018 Maryland's Title V program is embedded within the MDH Maternal and Child Health Bureau, which houses key statewide public health programs, including newborn screening follow up, critical congenital heart defect screening compliance, newborn hearing screening, home visiting, WIC, access to specialty care for uninsured children, and family planning. While no formal preparedness planning has been undertaken within these programs, Title V is inherently positioned to lead such planning and access the expertise of the Office of Preparedness and Response. Maryland's immunization program is housed within a sister bureau at MDH, and the COVID-19 pandemic has afforded opportunities to develop and strengthen Title V’s partnership with the immunization program.