State Title V Purpose and Design

RI’s Title V Program is uniquely situated in the Health Equity Institute (HEI) within the office of the Director.  In this organizational structure, Title V acts as an convener, collaborator, and partner in addressing MCH issues within RIDOH and statewide.  Heavy emphasis and investment is placed in health equity and place-based approaches to improving MCH outcomes, including addressing the social determinants of health.  While the responsibility of Title V coordination and reporting falls on HEI staff, the larger Title V team includes staff from all RIDOH programs that touch MCH populations.  This team approach allows Title V to be represented at virtually every MCH policy discussion, committee, or advisory group in the state.

Health Equity Framework

The social and environmental determinants of health, life-course approach, integration of programs, and social and emotional competencies are the four pillars of RIDOHs approach to public health. When allocating resources and making data-driven decisions on what interventions should be implemented, RIDOH uses the following tool to help prioritize its work. 

Addressing Health Disparities

The identification of health disparities is necessary to better identify and describe vulnerable populations in RI so that these groups can be prioritized in public health interventions.  In RI, health disparities are most commonly found among race, ethnicity, geography, education, and income.   HEI currently uses both absolute and relative measures for rates and proportions to measure health disparities.  Current disparity data can be found in each domain updates. Notably, over the past two years the Health Equity Institute (HEI) went through an extensive community engagement process where the Community Health Assessment Group developed a core set of 15 indicators in five domains that affect health equity: integrated healthcare, community resiliency, physical environment, socioeconomics, and community trauma. Data comes from various sources. When possible, data are reported by geographic location, race/ethnicity, disability status, income level, or other demographic characteristics.  A complete list of Rhode Island’s Statewide Health Equity Indicators can be found in the Appendix. 

MCH Program Leadership

RI General Law Section 23-13-1 provides RIDOH with broad authority for administering Title V MCH services.  Specifically, the statute “designates RIDOH as the state agency for administering in RI, the provisions of Title V of the Social Security Act relative to maternal and child health services”.  As the lead  Maternal and Child Health (MCH) authority in the state, the RIDOH has primary responsibility for assessing the health and developmental needs of young families and children in the state; for planning effective measures to address those needs; for evaluating programs and policies affecting the health and development of women, children, and families in the state; and for implementing effective measures to address those needs. Every year, RIDOH reviews its successes and challenges and sets its focus and direction for the coming year. RIDOH evaluates its response to the state priorities and to any emerging issues impacting maternal and child health in Rhode Island.  RIDOH takes into consideration the broad political, social, and environmental factors impacting Rhode Island’s population health, particularly those impacting families. The state of RI’s economy, jobs, healthcare-reform implementation, economic development and recovery, early childhood education, and affordable housing continue to be in the forefront of public debate and state leadership.