The vision of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at SC DHEC is to achieve “Optimal health and well-being for all MCH populations in South Carolina”. The mission of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is to “improve the health and well-being of women, adolescents, families, and those with special needs in SC. This is accomplished through assessing health needs, assuring access to health services, and developing policies supportive of the mission.”

The MCH Bureau has a significant role to play in the overall agency infrastructure to assure a healthy state for SC’s citizens. The broad goal for MCH is to maintain core MCH public health functions, especially as they are related to infant mortality prevention.  The activities of the bureau are guided by public health principles of assessment/surveillance, assurance, and policy development.   The ten essential public health services are embedded in programmatic functions and grant deliverables. The bureau continues to seek to be recognized as a leader for MCH services by the agency, the regional sites, and with partners throughout the state and nation.

The MCH Bureau strives to assure the health and well-being of mothers and children in SC. The goal encompasses many aspects of a life course continuum for women and children.  The MCH Block Grant provides core staff and funding infrastructure for all 46 counties in all DHEC program areas that work with maternal and child health populations.

Essential services and MCH public health program functions include: 1) Assessing and monitoring maternal and child health status to identify and address problems; 2) Diagnosing and investigating health problems and hazards affecting women, children (including those with special needs), and families; 3) Informing and educating the public about maternal and child health issues 4) Mobilizing community partnerships between policy makers, health care providers, and the general public to identify and solve maternal and child health problems; 5) Providing leadership for priority setting, planning, and policy development to support community efforts to assure the health of women, children (including those with special needs), and families; 6) Promoting and enforcing legal requirements that  protect the health and safety of women, children (including those with special needs), and families; 7) Linking women, children (including those with special needs), and families to health and other community services to assure access to comprehensive, quality systems of care; 8) Assuring the capacity and competency of public health workforce to effectively and efficiently address maternal and child health needs; 9) Evaluating the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal health and of population-based maternal and child health services; and, 10) Supporting research and demonstrations to gain new insights and innovative solutions to maternal and child health related problems.

The MCH Bureau works in tandem with other parts of the agency to ensure smooth and continuous operations.  On a routine basis, the MCH Bureau works with the DHEC-wide Human Resources and administrative departments to ensure that personnel and resource decisions are made strategically. The indirect cost calculated with each salaried MCH position is determined by agency and applied uniformly.  Fees such as the indirect cost are intended to support each bureau with routine costs such as printing, printers, and other items that are purchased across the agency.

Several Administrative DHEC services are centralized and support the agency-wide programs including the MCH Bureau. Centralized functions consist of Communications, Finance, Legislative Affairs, Procurement and Information Technology that work closely with MCH to support everyday business practices and activities. Staff and service integration across the regions afford DHEC the opportunity to offer Title V services statewide in its 76 facilities. Currently, there are nearly 400 individuals partially or fully funded under the MCH Title V Service Block Grant. This represents both clinical and non-clinical staff that service MCH and Preventive Health programs.