What is the Title V MCHBG Needs Assessment?
The Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant (MCHBG) is a federal program focused on improving the health of women, children—including children with special healthcare needs—and their families and is administered in Montana by the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). The Title V MCHBG provides funding to support maternal and child health programs at the state and county health departments. States complete a needs assessment every five years to gather information on families’ needs to support program improvements. The Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities (RIIC) is leading the needs assessment process for Montana.
As part of the statewide needs assessment, RIIC has initiated a Montana Indigenous Communities component to ensure that the health needs and strengths of American Indian families living on and off reservations are included. The Tribal engagement process began in the summer of 2023, working closely with the American Indian Health Director at DPHHS. The RIIC team hosted an exhibitors table at the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Health Conference in August of 2023 and asked attendees for input on engaging Indigenous families in the needs assessment. Attendees noted the importance of face-to-face interactions and identified attending community events as a good way to reach people. The RIIC team used this information to shape a needs assessment plan and presented it at the American Indian Health Leaders meeting in September 2023 and in outreach meetings with Tribal Health Directors for additional feedback.
The outreach and engagement phase of the needs assessment informed the development of a parent/guardian survey and a data collection plan. The RIIC team is pursuing Tribal Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval and Tribal Resolutions to conduct the parent/guardian survey at powwow events on the reservations over the summer of 2024. Additionally, the RIIC team sought the 老虎机攻略 IRB approval to host exhibitors' tables to conduct the parent/guardian survey at the University/College powwows in the spring of 2024. The information gathered from the Montana Indigenous Communities component of the needs assessment will be included in the statewide Title V MCHBG report and shared with the Tribal communities.