Maternal
and Child Health (MCH) Section
Mission
The MCH Section provides statewide leadership and public health information essential for promoting, improving or maintaining the health and well-being of women, children and families throughout Minnesota.
Overview
The programs within the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Section
strive to improve the health status of children and youth, women and their
families. The MCH Section provides a focal point for influencing the efforts
of a broad range of agencies and programs committed to this goal. The Section
supports their efforts by providing administrative and program assistance
to Community Health Boards, Tribal Governments, schools, voluntary organizations,
and private health care providers. In addition, MCH programs continue to give
particular attention to their relationships with Minnesota’s local public
health system and are involved in a number of collaborative activities to
strengthen and enhance this relationship.
The overall role of the MCH Section within Minnesota’s
health care delivery environment is:
- to assess the health needs of mothers, children, and their families;
- to use that information to advocate effectively on their behalf in the
development of policies concerning organizational and operational issues
of health systems; and
- to advocate for programs and funding streams which have the potential
to improve their health.
In addition, the MCH Section has focused on quality assurance
of public sector health services, assurance of targeted outreach and service
coordination for hard-to-reach and high-risk populations, and community health
promotion.
