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Description of Organization:
The Maternal and Child Health Consortium (MCHC) is a non-profit, community-based organization with the mission of improving maternal and child health through the collaborative efforts of individuals, providers and policy makers. MCHC’s programs include: Healthy Start, a national initiative to improve maternal and child health outcomes through outreach, home visiting, case management, depression screening and health education (prenatal and parenting classes); Health Insurance Enrollment, a county-wide initiative to enroll uninsured adults and children in Medicaid and SCHIP, Interpreter Training and Services, which offer training and assessment of bilingual health and human service providers and interpretation and translation services on a fee-for-service basis; and Family Center, which provides home visiting, resource linkages, developmental screenings, parenting education and school readiness activities for parents and their children ages 2 to 5 years, using the Parents as Teachers curriculum. MCHC receives funding support from federal, state and county governments, as well as public and private funders.

Description of project:
MCHC is partnering with six local organizations to reduce disparities in the rates of low birth weight and mental health, specifically prenatal and postpartum depression, for pregnant and parenting women. Through this project, MCHC and its community partners expect to close the gap in health outcomes experienced by African-American and Latino women by increasing awareness of health disparities, improving patient-provider interaction and improving cultural and linguistic competency through direct service and professional development training. MCHC and community partners will coordinate medical and social services case management support for pregnant women and their infants. Additionally, MCHC and community partners will provide education, depression screening, support groups and access to mental health services for pregnant and parenting women. Professional development training will be offered to improve the cultural effectiveness of health and human service providers.