The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), specifically the Family Health Section in the Center for Health Advancement, is responsible for carrying out the Title V Maternal & Child Health (MCH) Block Grant functions. As a recipient of the federal block grant, Arkansas is required to complete a statewide needs assessment every five years and develop a plan of action for addressing priorities identified during the process.

The goals of the ADH and the Arkansas Department of Human Services (ADHS) are to provide a document with quality data specific to Arkansas’s Maternal and Child Health (MCH) population groups that sets a foundation for addressing and evaluating progress on identified health priorities; includes input from families and health experts as key processes within the needs assessment process; and, is readily available for use by others who make decisions about and/or develop, provide, and evaluate services to the Arkansas’s MCH population groups.

MCH and the Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Program uses the needs assessment to guide Title V activities for the years 2015-2020. A five-year plan that addresses national and state priorities and sets targets for improvement will be developed using this information. In interim years, changes in Arkansas’s MCH population groups’ strengths and needs will be assessed and monitored and may lead to changes in the identified state priorities, state performance measures, and/or targets set for national and state performance measures. 

Title V Block Grant Application

The Arkansas Title V Maternal and Child Health FY 2021 Application/FY 2019 Annual Report is available here. Previously submitted Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Applications and Annual Reports may be viewed on the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) website.

The Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program State Snapshot produced by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the HRSA, presents high-level data and the executive summary from the most recent Application and Annual Report.