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Pennsylvania was awarded more than $1.2 million in federal funding to support work towards better health, well-being, and long-term outcomes for families.

Promoting Maternal and Child Health

The Department of Human Services announced that Pennsylvania was awarded more than $1.2 million in federal funding to support work towards better health, well-being, and long-term outcomes for pregnant and parenting families of young children. This grant funding will be used to build a comprehensive system of care that will ensure accessible, appropriate, and effective care to young families during the critical prenatal to three-year-old period of child development.

What is included in the continuum of services?

This grant funding, awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, will help the Office of Child Development and Early Learning connect families to a continuum of services that promote positive parenting, early developmental health, and family well-being, including:

• • Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting programs;
• • Early Intervention programs;
• • Children’s Health Insurance Program; and
• • other programs that are overseen by state departments.

How will the funds be used?

This grant provides OCDEL with $255,600 per year for five years, totaling $1,278,000. They will use the funding to hire an Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) program leader and an ECCS family leader to increase the capacity of health, family, and child service systems; coordinate services; and identify gaps in these services for families.

Program and family leaders will also promote an understanding of equity, trauma-informed care, family engagement, and other positive parenting programs and resources available across the state.

Read the Full Release

For more information, read the full press release on the Pennsylvania Pressroom website. To read more news, visit our News page or subscribe to our digital newsletters.