The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Youth Policy Lab have announced the selection of 11 provider agencies to participate in a rigorous impact evaluation of Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP), the state’s largest evidence-based home visiting program.
Participating providers will receive funding and technical assistance to implement intensive recruitment and outreach strategies to enroll eligible families in MIHP. The 11 agencies selected to participate in the evaluation represent multiple provider types, including independent freestanding providers, local health departments, health systems and federally qualified health centers, and are located in many regions of the state.
The agencies are as follows:
- Central Michigan District Health Department
- Hurley Medical Center
- My Pregnancy Coach
- Twenty Hands
- All My Children
- Choice One MIHP
- District Health Department #10
- Hackley Community Care Center
- Ingham County Health Department
- Mother’s Friend
- Silverspoon Services
Central Michigan District Health Department, Hurley Medical Center, My Pregnancy Coach and Twenty Hands will begin piloting their intensive outreach strategies in February 2021. The remaining agencies are expected to begin their work in August 2021.
“MIHP provides families with crucial resources and support to ensure infants have a healthy beginning to life,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health. “Even during a pandemic, MIHP providers are finding creative ways to stay connected to families so that parents can safely receive home visiting services. This evaluation will help us learn more about MIHP’s effectiveness and identify the best ways to increase participation.”
With support from a grant from Arnold Ventures, a Houston-based philanthropy with a core mission of investing in evidence-based solutions that maximize opportunity and minimize injustice, MDHHS and the Youth Policy Lab aim to understand MIHP’s impact on maternal health, birth outcomes and health care use. The evaluation is intended to identify effective strategies to increase participation in MIHP and to advance effective practices to improve maternal and infant health in Michigan.
As part of this project, nearly $350,000 will go directly to selected MIHP agencies to hire community health workers to conduct intensive outreach to pregnant and/or parenting families of newborns. The study will support Michigan’s efforts to improve maternal and infant health, and to help reduce disparities in health outcomes.
This announcement was released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The original can be seen here.