Maternal and Child Health Related Grants

DSHS Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant is a Federal-State partnership program managed by the Maternal and Child Health Section (MCHS). This block grant was authorized under Title V of the Social Security Act (SSA) and is one of the largest federal block grant programs. The program functions as a key resource in supporting pregnant women, mothers, and children’s health and well-being.

Maternal and child health related grants are used to assist various systems of care for maternal and child populations, including vulnerable populations who are without access to adequate health care. Funds are often used in services to assure access to quality health care for mothers and children, reduce infant mortality, increase screenings of children, implement systems of coordinated care for children with special health care needs, and assist pregnant women with Medicaid applications.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) categorizes the funding for Maternal and Child Health programs according to the following five sources:

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

ALN Number 93.994 Maternal and Child Health Grants have provided total assistance of $5,492,733,743 (about $17 per person in the US) (about $17 per person in the US) since 2018 (The Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS)). According to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), “In 2019, the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program funded 59 states and jurisdictions to provide health care and public health services for an estimated 60 million people. Services reached 92% of all pregnant women, 98% of infants, and 60% of children nationwide, including children with special health care needs.”

*Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN), formerly the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA).

Categories of individuals that the grant benefitted and the scope of services (PDF)

Every year, Congress will set funding for this grant, and individual states use a formula to determine the allotments. The formula is based on a comparison of the proportion of low-income children in an individual state to the total number of low-income children in the U.S. At the local level, states and jurisdictions are required to match the federal funds, but most of the time, the states exceed the minimum matching requirement (overmatch).

Source: Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant: Background and Funding

For example, Region 6 (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX)’s budget and expenditure funding chart, shown below, is in line with the national figures. The state MCH program provides the most funds because of the overmatch. Therefore, there is more funding available each year for the program.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Federal Reporting Requirements

There are three mandatory reporting mechanisms at both the state and national levels:

Needs Assessment

Must be performed every five years

Annual Report

Must include program participation data, state maternal and child health measures, and state pediatric and family workforce measures

Independent Audit

Must be performed every two years

Source: Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant: Background and Funding

DSHS Reporting Requirements

Reporting for fund disbursement:

• The System Agency will reimburse the allowable costs incurred in performing the Project scope of work. The costs must be sufficiently documented.
• Grantees can submit requests for monthly reimbursement using the State of Texas Purchase Voucher (Form B-13).
• Grantees will be paid on a cost-reimbursement basis and in accordance with the Budget.

Monitoring for fund validation:

• DSHS will monitor Grantee’s expenditures on a quarterly basis

Audit Requirement:

• If the expenditure thresholds were met, the grantee must have a single audit or program-specific audit; otherwise, each grantee must provide financial statements.

Applicable cost principles, audit requirements, and administrative requirements include, but are not limited to: