The National Healthy Start Association (NHSA) is currently working with eight Healthy Start communities across the U.S. to make life healthier for moms, babies, and families. Through the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Policy Innovation Program (MCH PIP), communities are creating city, county, or state policies that address everyday challenges like housing, food, transportation, and access to care, which impact maternal child health outcomes. Each team is inclusive of various perspectives regarding Healthy Start – a project director, consortium manager, fatherhood practitioner, and a participant with lived experience. NHSA is one of six grantees for this initiative.
The Healthy Start Communities’ currently participating in MCH PIP are:
- Columbus, OH: My Baby and Me – Addressing food insecurity and transportation
- Louisville, KY: Healthy Beginnings Connect Us Healthy Start – Focusing on houselessness, transportation, and economic development
- New Orleans, LA: Healthy Start – Improving access to healthcare and healthy food
- Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh Healthy Start – Strengthening healthcare access and quality
- Riverside/San Diego/San Bernardino, CA: Global Communities, Healthy Start Enhanced: Addressing housing insecurity and disaster preparedness
- Tougaloo, MS: Delta Partners, Healthy Start, Tougaloo College– Expanding access to care through transportation
Each community will develop and implement a policy to address their community-identified MCH policy solution by September 2027.