History and Purpose

The Maternal and Child Leadership Skills Training Institute began in 1984 and held its first training session in September 1985. Previously based at San Diego State University and the University of Minnesota, and currently based at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the MCH Training Institute offers continuing education and training to increase leadership skills for key management personnel in State Title V Maternal and Child Health and Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) programs in the United States.

The Maternal and Child Health Leadership Skills Training Institute (formerly the Maternal and Child Health Continuing Education Institute to Increase Leadership Skills) was initiated in 1985 to respond to the needs of those in leadership positions of state Maternal and Child Health programs. The curriculum was developed to respond to the need for training related to leadership rather than clinical skills. Recognizing that most MCH leaders had extensive clinical training and experience and that opportunities to enhance clinical expertise exist widely, the Institute chose to focus on skills such as communication, negotiation, grant writing, planning and advocacy.

In 1988 a second level of leadership skills training was developed to encompass the areas of organizational change, performance management, advanced negotiation skills, many aspects of understanding and using data and legislative advocacy. In 1990, the original program was modified to include both state MCH and CSHCN staff and to include instruction in and discussion of federal guidelines for state planning and the history and philosophy of maternal and child health.

In 1996 the training content of the Institute was modified again. In response to decreasing usefulness of the Introductory/Advanced format, and to the growing pressure on MCH and CSHCN programs to coordinate and integrate services more directly with non-Title V agencies, the Institute's Curriculum Advisory Committee developed a plan to refocus the two curricula. One, Planning, Implementing and Evaluating Programs (PIE), focused on program leadership within a state Title V program. A second theme, Systems, focused on the issues of leadership required to address the growing need to coordinate and integrate with programs outside of the current Title V domain. These curricula were developed and implemented during the 1995-96 project year.

Since the inception of the project in 1985, through October 2002, 64 institute sessions have trained 2,157 State Title V staff from all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Specific areas of training include planning, needs assessment, evaluation, quality assurance, inter-agency collaboration, communication, negotiation, organizational behavior, conflict resolution, advocacy, budgets, funding, contracting, use of consultants and technical assistance, program and policy development, core public health functions, resource development and cultural competence.