Title V maternal and child health needs assessments
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Every state and territory that receives the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant must carry out a statewide needs assessment every five years. The strongest ones are built on what families and providers say, as well as on vital statistics.
How often is a Title V maternal and child health needs assessment required?
Every five years. Under 42 U.S.C. 705(a)(1), each state’s Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant application must contain a statewide needs assessment covering pregnant women, mothers and infants, children, and children with special health care needs. The next one is due in 2030, with the FY2031 application. We take the whole assessment or the family and provider engagement alone.
What the statute requires
- The state’s application must contain “a statewide needs assessment (to be conducted every 5 years)” identifying maternal and child health needs (42 U.S.C. 705(a)(1)).
- The assessment covers women and mothers, infants, children, adolescents, and children and youth with special health care needs, along with program capacity and partnerships (HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau).
- States use it to choose their priority needs and build a five-year action plan, then report progress every year.
Facts on this page were checked against the official sources on October 31, 2026. Rules change; rely on the official announcement or regulation linked here, not on this summary.
Where we fit
State teams usually have the epidemiology. What they are short of is time and hands for the listening.
- Focus groups and interviews with the people the rule says you must hear from
- Surveys of all kinds: community, client, staff and partner
- Quantitative analysis of the public and internal data the assessment has to cite
- Data management, so every figure in the report can be traced to its source
- Expert data visualization, and a written report your board can adopt
- Final reporting in multiple formats: full report, executive summary, slide deck, one-page brief or dashboard
Mixed methods is our default design: qualitative and quantitative data, collected together and reported as one story.
Timing
HRSA says states will submit the next five-year needs assessment in 2030, with the FY2031 application (Federal Register, October 2026). States usually begin twelve to eighteen months before that application, and most contract part of the work through a state request for proposals. We can take the whole assessment or the community and family engagement alone.
Questions people ask
When do states start the Title V needs assessment?
Usually twelve to eighteen months before the application that opens the next five-year cycle. Most states contract part of the work through a state request for proposals.
What is the Title V needs assessment used for?
States use it to choose their priority needs and build a five-year action plan, then report progress every year.
When is the next Title V needs assessment due?
In 2030, as part of the FY2031 application, according to HRSA’s October 2026 Federal Register notice on its block grant guidance.
Is your state’s five-year assessment coming up?
Tell us the state and which part of the assessment you need help with. You will hear back within one business day.
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