The Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network for Children With Medical Complexity.

In response to a number of emerging issues, in 2017 the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau funded its first collaborative quality improvement network aimed at improving the quality of life for children with medical complexity, the well-being of their families and the cost-effectiveness of their care. This paper is intended as a brief introduction to the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Advance Care for Children with Medical Complexity or CMC CoIIN project. In it, you will learn about the origins of the project, the guiding principles used to cocreate and promote measurable, meaningful family engagement in systems-level change efforts, its goals and objectives, the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the project and some high-level learnings from our experiences, which have implications for future care delivery improvements for this growing and vulnerable population of children.

A Blueprint for Change: Guiding Principles for a System of Services for Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs and Their Families.

Children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families continue to face challenges in accessing health care and other services in an integrated, family-centered, evidence-informed, culturally responsive system. More than 12 million, or almost 86%, of CYSHCN ages 1-17 years do not have access to a well-functioning system of services. Further, the inequities experienced by CYSHCN and their families, particularly those in under-resourced communities, highlight the critical need to address social determinants of health and our nation's approach to delivering health care. To advance the system and prioritize well-being and optimal health for CYSHCN, the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau, with input from diverse stakeholders, developed a set of core principles and actionable strategies for the field. This article presents principles and strategies in the Blueprint for Change: Guiding Principles for a System of Services for CYSHCN and Their Families (Blueprint for Change), which acknowledges the comprehensive needs of CYSHCN, a changing health care system, and the disparities experienced by many CYSHCN. Four critical areas drive the Blueprint for Change: health equity, family and child well-being and quality of life, access to services, and financing of services. Although discussed separately, these critical areas are inherently interconnected and intend to move the field forward at the community, state, and federal levels. Addressing these critical areas requires a concerted, holistic, and integrated approach that will help us achieve the goal that CYSHCN enjoy a full life from childhood through adulthood and thrive in a system that supports their families and their social, health, and emotional needs, ensuring their dignity, autonomy, independence, and active participation in their communities.

Likely Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Newborn Hearing Screening and Follow-up Services in the United States in 2020.

This perspective aims to highlight aspects of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) newborn hearing screening and follow-up processes that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and considers factors that likely impacted follow-up after failing newborn hearing screening among infants born in the United States during 2020. Efforts to minimize the potential impact of missed or delayed identification of hearing loss in infants and young children will also be discussed to help guide future program improvement activities.

Dialing for help: state telephone hotlines as vital resources for parents of young children.

Toll-free telephone hotlines operated by the states are increasingly being used by families to obtain reliable advice on their young children's health and well-being. Originally created for prenatal-care assistance alone, these lines now cover a wide range of early-childhood issues. But while the majority of the lines deliver high-quality information, promptly and empathetically, to their callers, there is still considerable room for improvement. For example, greater use could be made of experts in early-childhood services, and of knowledgeable parents, for speaking with callers and training other staff. The lines could also be made more easily accessible in several ways: through the national 800 number for childhood issues, via the more general 2-1-1 number for community-based services, and by means of a Web site for each line so that it could serve its audience at virtually any time of the day or night.