DHHS: DPH: WICWS: Perinatal Health Strategic Plan: Goal 2 � Strengthen Families and Communities

Goal 2 - Strengthen Families and Communities

Lower barriers to broadband internet deployment
Educate community leaders and low-income households on affordable broadband options
Increase access to stable, safe, and affordable housing
Increase access to nutrition education and healthy foods by referring families to local WIC clinics and other nutrition food assistance and nutrition education resources (e.g., SNAP, NSLP, CACFP, SNP)
Incorporate active transportation infrastructure (e.g., sidewalks, bicycle routes, public transit) into jurisdictional planning
Reduce exposures to environmental toxins including, but not limited to, lead, agricultural pesticides, flame retardants, and PFAS
Support civic participation through building community networks and increasing voter participation and engagement with policymakers at the local and state levels
Invest in programs and resources to mitigate and reduce forms of community violence including intimate partner violence, police brutality and over-policing, gun violence, and human trafficking

Increase implementation sites for programs that offer evidence-based and community-informed reproductive life planning, including Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiatives (TPPI), Healthy Beginnings, and fatherhood initiatives
Develop and implement programs in schools and community settings about puberty, reproductive health care, healthy relationships, and selecting a provider for youths and their parents/caregivers
Work with state partners to implement reproductive life planning and reproductive justice trainings for health care providers, school staff, and others
Increase businesses, faith entities, and public buildings that qualify as breastfeeding friendly, and normalize breastfeeding in public spaces

Increase enrollment of community agencies and providers into NCCARE360
Increase the use of Care Management for High-Risk Pregnant Women (CMHRP) and NCCARE360
Decrease fragmentation in service delivery by automatically transitioning postpartum people on Pregnancy Medicaid to Medicaid, if eligible, or to the NC "Be Smart" Family Planning Medicaid Program
Complete a feasibility study on adding Medicaid coverage for antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum doula services
Increase the number of Prepaid Health Plans (PHPs) that cover doula services
Increase the number of patient and family advisory councils within DPH agencies, and increase patient and community membership on advisory boards of contracted partners
Elevate the role of community health workers in addressing the social drivers of health
Develop a statewide structure for maternal home visiting to ensure equitable access for all pregnant and postpartum women
Promote the use of the Breastfeeding Attrition Prediction Tool - Breastfeeding Control (BAPT-BFC), and/or another applicable screening tool, by maternal health providers to identify mothers at risk for not meeting their breastfeeding goal
Expand efforts to prevent infant deaths related to unsafe sleep environments.

Increase implementation sites for evidence-based parenting programs to strengthen parenting skills (e.g., Family Connects, Triple P, CenteringParenting, Nurturing Parenting)
Improve/develop guidelines for the inclusion of males and other caregivers in preconception, prenatal, interconception, postpartum, and early childhood health and human services
Institute gender equity in policies, and use evidence-based strategies to promote healthy family relationships (e.g., normalizing the use of paid family leave and kin care leave by fathers, installing changing tables in men's restrooms)
Increase implementation sites for evidence-based fatherhood programs to promote fatherhood engagement within the family (e.g., 24/7 Dad and DoctorDad)

Last Modified: April 24, 2023