2022-2026 Perinatal Health Strategic Plan
Goal 1: Address Economic and Social Inequities
- Implement or update policies within public service agencies at state and local levels to reduce institutional and structural racism
- Implement training to ensure high-quality data collection and analysis on race, ethnicity, gender identity, and disability status across health systems
- Increase the number of health systems using data on race and ethnicity to improve the delivery of health services and monitor equity
- Provide staff training to all NC DHHS staff and ongoing professional development on equity that builds understanding of and competencies to advance health equity
- Perinatal health care providers should participate in training around health equity, implicit bias, and cultural competency
- Increase the number of counties that recognize racism as a public health crisis and use collaborative community dialog to develop plans to increase equity, safety, and well-being in communities
- Develop and implement plans in the workplace to increase diversity, especially in leadership positions
- Implement the Reentry Action Plan developed by the Department of Public Safety to foster successful reintegration into community, including job placement, for formerly incarcerated people
Point 2. Support working parents and families
- Create and expand legislation to provide paid family medical leave, earned paid sick leave, kin care, and safe days for all caregivers
- Increase accessible high-quality childcare for all children (including infants, toddlers, and those with special health care needs) by expanding the availability of childcare subsidies and by increasing the subsidy rate to more adequately meet the cost of care
- Strengthen policies to support breastfeeding in the workplace and in childcare centers, and increase knowledge and uptake of breastfeeding friendly policies
- Increase enrollment in Pathway 2 and Pathway 3 lactation training programs, and increase reimbursement for the breastfeeding support workforce
- Create safe and healthy workplaces for people of reproductive age by passing legislation to ensure reasonable pregnancy accommodations
- Work with employers to ensure tobacco cessation services are provided to all employees
- Eliminate taxation on sanitary products including menstrual supplies, diapers, and breastfeeding supplies
Point 3. Reduce poverty among people of reproductive age and families
- Improve data collection to comprehensively track how living in poor or near-poor homes and communities affects health outcomes over the life course
- Implement policies that ensure a livable wage and equity in compensation
- Implement policies to reduce poverty (e.g., promotion of financial literacy education, increasing uptake of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, and restoration of the state Earned Income Tax Credit)
- Maintain the COVID-19 enhancements to federal nutrition programs
- Increase funding for stable, safe, and affordable housing, especially during times of disaster and recovery
Point 4. Close the education gap
- Increase high school and post-high school graduation rates, and promote and increase access to higher education, trade schools, and continuing education over the life course.
- Develop secondary and post secondary education initiatives such as childcare, parental leave, and breastfeeding accommodations to support educational goals during the child-bearing years.
- Increase racial, ethnic, gender, and disability status diversity among school and childcare leadership, school and childcare staff, and the institutions that train them.
- Implement training with the early childhood workforce around social emotional health in families.
- Ensure that childcare teachers receive compensation and benefits (including health insurance) that match their skills and education.
- Disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, beginning with preschool, by reducing the use of school suspensions and expulsions and increasing the use of counseling services.
Last Modified: August 15, 2023