A case study: public-private planning for preventive maternal and child health services

Abstract

In 1983 a public-private coalition the Executive Service Corps (ESC) Project LIFE was formed in Chicage to confront the issues of teenage pregnancy infant mortality and early childhood morbidity. This article reviews the sequence of events that led to the formation of this coalition summarizes LIFEs 1st 18 months of accomplishments and presents plans for the next 2 years. The development of the ESCs Medicaid Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) program ESCs recent involvement with both Medicaid and HMOs and ESCs general commitment to assisting inner-city minority not-for-profit organizations and agencies sparked a new awareness among agency staff and administration of maternal and child health needs in Chicago. This led to project LIFE; the actual catalyst was provided by the US Health Service Department of Health and Human Services Region V office. ESC convened 15 discipline-based task forces which endorsed the importance of 6 general solutions to the problems of maternal and child health. Responding to recommendations for community education provider coordination and lobbying for reform ESC plans to have its members work with Chicago print and electronic media to disseminate a series of stories on infant mortality and the costs of ignoring that problem. ESC intends to target technical assistance to social service organizations churches schools and other related organizations to enhance their functioning in providing maternal and child health services. ESCs current projects include compiling a compendium of maternal and child health services in the city developing the Family Life Education curriculum developing a city-wide awareness program and working with a consortium of inner-city clergy to determine how the church might help. Another project involves developing estimates of the costs of teenage pregnancy and parenthood for the state of Illinois. In general the ESC has learned that 2 key issues are significant: developing a public awareness of a social problem through a public-private partnership and developing vehicles that can be used to subsequently address the problem.