Maternal and Family Health Services, Inc. (MFHS), an innovative health and human service organization dedicated to meeting the needs of the community through information, education, and quality care, will leverage 50 years’ experience as a Title X grantee to deliver its MFHS Title X Reproductive Health Program to the 15 Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) counties of Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne, and Wyoming. MFHS administers reproductive health care across its 15-county service area through a network of direct and contract service providers. The MFHS Reproductive Health network comprises diverse direct service delivery and subrecipient agencies including Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Centers, Planned Parenthood, higher education facilities, health care centers, and US Department of Labor Job Corps sites. All MFHS reproductive health centers are located in or near designated Medically Underserved Areas and/or Health Professional Shortage Areas.
MFHS will continue to provide oversight to the provider network throughout NEPA and partner with its current subrecipient network to provide quality reproductive health services to individuals in need. MFHS will also leverage existing referral opportunities within its own programs, focusing on expanded education and outreach opportunities with the MFHS-administered Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Home Visitation programs. Currently, the five MFHS direct service sites are all co-located facilities with WIC programs, maximizing the opportunity for referral care for those seeking reproductive health services. In addition, MFHS manages additional reproductive health education programs such as the Personal Responsibility and Education Program (PREP), which promotes healthy relationships and lifestyles based on scientific research to change behavior, and the Health Resource Center initiative, which provides in-school counseling, education, and referrals to reproductive health services to adolescents.
Of the 16,306 unduplicated individuals receiving services annually from the MFHS Title X Reproductive Health program, 10,698 (66%) are low-income clients. Approximately 71% of clients served fall between the ages 18 to 34, specifically those between the ages 20 and 24, with 14,139 of these clients (87%) being female. About 41% of the total population is White, and roughly 31% of the population served identified their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latino. MFHS will continue to improve and expand accessibility to Title X services, including STD prevention and HIV services, client education and counseling, infertility services, preconception counseling, and continuum of care, that are of the highest quality and consistent with nationally recognized care standards. The project will address significant areas of unmet need in the service area related to reproductive and sexual health as well as overall health status, including identified gaps in contraceptive care, LGBTQ+ affirming care, and teen pregnancy services, and care for individuals with disabilities.
MFHS’s proposed five-year Title X plan responds to the Biden-Harris administration commitment to advancing health equity, including access to family planning and sexual health services. The plan has been developed within a reproductive justice framework and aligns with nationally recognized standards of care, federal and state initiatives, and benchmarking (e.g., Healthy People 2030, American Council of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, PA Department of Health, Quality Family Planning Recommendation, National Quality Forum – Endorsed Contraceptive Care Quality Measures, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, CDC, HHS Healthy Women, Healthy Pregnancies, Healthy Futures to Improve Maternal Health in America, etc.).