Pregnant People-Infant Linked Longitudinal Surveillance - In this application, the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) is proposing activities that directly address two priority exposures and outcomes of significant public health interest: neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and stillbirths. These conditions were selected due to 1) their negative impact on women, infants, and families in Florida; 2) their clear alignment with priorities of the CDC’s Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, Healthy People 2030 maternal, infant, and child health (MICH) objectives, and the US Department of Health and Human Services 2022-2026 Strategic Plan; 3) our team’s legislative authority, organizational capacity, history of funding, and expertise in surveillance of these conditions; and 4) the need to sustain, improve, and expand our current surveillance activities to maximize reach to underserved and underrepresented populations in the state and to augment our ability to monitor longer-term outcomes for families affected by these conditions. Collectively, our proposed activities will 1) coordinate with CDC and recipients of other components to identify opportunities for collaboration, improve data quality, and disseminate findings; 2) engage in data modernization initiatives; 3) establish collaborations with internal and external program partners to strengthen data collection and translation of data; 4) routinely monitor and evaluate data for completeness, accuracy, and timeliness; 5) use data for prevention activities; 6) conduct statewide surveillance for pregnant person-infant dyads through implementation of the Tier 1 and Tier 2 components of the CSTE standardized case definition for NAS, and the NCHS-recommended case definition as defined in the MODEL Law for stillbirths; and 7) improve monitoring of infants and children with NAS to assess long-term physical, mental, and social childhood health outcomes. We have developed a detailed evaluation plan in accordance with the CDC’s Evaluation and Performance Measurement guidance. We have incorporated process and outcome evaluation measures, deemed the minimum necessary for Component B, and have included additional measures that reflect our specific approach to achieving program goals. Overall, this project synergizes efforts in conjunction with existing CDC surveillance activities related to pregnant persons and their offspring. Our team has a proven track record on similar projects over many years, which makes us confident that collectively we have the organizational capacity, technical expertise, and resources (physical space, equipment, capacity to work remotely) sufficient to conduct the surveillance activities outlined in this proposal.
