MCH Nutrition Training Program

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Nutrition Training Program. The purpose of this program is to promote the healthy nutrition of mothers, children, and families by establishing and enhancing nutrition centers of excellence to train future and current MCH nutrition professionals. MCH Nutrition Training Programs provide interdisciplinary graduate-level training in MCH nutrition and collaborate with the Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant Program and other MCH programs to provide continuing education (CE) and technical assistance (TA) to local, state, and national organizations serving MCH populations. The program provides training in nutrition science, social determinants of health, primary prevention and population-based environmental and policy interventions, life course initiatives, program planning and links between epidemiology and public health practice. The program develops a well-trained, diverse workforce that can effectively design, manage, and deliver nutrition interventions that address population health goals and objectives; provide care in diverse clinical, community, and public health settings; and meet the emerging needs of the MCH population. The overall MCH Nutrition Training Program will accomplish this purpose through four overarching objectives: 1) Increase the number of graduate-level trainees (long-, medium-, and short-term) trained in MCH nutrition leadership with a focus on MCH systems, populations, and services. 2) Increase the number of practicing providers who receive CE related to emerging issues in MCH nutrition. 3) Increase the number of TA activities each year to support state Title V agencies and other local, state, and national organizations serving MCH populations. 4) Increase the number of trainees that are from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the current nutrition workforce. For more details, see Program Requirements and Expectations. The purpose of the optional Nutrition Workforce Equity Enhancement is to increase diversity in the nutrition workforce through partnerships with Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to recruit and support nutrition professionals and students from underrepresented groups. For the purposes of this NOFO, “MSI” is defined as an institution that has a demonstrated record of or historical commitment to serving underrepresented or disadvantaged students, including but not limited to, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions, Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions.