The Creation of the Federal MCH Extramural Research Program, 1950–1969: Lessons for Today

• Published in: Maternal and child health journal Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 391 - 398
• Main Authors: Harwood, Robin L., Yu, Stella M., Kavanagh, Laura
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.04.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Child; Child Health Services - history; Child Health Services - trends; Child welfare; Children; Childrens health; Gynecology; Health aspects; History, 20th Century; Humans; Intellectual disabilities; Legislation as Topic; Management; Maternal & child health; Maternal and Child Health; Maternal health services; Maternal Health Services - history; Maternal Health Services - trends; Maternal-Child Health Centers; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Pediatrics; Population Economics; Presidents; Public Health; Sociology; United States; United States; New York; United States > US; Maternal and child health; Children’s Bureau; History; Maternal and Child Health Bureau; MCH research
• ISSN: 1092-7875; 1573-6628
• DOI: 10.1007/s10995-013-1227-8

On April 9, 1912, the law establishing the Children’s Bureau was signed by President William Howard Taft. The original mission of the Children’s Bureau was to “investigate and report … upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people.” This paper focuses on the transitional years from roughly 1950 to 1969, when the Children’s Bureau’s investigative mandate was transformed from a set of intramural activities that viewed maternal and child health research as part of a larger effort cutting across investigative, programmatic, and policy goals, and across different domains of the child’s life, to an extramural research program focused specifically on maternal and child health. Discussion focuses on the mission of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Research Program, housed now within the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.