HRSA Maternal and Child Health Grants: Programs and How to Apply

HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau funds two fundamentally different kinds of programs, and which one you are looking at determines whether you can apply at all. This guide separates the Title V block grant from HRSA's competitive MCH programs and walks through what an application requires.

Two Funding Paths, One Bureau

The Health Resources and Services Administration is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and its Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) distributes money two ways: the Title V MCH Services Block Grant, a formula grant to states, and a set of competitive programs open to a wider applicant pool. Most people searching for a maternal and child health services HRSA grant application are looking at one without realizing the other exists.

The Title V MCH Services Block Grant

Authorized under Title V of the Social Security Act, this block grant flows by formula to 59 states and jurisdictions — the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the territories and freely associated jurisdictions. It is the oldest federal maternal and child health funding stream and supports core public health services for pregnant people, infants, children, adolescents, and children with special health care needs.

Several structural rules matter if you plan to work with Title V money:

• State match: States must provide $3 in non-federal funds for every $4 of federal Title V money received.
• Spending floors: At least 30 percent of federal funds must go to preventive and primary care for children and 30 percent to services for children with special health care needs. No more than 10 percent may go to administration.
• Accountability cycle: Each state conducts a statewide needs assessment every five years, submits an annual application and report, and reports against National Performance Measures.
• Set-asides: A portion of the Title V appropriation is reserved for Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS) and Community Integrated Service Systems (CISS), which HRSA awards competitively rather than by formula.

The practical consequence: a local nonprofit or clinic cannot apply for the block grant directly. You reach Title V dollars by subcontracting with your state Title V agency, usually housed in the state health department's maternal and child health division. Contact that office, ask when its planning cycle and needs assessment occur, and get onto the stakeholder list — that process sets funding priorities.

Competitive HRSA MCH Programs

These are open competitions, and the eligible applicant pool is considerably broader than the block grant's:

• Healthy Start: Community-based awards to reduce infant mortality and improve perinatal outcomes in high-risk communities. Recipients include community organizations, health departments, and nonprofits, typically on multi-year project periods.
• Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV): Supports evidence-based home visiting models through states, territories, and tribal entities.
• State Maternal Health Innovation: Funds state-level work on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, generally through state agencies and their partners.
• Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders: Builds provider capacity to screen for and treat perinatal mental health and substance use conditions.
• Pediatric Mental Health Care Access: Funds teleconsultation networks that let primary care providers reach child psychiatry expertise.
• Autism CARES Act programs: Including LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) and developmental-behavioral pediatrics training, awarded largely to academic institutions.
• Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, Emergency Medical Services for Children, and MCH training programs: Longstanding competitions with recurring cycles.

Who Is Eligible

• State and territorial health agencies and other state government units
• Local health departments and other local government entities
• Nonprofit organizations, including community-based and faith-based organizations
• Academic institutions, particularly for training and research programs
• Federally recognized Tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations
• Health centers, hospitals, and other providers, depending on the program

Eligibility is program-specific and stated in each notice of funding opportunity. Some programs restrict applicants to state agencies; others explicitly welcome community organizations. Never assume eligibility carries from one MCHB program to another.

Where Opportunities Post

All HRSA competitions post on Grants.gov, searchable by agency. HRSA also publishes a forecast of expected opportunities with anticipated publication dates — the most useful planning tool available, because it gives lead time before a notice goes live. Applications are submitted through Grants.gov and then completed in the HRSA Electronic Handbooks (EHBs), so register your Authorizing Official in EHBs before deadline week.

Deadlines and Timing

HRSA MCH deadlines are set per notice, not on a fixed annual calendar, and application windows are often only 30 to 60 days from publication. Because dates shift by year and by program, rely on the HRSA forecast and a Grants.gov saved search rather than a date published elsewhere.

Application Components

• SF-424 application forms and a project abstract
• Project narrative — typically introduction, needs assessment, methodology, work plan, resolution of challenges, and evaluation and technical support capacity
• Budget and detailed budget narrative for each year of the project period
• Attachments: staffing plan, position descriptions, biosketches, letters of agreement from partners, indirect cost rate agreement
• Program-specific forms and data tables, plus strict page limits stated in the notice

Watch the page limit — HRSA counts attachments toward it in many programs and will not review over-length applications. For federal health grant mechanics that carry over, read our NIH grant application guide for beginners, and see the best grants for nonprofits in 2026. You can also browse open health and human services grants on GrantLocate.