Squeezing the turnip. Equitable distribution of funding to provide maternal and child health services in rural America.

Public health services in local communities are a vital key to maintain and promote the health of the public. Local public health programs provide services to the entire population including the maternal and child health population. Funding to support public health services is very limited; few of the population-based services that include assessment, investigation of contagion, and education are billable by government or private insurers. Federal funding in the form of the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant is an important resource. Title V of the Social Security Act requires that states equitably distribute funding to provide services to the maternal child health population. State and local leaders must work together to establish and implement allocation methods that are sensitive to existing and developing needs.