Maternal and Child Health: About the Family, Youth, and Community Engagement Initiative

Family, Youth, and Community Engagement is about making Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programming stronger. This initiative focuses on responding to participant needs and experiences.

MCH supports ways for sites to engage with families, youth, and community members. This connection is key to advancing health equity.

Our goals

Our goal is to create meaningful partnerships, so we hear MCH member voices. This work includes family, youth, and community members. If we engage with members, our programs will be more responsive to their thoughts and ideas. To make this happen, local sites need engagement support.

By Dec. 31, 2025, we aim to strengthen Family, Youth, and Community Engagement within all MCH programs. We will do this because programs that respond to the participant experience are more effective.

Our team

This group is in charge of making Family, Youth and Community Engagement happen across the state.

Co-leads

Becky Burns
State coordinator for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs and Waisman Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
DHS

Charisse Daniels-Johnson
Heath Equity Coordinator
DHS

Other team members

Barbara Katz
Co-Director
Family Voices of Wisconsin

Amy Olejniczek
Associate Director
Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health and directs the Providers and Teens Communicating for Health program

Shawn Meyer
MCH Nurse Consultant
DHS

Kara Mathewson
Sexual Violence Prevention Program Coordinator
DHS

Karen Morris
Reproductive Health Family Planning Nurse Consultant
DHS

Kelli Stader
Nutrition Coordinator
DHS

Want to share your success story or learn more? Contact Rebecca.Burns@dhs.wisconsin.gov

Glossary

 
Last revised January 6, 2023