MCHB ALL GRANTEE MEETING

Introduction: Training Grantees

October 4-7, 2004

PETER VAN DYCK: Welcome. It's a pleasure to see so many of you here. Right after we met ‑‑ after we get to this point in the meeting sometimes, it reminds me of a haiku my daughter wrote years ago, too many years ago, when she was in high school. I don't know where she got the inspiration for it, but she wrote this free hand.

"There once was a man from Bagheath who sat on a pair of false teeth. Said he with a start, 'Oh my, bless my heart, I've bitten myself underneath.' "

For those who don't want to see me, you can move behind the pillars. Well, Laura told me before there were 156 of you going to be at this meeting. I didn't know how she knew how many were going to be here before, but there must be at least that, perhaps more.

UNKNOWED SPEAKER: (Inaudible).

PETER VANDYCK: So it's really wonderful to have this opportunity for you to get together and for you to be here at this meeting, enjoying all of our other MCH grantees. This was a major decision for us in the Bureau, whether to undertake such a thing with 1100 or 1200 people. And so far at least my hallway talk is that at least it's been reasonably good so far. And that you have learned from one another. And we hope it continues to be good and that the partnerships and the folks you meet here will carry on to home.

I particularly hope, and I know you've wanted to meet with the TITLE V directors, and they've wanted to meet with you, and we've wanted you to meet together and have talked about it for a couple of years. And I know you're going to have that opportunity later on today. They have asked to meet with you. And I think this is going to be one of our most fruitful networking activities that we can do. And I really applaud you for doing that, and Laura and her staff. And I hope something good comes of that. And I'm going to be following it very closely, because I really have a particular interest in that and hope things will go well.

The MCHB Training and Strategic Plan, I have also been involved with in reading and reviewing and following it along over the months in its development. We have a bureau strategic plan of which we're quite proud. We have a nutrition strategic plan. We have several other ‑‑ we have an early childhood strategic plan. All of them different but within the same mold or the same framework, and I think really good vision and strategic documents to guide us on.

As you know, and as people say, our MCH training program is probably the largest or is the largest single expenditure in SPRANS dollars, and it's only fitting you have our strategic plan. And I really hope you can continue to work on it and finish it up. We're close to final draft or penultimate draft, I hope. And this is the last. So I'm really looking forward to getting that and seeing how it fits with our overall mission and vision in the Maternal and Child Health strategic plan and look forward to looking at it at the end of this meeting.

You've heard a lot about evidence‑based, scientific‑based practice. You folks help with that. You help us understand what using evidence correctly is. You can bring that knowledge to our TITLE V directors and to other grantees here. And it's really important to have this mix. I don't want to take too much time. You're behind. I've got ‑‑ I need to sit down as well, quit speaking for a little bit. But I just wanted to take this opportunity to say hi again to you. I really value your input; the Bureau values your input. You do great work. I wish we had more money for you. For those of you here Sunday ‑‑ yeah, you do too, I know. For those of you that you're here Sunday, you know that the senate mark for 2005 has 5 million additional dollars for the bloc grant in it. This is really pretty good news considering that not many other people are getting increases. $5 million increase in the bloc grant does translate to additional SPRANS dollars. There is a lot of competition for those dollars. But we'll take any amount. And even if it helps us keep up with salaries and all the rest, it can be a welcome addition.

So I appreciate what you do. Have a good afternoon. I'm following your work closely, and Laura continues to fill me in. Laura have a good meeting. Any burning questions anybody wants to ask? Fine. Thanks for all being here.