Kildee Helps Secure $850,000 to Curb Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality Rates

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced today that the Genesee County Health Department has been awarded an $850,000 grant that he helped to secure to mitigate disparities in prenatal and perinatal care services for African-American families in the Flint area.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded this grant to Genesee County to help reduce the infant mortality rate of African-American babies. 

Kildee requested in an April letter to the CDC that they fund the Genesee County Health Department’s program to narrow the gap between infant mortality rates of Americans of European descent and African-Americans.  In the period from 1999-2001, the infant mortality rate of European-Americans in Genesee County was 6.0 deaths per 1,000 live births, but over the same period the rate among African-Americans was more than three times greater; 21.7 deaths per 1,000 live births. 

“The Genesee County Health Department has made tremendous progress in reducing infant mortality by providing pregnant women with vital resources and services,” said Kildee.  “We must continue to work together to provide funding and access to services that will decrease the disproportionately high infant mortality rate among African-American populations in the Flint area.”

Established in 1999, Genesee County’s Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the U.S. (REACH US) program employs four approaches to decrease infant mortalities: community dialogue and awareness, education and training, outreach and advocacy, and mentoring and support groups.  The REACH US project is supported by a coalition of non-profit groups, universities, health centers and government agencies in Genesee County and the state of Michigan. 

Funds awarded under this grant will spread awareness through media campaigns, develop courses to train current and future healthcare professionals, educate expecting mothers of prenatal and perinatal care and sustain community support programs in collaboration with the Maternal and Infant Health Advocacy Services.

REACH is a program initiated by the CDC in 40 communities across the country to address health disparities, among segments of the population that appear among racial, ethnic, education, income, and geographic divisions. 

Since 2001, Kildee has helped to secure more than $4.5 million for the Genesee County Health Department to narrow the racial gap in Flint-area infant mortality rates.