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The nation's network of
Migrant Health Centers (MHCs) is charged with providing
comprehensive primary and preventive health care to migrant and
seasonal farmworkers and their families. MHC services are available
on a sliding fee scale to patients regardless of immigration status. The migrant health
centers are administered by the Office of Minority and Special
Populations within the Bureau of Primary Health Care, which is
responsible for the Health Center
Program of the Health Services and Resources Administration
(HRSA; a division of the Department of Health and Human Services).
Currently, there are 157 MHCs nationwide.
These centers receive federal grants under
Section 330 (g) of the
Public Health Services Act, which partially cover the cost of their
services. In a small number of regions that lack the concentration of migrants
needed to support a bricks-and-mortar health center, “voucher” programs have been
established, which enable farmworkers and their families to receive services from
a participating network of health care providers.
According to the most
recent data available from the
National Agricultural Worker Survey
(2005), only 22% of farmworkers reported that they or their family
members are covered by private health insurance or Medicaid. Since
most farmworkers are poor, with an average annual family income of
between $12,500 and $14,499, some workers go without medical care
even when they need it. The Migrant Health Program fills an
important unmet need for health services for farmworkers and their
families.
To be eligible for
services through the Migrant Health Program, an individual must have
been principally employed in agriculture for the previous 24
months. Agricultural work is defined as all activities
involved with planting, harvesting, or processing crops, but does
not include work with livestock. Family members of qualified
agricultural workers are also eligible to receive services. Approximately
826,000 migrant or seasonal farmworkers and their family members received care at MHCs in
2007.
To locate a community or migrant
health center in your area, visit the health center search page at
one of the following websites:
The
Farmworker Health Network (FHN)
To provide technical
assistance for the migrant health centers, HRSA has national
cooperative agreement with six national organizations known
collectively as the Farmworker Health Network:
Farmworker Justice,
in partnership with the Migrant Clinicians Network, provides
training and technical assistance to migrant health centers primarily on issues of
occupational and environmental health. Our services include:
providing training and individualized consultations to clinicians,
outreach workers, and promotores de salud (lay health
educators); developing curricula, evaluation tools and patient
education materials; conducting advocacy and responding to inquiries
on health policy and health law issues; writing reports and
articles; developing and disseminating research; and assisting new
starts and applicants for health center grants.
Migrant Clinicians Network
(MCN)
is the oldest and
largest clinical network serving the mobile underserved.
It provides technical assistance to MHCs, including on-site and
online training, individualized consultations and development of
culturally appropriate and up-to-date materials, concerning:
recruitment and retention of health center staff; clinical issues;
developing clinical leadership; bridge case management and referrals
(through its networks such as Track II on diabetes); continuing
professional education, peer networking for clinicians, patient
education and other clinical resources. It also publishes the
Streamline newsletter.
Migrant Health
Promotion (MHP) works to strengthen the capacity of farmworker
families and communities to improve their health, using peer
education and advocacy. Its technical
assistance focuses on the development and implementation of its Camp
Health Aide and other promotores de salud programs; the
development of culturally appropriate training curricula, evaluation
tools, patient education and other health education materials;
identification of funding opportunities and assistance with grant
development; promoting networking among program managers, and
promotores, and the dissemination of a promotor(a) newsletter.
Farmworker
Health Services, Inc. (FHSI) focuses primarily on the development and support of health
outreach and enabling services programs; creating health education
and prevention materials; promoting cultural competency; and
collecting health data on outcome measures, etc.
National
Association of Community Health Centers, Inc.
(NACHC) promotes the provision of high quality, comprehensive health
care that is accessible, coordinated, culturally and linguistically
competent, and community-directed for all underserved populations.
Its training and technical assistance services focus on: Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funding initiatives;
health center governance and financial operations; educating new
medical directors, etc. It also sponsors an annual, national migrant
health conference, administers a migrant-health list serve and email
distribution group; monitors and recommends policies affecting MHCs
or their patients; facilitates recruitment and retention of health
center staff; develops clinical protocols and tools; and offers
accreditation for clinical continuing education, etc.
The National
Center for Farmworker Health
(NCFH) works to improve the health status of farmworker families
through the application of human and technical resources. Its
technical assistance services include: leadership development and
training; migrant-specific and bi-lingual on-site consultations;
development and dissemination of research, training and patient
education materials; maintenance of a current and archival library
and multi-media resource center; network development and expansion:
facilitating navigation of the public health system and the securing
care in exceptional circumstances via the Call for Health system;
health center governance and management; and recruitment and
retention of health center staff.
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