BONUS Episode – The Power of Connection: Keeping Families at the Heart of Maternal & Child Health

This episode is dedicated to Taryn Bailey, daughter of Dawn Bailey, who passed away on March 27, 2026. Our thoughts are with Dawn and her family. 

In this special episode of MCH Bridges, recorded live at the 2026 AMCHP Annual Conference in Washington, DC, this year’s theme, The Power of Connection, is at the heart of a conversation between our CEO Terrance E. Moore and immediate Past Board President Dawn Bailey. 

Dawn reflects on her journey as a family leader with honesty and courage, sharing personal insights from her experiences as both a caregiver and advocate. She explores how meaningful connections between families, leaders, and systems can strengthen and improve our efforts in maternal and child health (MCH). 

Tune in to hear firsthand the challenges families face navigating complex care systems, the importance of centering the perspectives of families, and a call to action to build more coordinated, responsive, and compassionate systems of care. Dawn's words remind us that behind every policy, every program, and every data point, there are real families, real challenges, and real lives.   

We are privileged to share this conversation ahead of Mother's Day, in honor of Dawn’s journey as a mother, and in recognition of all the mothers and caregivers in our MCH community. 

Resources:  

• Dawn’s Congressional Testimony  
• President’s Challenge to MCH and CYSHCN Directors  
• Voices of AMCHP: Dawn Bailey 
• Subscribe to the AMCHP Annual Conference Newsletter 
• Visit our AMCHP Annual Conference Webpage 
• Revisit the AMCHP 2025 Conference Platform 
• AMCHP Board of Directors 

Transcript

[00:00:00] Terrance Moore: Hello everyone. This is AMCHP CEO Terrance Moore, and thank you for joining us for this special episode of MCH Bridges, the official podcast of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, also known as AMCHP. MCH Bridges aims to lift up stories. People from the MCH field by centering community voice to improve the systems that impact MCH populations. 

[00:00:24] Before listening to this episode, I wanna take a moment to share that. Since we recorded this conversation at our [00:00:30] conference, we learned that Taryn, the daughter of our dear colleague and friend, Dawn Bailey, passed away on March 27th. Our hearts are with Dawn and her family in this time of profound loss. 

[00:00:41] Many of you know Dawn as former AMCHP board president and the leader in our field, as well as a tireless advocate for children with complex medical needs and for families navigating systems that too often fall short. Her leadership, voice, and unwavering commitment have always been grounded in love for her [00:01:00] family, especially for Taryn. 

[00:01:02] In this episode, Dawn shares her story with honesty and courage. Her words carry even more meaning now. She speaks about caregiving, advocacy, and the importance of connection across systems and communities. Taryn is at the heart of that story. We are dedicating this episode to Taryn, and to Dawn and her family. 

[00:01:23] It is a privilege to share this conversation with our network. Dawn, we are holding you and your family in our thoughts.[00:01:30]  

[00:01:40] Nia Sutton: In this special episode of MCH Bridges, recorded live at the 2026 AMCHP Annual Conference in Washington, DC, this year's theme, the Power of Connection, is at the heart of a conversation between AMCHP CEO Terrance Moore and immediate past board President Dawn Bailey. Listen [00:02:00] in as they explore leadership, share personal reflections and experiences, and discuss the importance of keeping families at the center of MCH work. 

[00:02:14] Terrance Moore: Hello everyone. I'm Terrance Moore, Chief Executive Officer at AMCHP. I'm here with our esteemed Board President, Dawn Bailey. Hi, Dawn.  

[00:02:22] Dawn Bailey: Hey, good morning.  

[00:02:24] Terrance Moore: We're excited about this particular episode. Dawn has been part of AMCHP’s ecosystem for [00:02:30] many years now, and many of you have had the opportunity to hear her story as a mother, 

[00:02:36] caregiver, and family leader, for not just Arizona, but for our nation. You can read more about Dawn and her work and her bio, which is in the resource section of this episode and available on AMCHP's website. But today we want to talk about some things that may not have been captured there. So Dawn, what is something that people might not know about you? 

[00:02:57] Tell us a fun fact that you haven't shared yet, or anything [00:03:00] you wanna share about yourself.  

[00:03:01] Dawn Bailey: Oh, fun fact. So throughout my childhood, I think when I was about five, I started into early adolescence. I was a competitive gymnast for many years. It feels like a lifetime ago, but yes, not anymore. I tried. It was painful. 

[00:03:21] Terrance Moore: So now that you've shared a fun fact about yourself, we are really excited that you have been board president this year. You've really pushed us and helped us [00:03:30] think more about how we can integrate families and family leadership in our work. And you've been instrumental in leading our board and leading us at AMCHP. 

[00:03:38] So I would love to hear your perspective of what it means to be a family leader in this role.  

[00:03:44] Dawn Bailey: I would say first and foremost, it felt incredibly empowering and privileged that my fellow board members and my colleagues would even encourage me to run for the role to begin with. I would be honest to [00:04:00] say it's not something I would've thought about doing. 

[00:04:03] So I think to even just feel that around me, the recognition, the value, and the embracing of my role as a family leader in this work was humbling and made me realize the opportunity that we had. I didn't take it lightly that being in this role was of great significance for our family leader community. 

[00:04:29] [00:04:30] I was the second family leader to ever hold the role of president of the board of AMCHP. I was really intentional coming into this role of wanting to ensure that I honored the role and encouraged this role to continue to be valued, but also just recognized as vital to this work. We know that family leaders and family delegates from [00:05:00] the time I've been involved in 11 years now have always held a space in this work. 

[00:05:07] We know that over time, from our guidance, that it has evolved from a recommendation to a strong encouragement to now an expectation, although not required. While that is progress, I do think we have a lot of work to do to [00:05:30] continue to solidify that this work cannot be done without these voices being an integral and central part of the work. 

[00:05:38] Terrance Moore: Excellent, Dawn, and you are in fact a role model and there'll be many more family leaders on our board. I think we now have the most family leaders we've ever had on our board. I'm excited to share that by the time this podcast is launched, we'll have another family leader and an officer position in our organization. 

[00:05:58] So it'll be 50% of the [00:06:00] organization's officers will be family leaders who are really excited about that. Dawn, share a little bit about some of the highlights of your presidential term, your president's challenge, and other things that you've had to help me manage during this last year period, particularly with Congress. 

[00:06:17] Dawn Bailey: So I think coming into this year, obviously my goal was really centered around how do we continue to grow and enhance AMCHP’s support of our family delegates [00:06:30] as members. But this year took a turn on us coming into this space, and in early 2025, a lot of things shifted around the work, and I had to be willing to put that aside a little bit at the time to navigate what was before us. 

[00:06:50] The congressional testimony I did was probably my first big piece of work as president of the board, and [00:07:00] one of the things I felt so proud of that is we talk about the value of experience across all of the MCH domains. We know historically that has really been centered in our children and youth with special healthcare needs domain. 

[00:07:15] And while from a everyday experience, that really is what drives a lot of my experience and my work, I felt really honored to be able to lend a voice and really [00:07:30] think about all of our other domains of maternal and child health. And not just to elevate that as the president of the Board to Congress and the importance of the appropriations to continue to fund that, 

[00:07:44] but it also brought me back to recognize how as a mom, as somebody that went through a pregnancy, a challenging pregnancy during, and even after that, I really could relate to [00:08:00] a lot of the maternal side of the work again, and I appreciated the opportunity to highlight all of the work across all of the domains and to really get to elevate the incredible work that a lot of our states are doing and to remind our congress of 

[00:08:22] the importance of continuing that, especially given all of the other things that have been rolled [00:08:30] back or restructured or taken away.  

[00:08:33] Terrance Moore: Excellent. And for our listeners, the congressional testimony that Dawn mentioned is linked in the notes for this episode. I wanna take us back to your President's challenge and I'll go out on a limb and say, I think it's our first President's challenge, [00:08:50] and so curious if you can share a little bit about your president's challenge for our listeners.  

[00:08:55] Dawn Bailey: Yeah. I think once we navigated these rocky [00:09:00] waters through this year and with all of the fiscal impacts and trying to just keep the work afloat, you and I had the opportunity to come back and say, what were your original priorities and what can we do to try to focus and circle back to that? 

[00:09:18] And so we came up with that idea of putting out that President's challenge to the States to really emphasize the role of the family [00:09:30] delegate. I think as part of the membership, we value it in a way that if they choose to designate a family delegate, they get that fifth voting member delegate role, but a lot of our states don't take advantage of that. 

[00:09:45] And a lot of our states have somebody designated, but we find that they're not always integrated into the work, really in a meaningful way. And so I think for me, that was the start to [00:10:00] try to remind our Title V programs across the realm that they have this opportunity, and how do we start thinking about taking advantage of that and centering that voice in the work that they do as well. 

[00:10:16] Terrance Moore: It's really exciting too, because we discuss that while this president's challenge is really making sure that every state, every territory has a voting family delegate as part of their membership roster, [00:10:30] that we know that this is durable. This will continue to live on, it'll be evergreen even after this year. 

[00:10:37] And so we're really excited about that and how it's keeping us focused, ensuring that families and individuals and their experiences are always integrated into our work. 

[00:10:52] So Dawn, I'd like to dive a little deeper and ask about the real experiences of families as well as [00:11:00] the quality of life and well-being of parents and caretakers. Can you share a little bit more about your own story? And we'd love for our listeners to hear about some of the stories that you hear every day in your work, and so what is most important for us and our listeners to know about what's really happening with families and what families need? 

[00:11:20] Dawn Bailey: So I would say, I'm gonna reflect back to last year's conference and the plenary that we had around families [00:11:30] of children and youth with special healthcare needs, not just parents, but siblings and other caregivers. I think from my own personal journey, a lot of folks know about my daughter, Taryn. They know that my work is truly centered around 

[00:11:48] the challenges that I have faced personally navigating very fragmented and complicated systems of care that require an enormous amount of [00:12:00] time and effort on my part to ensure that she receives access and the actual services that are vital to her living a good life at home is a part of her community as best as she can and to the best quality that we can offer her. 

[00:12:23] I was fortunate for the first 16 years of Taryn's Life to have an [00:12:30] amazing partner in her care in my husband Chris. Was a hundred percent dedicated to her medical, her care, her home. I was so fortunate to have that alongside, and unfortunately we lost Chris tragically in 2021 and in an instant I lost half of my support. 

[00:12:57] My confidant, not just the [00:13:00] support and caring for Taryn, but my support as a mom and the grief that comes with when you have a child who has enormous medical needs and that shifted everything. I hate the word burden, but the burden of now having to navigate the responsibility of it, providing all of this for Taryn entirely on my own. 

[00:13:26] As somebody who is and had been [00:13:30] incredibly privileged in a space to dedicate the time and the resources to learn about these systems, to be in the system space, to have a voice at the table and to still face the challenges that I did, it really highlighted that we ask too much of our parents each and every day. 

[00:13:55] And we don't think about what we live with day in and [00:14:00] day out trying to do this. And I think where we sit today and the rollbacks of services, the rollbacks of funding, the attacks on the programs that so many before me fought to get for our community. We still have to carry the torch and the fight, and I know that families are exhausted. 

[00:14:28] I know that [00:14:30] families live every day in fear of what happens. It's not a convenience to have all of this. It is a matter of life or death for a lot of our individuals and our loved ones, and I worry about my community. I worry about my friends, I worry about my daughter. I worry about myself, and I worry about what's ahead for those that come behind us [00:15:00] because it feels like we are the first on the chopping block of everything. 

[00:15:06] And right now, to be quite honest, it feels like we're dispensable and that is heartbreaking. And I'm incredibly grateful that I get to keep being in this space to elevate it, but I find that I'm far more emotional in it than I ever have been, and so I appreciate the [00:15:30] grace of those that I get to work with to allow me to have the heart, to show the heart, and not always have to be the strong professional in the room. 

[00:15:41] Terrance Moore: Thank you for sharing this, Dawn. I appreciate your vulnerability, and as our listeners might hear firsthand right now, you are a caring individual that has had to endure so much and you use that in a way that makes you a formidable advocate for our [00:16:00] work. And so we really appreciate you, Dawn, and thank you for sharing. 

[00:16:04] Which actually is a great segue to one of my final questions in our closing plenary yesterday we talked about the importance of self and community care and how care helps us stay connected, how do you find balance? I am so aware of many of the things you've had to endure over the last year with caring for Taryn. 

[00:16:26] How do you find balance and center self-care? How do you [00:16:30] find joy in your own life against immeasurable obstacles, especially as a caregiver?  

[00:16:36] Dawn Bailey: It's not easy. I think we often talk about self-care as taking time to meditate or go do yoga or work out or take a walk. And while all of that sounds incredibly lovely, 

[00:16:53] to be honest, my world doesn't always afford me the opportunities to even take those 30-minute [00:17:00] breaks, so I've had to learn to find ways in the in-between. There's something out there about grounding yourself and honestly, it's during the day if I can to just step outside. And close my eyes for just, even if it's a minute and focus on something around me. 

[00:17:22] If it's the sound of nature, I have a water feature in our backyard, and sometimes it's just making my [00:17:30] brain focus on the sound of the water just to interrupt the chaos, but it's not something I can continually do on a regular scheduled basis. I have to be very intentional at finding those moments. When I am able to really step away, for example, coming to conference, it's incredibly busy and there's a lot 

[00:17:54] to do and a lot to retain, and there's an energy required [00:18:00] to be present. I can't tell you how much that fills my cup. I can't express that. The feeling of connection, the seeing people that I have come to respect and admire, to see the leaders that I looked to when I first came into this role. That I feel incredibly blessed to have learned from and guided me through this journey, and just to see the [00:18:30] connection, the hope, the opportunity that still lies ahead for us. 

[00:18:35] That fills my cup. And then I've recently decided I needed to find something for myself. And so if I can get time, I try to get out and golf, and I know that sounds bougie. 

[00:18:50] Terrance Moore: Not at all.  

[00:18:50] Dawn Bailey: But there is something about being outside. There's something about focusing on this tiny little ball and like how you have to [00:19:00] think about what to do next. 

[00:19:01] That quiets all the other things that rattle in my brain constantly. It allows me to step away and, believe me, I still get text messages and they're still checking in at home and there's still all the things, but I have actually found that to be incredibly therapeutic. One, because I can be angry and get out my frustration at a golf ball and not a person. 

[00:19:26] But I think just being outside and finding [00:19:30] something somewhat active to do, and the friends I've been able to find that to do with has been incredibly helpful.  

[00:19:38] Terrance Moore: Your golf is like my yoga? The ball represents dropping into the present moment. And you can't think about anything else when you're focused on that. 

[00:19:46] Amazing. So we invite everybody to find the thing that brings some joy that really shuts down the tape that is going on in our head, the mind stuff. So thank you. Yeah, I [00:20:00] just, I learned something new today. 

[00:20:05] As we prepare to close out the episode. What is the call to action for the future where children and youth with special healthcare needs or specific complex medical needs, and folks with disabilities in their families thrive within a more robust and well-functioning system of care? What thoughts do you have about that? 

[00:20:26] How can we care about, think through, [00:20:30] solve for complex MCH system?  

[00:20:33] Dawn Bailey: I think it's. To continue to elevate what I have for the last 11 years. Families of children and youth with special healthcare needs or those with complex medical are forced to navigate a multitude of systems that have not worked well together or cohesively for a long time. 

[00:20:56] I think the call to action continues to be [00:21:00] that we require the system to come to the table and improve and change to meet the needs of the families. It cannot continue to be that the families have to adapt and have the added burden to figure out how to adapt and navigate the systems. I think some of the exciting things this last year that make me feel maybe we're on the right track to [00:21:30] truly impact change despite 

[00:21:33] the environment we are in with the constant attacks on our systems and our funding and on our programs, is the intentionality around these newly formed collaborations. I think I've said to you time and again this year, how excited I am about MCHAA, the Maternal Child Health Appropriations Alliance, the fact that we have [00:22:00] representation 

[00:22:00] from a multitude of these systems to come together and not just unite in advocacy for us and for our community, but I think it offers an opportunity for these programs and systems to learn about one another, to understand, not just the role they play in it, but the role that their work impacts 

[00:22:22] other parts of the systems we have to navigate, whether they do or don't do certain things. I think there's [00:22:30] opportunity to expand that for our complex project, right? I think there are certainly more seats at the table that can be filled that represent what we require from our systems. Then I think yesterday at the town hall, how you talked about this new MCH strategic initiative. 

[00:22:50] Again, just the intentionality to say we all have to come together, and my call to action [00:23:00] is, it is time we shift the burden back to the systems. The systems are not designed to help us and families cannot continue to carry the burden of trying to navigate these complex systems while trying to navigate the responsibility of the care for their loved one and try to navigate taking care of themselves. 

[00:23:29] [00:23:30] If we can do better from a system standpoint, we will not only have better outcomes for our individuals and our loved ones, but we'll have better outcomes for ourselves. And I would also say that we do not do a good job at recognizing the impacts of caregiving, and I would love to work to highlight that even more and how that has to play a role in how systems are designed. 

[00:23:58] It can't just be [00:24:00] servicing the individual. We have to think about the familial unit, whatever that looks like. And then I would be remiss if I didn't say the call to action is, it can no longer be. Just an expectation of families being centered in this work. It has to be a requirement. It has to start with these individuals. 

[00:24:23] They have to have a voice. They have to be part of the design. They have to be part of the [00:24:30] implementation. They have to be part of the ongoing assessment without question, and my goal is to continue to advocate. In whatever capacity I get to be in in this next chapter that continues to happen in a more intentional way. 

[00:24:47] Terrance Moore: Thank you, Dawn. And I'll add that while you shift into the immediate past chair seat this afternoon, you are still an officer of the organization and might add an icon, [00:25:00] so I have just really enjoyed working with you over this last year. I have grown. I have had so much fun with you as well. We've shared a lot of laughs, a lot of deep conversations. [00:25:12] I just really appreciate you, so thank you.  

[00:25:15] Dawn Bailey: Thank you. I echo that I felt so supported in this role. I enjoyed our conversations. I feel like we bonded in a way because we had to navigate this incredibly challenging year [00:25:30] together. It stretched me beyond what I could have ever imagined, and I really appreciate that you honored my challenges and my asks, and you delivered in a lot of ways for me this year, and I just appreciate that

[00:25:46] this wasn't just a token role to say we want a family leader as president to show that we value this. It may not appear because so much seemed to happen behind the [00:26:00] scenes, but I really truly felt like I had the chance to lead this year in a lot of ways and that experience I think, has given me so much to step into this next chapter of whatever I do next. 

[00:26:18] So just thank you and I really look forward to continuing to work with you on this stuff.  

[00:26:23] Terrance Moore: An hour off up, our relationship is embodiment at this year's conference theme, the power of connection. So [00:26:30] thank you so much, Dawn.  

[00:26:31] Dawn Bailey: Thank you. 

[00:26:39] Terrance Moore: As we close this episode, we want to uplift. What Dawn has long reminded us experience is not just personal, it is expertise. By sharing her story, she has helped shape policies, strengthen programs, and ensure that family voices are part of the decisions that affect them. Taryn's life and Dawn’s advocacy have helped us all  

[00:27:00] better understand what it means to navigate complex systems of care and where those systems must do better. That understanding has changed our work. It has made it more responsive and grounded in the realities families face every day. Stories like Dawn do more than raise awareness. 

[00:27:17] They move people, they influence decisions, and they create space for others to be heard. They remind us that behind every policy, every program, and every data point, there are real families, real [00:27:30] challenges, and real lives. We are grateful to learn from Dawn and her family, and we carry that responsibility forward in our work. 

[00:27:38] In honoring Taryn, we recommit ourselves to listening more closely, partnering more intentionally, and continuing to build systems that truly support children and families. Thank you for listening, and we hope our paths cross on the next episode of MCH [00:28:00] Bridges.