Improving Access to Maternal Mental Health through System Navigation Mapping

PLEASE NOTE: Although this posting may display a longer availability window on Handshake due to system requirements, applications for this internship must be submitted by June 12th.

Description: 
First Steps Kent’s Early Relational Health (ERH) work focuses on improving maternal mental health and access to care during pregnancy and early childhood. In Kent County, families often navigate a fragmented system of healthcare and community-based services, with no clear pathway connecting prenatal care, postpartum support, pediatric care, and early childhood programs.

This project will map how families currently access and move through these services, with a focus on identifying gaps, barriers, and breakdowns in referral pathways. The Fellow will work with staff and partners to document current workflows and develop practical tools to strengthen coordination and improve access to care.

This work supports ongoing programming by strengthening the system that connects families to services. The need for this project has been identified through partner feedback, provider engagement, and internal evaluation efforts.

Importance to Public Health: 
Families in Kent County have access to a range of prenatal, postpartum, and early childhood services, but these supports are not well connected. There is no consistent pathway linking healthcare providers, mental health services, and community-based programs, which can lead to gaps in care, missed referrals, and limited follow-through, especially for maternal mental health.

This project addresses a system-level gap rather than a lack of services. It will fill an emerging need for clearer navigation and stronger coordination across providers by identifying where breakdowns occur and where alignment can be improved. The project will support existing programming by strengthening referral pathways and improving how families access and move between services. 

Project Deliverables:
The Fellow will produce an ERH system navigation map outlining how families access and move through prenatal, postpartum, and early childhood services, along with a summary of key gaps, barriers, and breakdowns in access and referral pathways. Additional deliverables will include a maternal mental health access snapshot highlighting availability, referral points, and gaps in care, a draft referral pathway tool or workflow to support improved coordination across providers, and a brief report with recommendations and a simple framework to support ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Students applying for this internship must be enrolled in a Bachelor’s-level or higher degree program.