Visionaries for the Future of Maternal Mental Health
2020 Mom is a national organization focused on maternal mental health disorders like postpartum depression.
2020 Mom is committed to advancing federal policies that improve maternal mental health. Through our federal policy development and advocacy efforts, we have made great strides in the past year.
Read MoreOn December 7th, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted the first-ever White House Maternal Health Day of Action. The Day of Action included a Summit that was composed of three panels, as well as a Call to Action, outlining steps the federal government will take to improve maternal health outcomes.
Read MoreOver the past two months, several U.S. Senate offices have released requests for information (RFIs), seeking input from stakeholder groups about how to address mental health and addiction issues in the U.S. Specifically, the following Senators requested comments from stakeholders:
Read MoreThe Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-34) was the inception of the child tax credit (CTC), which was created to ease the financial burden to families with children. Over the years, the CTC has expanded from an upper- and middle-class benefit, to a tax benefit that lower-income families can claim. The CTC allows taxpayers to reduce their federal income liability up to $2,000 per child aged 0-16 years of age. In the event the value of the credit exceeds the amount of tax a family owes, the family may be eligible to receive a full or partial refund of the difference.
Read MoreLast week, the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, a $1.75 trillion legislative package that aims to address social welfare. It will be considered by the Senate in the weeks ahead. In addition to critical maternal mental health legislation included in the package, several other provisions that impact moms are currently included in the package as well:
Read MoreGovernment Accountability Office (GAO) Report on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity among Rural Populations
Earlier this year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government oversight and assessment office, released a report titled, Maternal Mortality and Morbidity: Additional Efforts Needed to Assess Program Data for Rural and Underserved Areas.
Read MoreIn 1993 the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed into law, marking the first national unpaid leave policy. The law, which applies to employers with 50 or more employees, stipulates eligible workers can take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child; to care for a spouse, child or parent with a serious medical condition; to recover from a serious health condition themselves; or to take military family leave.
Read MoreOn July 29th, the full House of Representatives passed an appropriations minibus package that included the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS) funding bill for fiscal year (FY) 2022 (October 1, 2021 - September 30, 2022). The L-HHS bill includes increased funding for several mental health, maternal health, substance use, and other public health programs. The bill passed along party lines with a vote of 219-208.
Read MoreAccording to a press release issued by the Shades of Blue Project, host of the official Black Maternal Mental Health Week (BMMHW) awareness campaign, “Cultural barriers and lack of representation in the mental health field continue to limit Black women from seeking help” for maternal mental health care.
Read MoreOn July 15th, the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee considered and passed its fiscal year (FY) 2022 (October 1, 2021 - September 30, 2022) Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS) funding bill. Building upon the work of the L-HHS Subcommittee on July 12th, the full Committee, which is led by Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and “Ranking Member” Kay Granger (R-TX), recommends increased funding for many mental health, maternal health, substance use, and other public health programs.
Read MoreOn July 12th, the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS) “marked up” and passed their proposed federal funding bill for fiscal year (FY) 2022, which will begin on October 1, 2021, and end on September 30, 2022.
Read More2020 Mom champions a new bill calling for the formation of a federal interdepartmental maternal mental health task force and strategic plan to identify opportunities, coordinate resources, and build upon programs to improve the well-being of mothers.
Read MoreIn February, the Black Maternal Health Momnibus was reintroduced by members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus.
The bill package built on and refined the prior and first Black Maternal Health Momnibus introduced last year, in the 116th congress, to comprehensively address America’s maternal health crisis and specifically the significant disparities that exist for Black and other women of color.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Surgeon General announced on Thursday a coordinated agency plan and Surgeon General call to action to urgently reduce maternal mortality (reduce preventable pregnancy-related & associated deaths) and improve maternal health in the U.S.
The HHS plan is comprehensive and includes a focus on implementing evidence-based measures to reduce maternal mortality by as much as half in five years.
Read MoreThe following media release was recently distributed by the Federal Communications Commission. This line was funded in part as a result of national nonprofit advocacy organizations like 2020 Mom.
FCC DESIGNATES ‘988’ AS 3-DIGIT NUMBER FOR NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2020—Today, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules to establish 988 as the new, nationwide, 3-digit phone number for Americans in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors.
Read MoreThis week the U.S. House Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) appropriations subcommittee released the Full Year 2021 LHHS bill. This is the first step of many for the Federal appropriations process. These proposed funding levels are subject to change as each chamber considers its respective appropriations bills over the next couple of months. However, this bill is an important indication of the House Committee’s priorities.
Read More2020 Mom is proud to support the ‘‘Military Moms’ Mental Health Assessment Act’’ (“The Act”) which was introduced last week by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).
The Act will require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study of prenatal and postpartum mental health conditions among members of the Armed Forces and their dependents.
The Bill Recognizes:
The bill cites 2018 birth stats within the Armed Forces - where over 50,000 members and their dependents gave birth at a combination of military medical treatment facilities and civilian hospitals, funded by the Department of Defense.
Washington, DC – In May, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced that Joy Burkhard, MBA was selected to serve as an expert advisor for their Cross-Sectional Innovation to Improve Rural Postpartum Mental Health Challenge.
The challenge aims to drive both proposal and narrative submissions, allowing the initiative to highlight success stories in rural postpartum mental health and encourage future innovative approaches.
Read MoreA new Center for Disease Control (CDC) study finds that around 1 in 8 women report experiencing symptoms of maternal depression. The analysis, which looked at 2018 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring Survey (PRAMS) data from 30 states and Puerto Rico, found that rates of “postpartum depression” symptoms ranged from a little under 10% in Illinois to almost 24% in Mississippi.
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