Bill Text: CA AB244 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 244 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Maternal mental health.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2018-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB244 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB244-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 21, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 244

Introduced by Assembly Member Cervantes

January 30, 2017

An act to add Section 131120 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 244, as amended, Cervantes. Maternal mental health.

Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature to maintain, to the extent resources are available, a permanent statewide community-based comprehensive perinatal system to provide care and services to low-income pregnant women and their infants who are considered underserved in terms of comprehensive perinatal care. Existing law requires the State Department of Public ~~Health~~ Health, which is within the California Health and Human Services Agency, to develop and maintain a statewide community-based comprehensive perinatal services program to, among other program objectives, ensure the appropriate level of maternal, newborn, and pediatric care services necessary to provide the healthiest outcome for mother and infant. Existing law authorizes the department to maintain a mental health service that shall advise and assist local departments of health and education in the establishment of mental health services.

This bill would create a pilot program, in counties that elect to participate, designed to increase the capacity of health providers that serve pregnant and postpartum women up to one year after delivery to effectively prevent, identify, and manage postpartum depression and other mental health conditions. The pilot program would be privately funded. The bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the pilot program 6 months after the results of the pilot program are reported, as specified.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to address the shortage of treatment options for women suffering from maternal mental health disorders, including postpartum depression and anxiety disorders, and to encourage the implementation of a single county telepsychiatry referral pilot program that would help build the capacity of health providers serving pregnant and postpartum women up to one year after delivery to effectively prevent, identify, and manage depression and other mental health conditions.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 131120 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

131120.
(a) There is hereby created a pilot program, in counties that elect to participate, including the County of Riverside, to increase the capacity of health providers that serve pregnant and postpartum women up to one year after delivery to effectively prevent, identify, and manage postpartum depression and other mental health conditions. The pilot program may be coordinated by the California Task Force on the Status of Maternal Mental Health and shall be privately funded. The pilot program may include a provider-to-provider or patient-to-provider consultation program and utilize telehealth or e-consult technologies. The pilot program may include the following elements:
(1) Training and toolkits on screening, assessment, and the range of treatment options.
(2) Coordination of care to link women with individual services in their communities.
(3) Access to perinatal psychiatric consultation.
(b) Within six months after the results of the pilot program are reported, the California Health and Human Services Agency, in consultation with the California Task Force on the Status of Maternal Mental Health and state entities, as necessary, shall submit a report to the Legislature, in accordance with the requirements of Section 9795 of the Government Code, regarding the pilot program described in subdivision (a). The report shall do all of the following:
(1) Document the impact of the pilot program on increasing the number of women who were screened, assessed, and treated for maternal mental health disorders.
(2) Identify methods to expand the pilot program to additional counties or statewide.
(3) Identify funding opportunities to support the expansion of the pilot program including federal funding, state funding, and surcharges.

SECTION 1.
(a)It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to address the shortage of treatment options for women suffering from maternal mental health disorders, including postpartum depression and anxiety disorders.
(b)It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation encouraging the implementation of a single county telepsychiatry referral pilot program that would help build the capacity of health providers serving pregnant and postpartum women up to one year after delivery to effectively prevent, identify, and manage depression and other mental health conditions.