States with MMH Task Forces/State Strategic Plans - Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health

As of 3-2025

Legislative Task Forces

SB 1011 (2021): Required the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the State Medicaid Agency, to form a maternal mental health advisory committee to recommend improvements for screening and treating maternal mental health disorders. The advisory committee issued its report to the legislature in December 2022.

ACR 148 (2014): Requires the California Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, a nonprofit organization, to establish a task force on the status of maternal mental health care. This task force studies, reviews, and identifies current barriers to screening and diagnosis, current treatment options for both those who are privately insured and those who receive care through the public health system, and evidence-based and emerging treatment options that are scalable in public and private health settings. The task force also identifies provider population needs and patient needs in order to improve diagnosis and treatment.

DC Code § 7-1234.04 (2022): Establishes a Perinatal Mental Health Task Force to provide comprehensive policy recommendations for the improvement of perinatal mental health in the District; requires the Task Force to submit to the Mayor and the Council a comprehensive report setting forth its findings and providing recommendations regarding legislation, policy initiatives, and the funding requirements of initiatives to address perinatal mental health needs in the District by August 31, 2023.

S.B. 74 (Access to Care, MMH Task Force, Provider Education) (2024): Establishes the Kentucky Maternal Psychiatry Access Program, also known as the Kentucky Lifeline for Moms, aimed at assisting healthcare practitioners in addressing the mental health needs of mothers; and 2) developing and providing information on perinatal mental health disorders, and; 3) establishing the Kentucky Maternal and Infant Health Collaborative to address maternal mental health, among other things.

HCR 105 (2021): Calls for creating a Maternal Mental Health task force (with an intentional focus on Black and brown women). This task force will identify individual, provider, and system barriers to screening, diagnosis, and treatment and explore evidence-based research for emerging treatment options.

HB 4859 (2010): Created a legislative commission to study and report on postpartum depression policy and research initiatives. This commission makes recommendations to address postpartum depression and publishes reports on its activities and available resources.

SB 74 (2015): Establishes a Task Force to study Maternal Mental Health with members appointed by the governor; requires the Task Force to submit a report to the governor by December 31, 2016.

S.4007C /R.555 (2023): Directs the commissioner of mental health to establish a maternal mental health workgroup to study and issue recommendations related to maternal mental health and perinatal and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders.

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HB 2666 (2009): Created a workgroup on maternal mental health disorders in the Department of Human Services to identify preventive measures. This working group also recommends strategies to raise public awareness of MMHDs, evidence-based screening tools, healthcare provider education and training, evidence-based treatment, and private and public funding models for preventive care.

HB 253 (2018): Requires the Health and Human Services Commission to develop and implement a five-year strategic plan to improve access to postpartum depression screening, referral, treatment, and support services. The strategic plan must include: strategies to increase awareness among providers about the effects of postpartum depression on outcomes for women and children; establish a referral network of community-based mental health providers and support services; increase access to formal and informal peer support services; raise public awareness and reduce stigma related to postpartum depression; and leverage sources of funding to support community-based screening, referral, treatment, and support services. The strategic plan was released in 2021. View here.

Non-Legislative Task Forces

The Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative, formed in 2015, is a coalition of individuals and organizations advancing programs and policies to improve access to care and outcomes. The Collaborative issued a strategic plan in 2016 which resulted in legislative and administrative policy change.

The Ohio Perinatal Mental Health Task Force, formed in 2023, is a collaborative of individuals and organizations committed to advancing policies and initiatives that continuously improve perinatal mental health access to care and treatment. The focus areas of the task force are research and data, public awareness, screening, treatment and support, and policy.

The Utah Maternal Mental Health Committee, formed in 2018, is a committee of stakeholders across the state that collaborate on quality improvement initiatives to advance maternal mental health in Utah. The committee is housed within the Utah Department of Health and Human Services’ PQC. The committee’s vision is, “All childbearing individuals in Utah receive mental health education and screening during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Every individual with perinatal mental health concerns receives the most appropriate care, from the most appropriate healthcare professional, within an appropriate, stage-based response time.”