During this briefing, the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health will unveil its latest maternal mental health (MMH) state report cards, including a new national grade and state grades highlighting the top states, bottom states, and those states that have made the most significant improvement. (See the 2024 report cards here).
The Policy Center will also present its 2025, county-level “Risk and Resource” report highlighting the counties with the highest risk for MMH disorders and lowest resources which the Policy Center refers to as “dark zones.”
(See the 2023 report here).
The Policy Center CEO will also share the Federal and state strategies, including the strategies from the Federal Maternal Mental Health Task Force that have the potential to alleviate suffering and support doctors and patients alike.
Speakers
Joy founded the Policy Center after experiencing failures of our healthcare “system” through the birth of her first child and losing a family member to suicide. She began to see a path forward, with her volunteer state policy experience and nearly 25 years working for a large health insurer. She has unparalleled expertise in understanding the complexities of U.S. healthcare and the levers for improvement, including payment, measurement/quality improvement, and health policy, which serves as the foundation for our work. Joy is a highly respected collaborator and passionate advocate, recognized as a go-to authority on maternal mental health.
Caitlin is a Research Scientist within the Health Policy and Management Department at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. She brings over a decade of mixed-method public health research, health policy research, and health systems research in the fields of maternal and child health, women’s health, reproductive health, and health among low-income communities. She brings content expertise regarding mental health, trauma, and social determinants of health, as well as pathways for addressing SDH in healthcare settings. Previously, she supported women’s and children’s health research initiatives at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Population Services International’s Women’s Health Project, the Research Center for Leadership in Action at NYU, the World Bank Group, Population Action International, and the Ms. Foundation for Women. Ms. Murphy has a Masters’ in Public Policy Analysis from NYU Wagner with a concentration in health and gender, and is a current doctoral student in the Health Policy and Management Department at GWU.
