Our work shaping and reporting on national mental health policy is made possible through a capacity grant from the Perigee Fund.

Now that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has passed, you may wonder where 2026 funding stands for Federal programs that impact maternal mental health, which were not addressed in that bill.  This blog post provides an update and assesses individual programs’ impact on maternal mental health. 

On July 31, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its FY2026 “Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS)” funding bill, which includes health-related spending.  This is an overview of the key maternal-child health provisions that impact maternal mental health.  The House “Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies” subcommittee is working on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 funding bill now. Once the bill passes the House Appropriations Committee, the House and Senate are expected to reconcile funding priorities.

As a reminder, this is how the annual Federal budget process works: 

The U.S. annual budget and appropriations process starts with federal agencies submitting requests to the White House, which then develops the President’s budget proposal to submit to Congress. Congress’s Budget Committees then create a budget resolution, after which the House and Senate Appropriations Committees draft and pass appropriations bills to fund government programs and agencies. After both chambers agree on the bills, they are sent to the President for signature or veto by October 1.

Here is an overview of the Senate budget bill. The bill text and accompanying report is summarized below: 

While many programs face level funding or reduced funding, the bill includes targeted investments in child welfare, maternal health, mental health, and substance use initiatives. 

Department of Health and Human Services

Administration on Children and Families (ACF)

  • $1.7 billion (level funding) for the Social Services Block Grant Program (SSBG) to support low-income children and families, people with disabilities, and older adults.
    • The Committee “supports states that choose to use a portion of their SSBG funding to support services and programs at school and community-based Family Resource Centers to strengthen families through a localized, family-centered approach.” Family Resource Centers provide:
      • parenting support and education, including peer support groups
      • navigation of health care and social services
      • mental health counseling and substance use disorder treatment for children and families
      • early learning and afterschool programs
      • financial planning and job training for parents
  • $105 million (level funding) for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Grant program, which provides formula grants to states to improve their child protective service systems. This funding includes $60 million to help states continue to develop and implement plans of safe care. 
  • $482.5 million ($65 million increase) for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program, enabling states to operate coordinated programs of family preservation services, time-limited family reunification services, community-based family support services, and adoption promotion and support services.
  • $6.8 billion ($75 million increase) for Payments for Foster Care and Permanency. This includes funding for Title IV-E programs authorized under the Family First Prevention Services Act that prevent foster care placement.
    • Programs include those that:
      • address adoption disruptions
      • provide mental health prevention and treatment
      • support substance use prevention and recovery
      • offer in-home parenting skills programs
      • expand kinship navigator services
  • $2.75 million (level funding) for the Family First Clearinghouse, which reviews and evaluates evidence-based programs to strengthen child welfare systems and prevent foster care placement. 

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports the Social Services Block Grant funding level, noting that states should consider using the block funding to prioritize early parenting support services through Family Resource Centers (FRCs). As the committee noted, FRCs provide parenting support and education, navigation of care and social services, mental health counseling, early learning activities, family financial planning, and job training. The Committee also noted that preliminary data shows promise in this area, with a 63 percent reduction in child abuse cases and a $4.93 return for every tax dollar invested. This support is particularly important in states with high maternal mental health risk. 

We also support level funding for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) Grant program, and are particularly pleased with the $60 million earmarked for states to implement plans of safe care.  The program was originally developed to address substance use in mothers of young children and generally in the early postpartum.  However, we believe this program should be expanded to address suicidality as well. Further guidelines note that screening and assessment for substance use disorder (SUD) and suicidality should begin in pregnancy (generally, by the Ob/Gyn, midwife, or family practice doctor with the support of their clinic teams, which could include nurse practitioners, community health workers and doulas, for example) so mothers have the opportunity to receive support and treatment. When there is acute risk for harm coming to the mother or baby, a plan of safe care should be developed for both SUD and suicidality by the screening provider or team member.

We believe that when a woman has support that allows for a plan of safe care to be put in place, providers should not need to refer to child protective services (which prompts an investigation of the parents) nor refer to the emergency room in the case of suicidality. This funding provides critical support to states to revamp their plan of safe care and CPS/child welfare programs. It has the potential to significantly improve care and support provided to families.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

  • $113.5 million ($3 million increase) for CDC Safe Motherhood and Infant Health programs to improve the health of pregnant and postpartum individuals and their infants. Of note, the President’s 2026 budget proposal suggests eliminating funding for the Safe Motherhood program.
    • The Senate LHHS Committee not only includes funding, but an increase in funding and encourages the CDC to use the funding increase to expand support for: 
  • Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs): The Committee encourages CDC to expand support for MMRCs and strengthen state-level data systems to improve accuracy, consistency, and completeness in maternal mortality data.
  • Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS): Lawmakers expressed concern over the recent pause in PRAMS data collection and staffing reductions. The bill includes funding to continue PRAMS and requests a report within 90 days on barriers to effective and consistent data collection.
  • Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs): The Committee supports expanding PQCs to more states and territories, while also increasing support for existing collaboratives. An update is requested on expansion progress and barriers by FY 2027.

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports this increase in funding and strongly opposes cuts to this program. We are particularly interested in seeing MMRCs continue to track and report consistently on maternal suicide and overdose data with support from the CDC’s Maternal Mortality Review Information Application (MMRIA, or “Maria”) system which allows for standardized reporting to identify trends and contributing factors across the U.S.

Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)

  • $12 million ($1 million increase) for telepsychiatry consultation programs referred to as “Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders” (MMHSUD).” Grants will help states train professionals to screen, assess, and treat maternal depression for women who are pregnant or up to one year postpartum. The Committee encourages HRSA to improve or maintain existing state programs, prioritizing states with high rates of adverse maternal health https://policycentermmh.org/is-congress-proposing-adequate-maternal-mental-health-program-funding/outcomes, and to provide technical assistance to both grantee and non-grantee states to implement activities under this program. 

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports this increase and urges Congress to convert this program from a grant program to a Federal program in the future. As some states have struggled to maintain these programs when grant funding ends, and as access to psychiatric consultation should be available OBs and their patients in all states, Congress should modify this program to become a Federal Program administered through a contracted entity, which would provide technical assistance to the state MMH consultation sites and distribute ongoing funding to state MMH consultation sites, support development of state consultation programs in new ready states, employ consistent best practices among sites, monitor outcomes, and report on barriers. To enable OBs in all states to access this consultation service, calls from states without consultation programs could be routed to other state consultation programs with capacity, so OBs and mothers across the U.S. can benefit from the service.  We also believe suicide prevention care should be expanded through this program in partnership with the Zero Suicide program funded through SAMHSA. 

  • $8 million ($1 million increase) to expand the Maternal Mental Health Hotline, including public awareness campaigns, coordination with VA and DoD for servicemembers and military families, and staff training to meet population-specific needs.

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports this increase and urges the hotline leadership to develop a plan to ensure the SAMHSA behavioral health treatment locator and health insurance provider directories include the same resources the hotline provides, such as listing providers with perinatal mental health certification (PMH-C). 

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports this increase but urges HRSA to disperse funding to programs that develop sustainability goals through billing Medicaid in coordination with the CMS’s rural health transformation (RHT) program, and commercial insurance. 

  • $55 million (level funding) for State Maternal Health Innovation Grants to drive state-led innovation, strengthen care services, address workforce needs, and expand postpartum and interconception care.

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports this funding and urges HRSA to disperse funding to programs that develop sustainability goals through billing Medicaid and commercial insurance.

Our response: 

While we believe it’s critical to reduce maternal mortality, maternal mental health specifically has not been effectively addressed through AIM in part because AIM bundles were designed to be implemented in hospital settings. We believe maternal mental health, suicide, and overdose prevention should be centralized in the “Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders” (MMHSUD) program, given that MMH and SUD screening should be provided starting in pregnancy in OB outpatient care settings. 

  • $145.3 million (level funding) for the Healthy Start program, reducing infant mortality and improving maternal and infant health in at-risk communities. This includes continuing the enhanced Healthy Start model launched in FY 2023 and prioritizing maternal-child advanced practice professionals. (Note, the President’s proposed budget eliminates this program.)

Our response: 

We believe ongoing support of Healthy Start programs is critical to developing strong families and the future workforce. We also encourage HRSA to support grantees in becoming contracted insurance providers to bill Medicaid and commercial payors for mental health screening and early intervention services.

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports level funding and urges the HRSA telehealth and distance education program to determine if there are opportunities to coordinate with the HRSA “Screening and Treatment for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders” (MMHSUD) program to provide TA to support reimbursement of consulting providers for example. 

  • $799.7 million ($14 million decrease) for the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, a flexible source of funding that allows states to target their most urgent maternal and child health needs. The Committee supports projects to address the Nation’s rising rate of maternal mortality, including providing prenatal care, reducing infant mortality, addressing racial and ethnic disparities, and providing comprehensive care through clinics and home visits. The President’s budget request included a $46.7 million cut for the program.

Our response: 

As the Federal government has an interest in reducing expenditures such as this, we are happy to see that the committee calls out the need to focus these dollars on reducing maternal mortality and improving prenatal care. We urge state departments of health to use these funds not to set up new programs but to pilot solutions that, if effective, could ultimately be billed to Medicaid. For example, states could pivot home visiting programs from being paid for through public health to scaling and paying through Medicaid. These programs could also include coordinating with the State Medicaid Agency (SMA) to develop contracting/billing guidance for organizations looking to provide in-home postpartum care to those mothers/babies with medical complications or at risk for postpartum depression, for example. State Departments of Health could also support Health Information Exchange HEI initiatives prioritizing maternal health.

Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

  • $28.2 million (level funding) for suicide prevention programs, including $26.2 million for the Zero Suicide model, a comprehensive approach across health systems.

Our response: 

We agree with level funding and also urge SAMHSA and Zero Suicide to develop a plan to work with organizations such as the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, which has expertise in maternal suicide prevention, including protocols and training for OB/Gyns and midwives. 

  • $38.9 million (level funding) for the Pregnant and Postpartum Women Program (PPW), providing family-centered residential substance use disorder treatment for pregnant and postpartum women, their children, and other family members. States using collaborative best-practice models for opioid use disorder treatment will be prioritized.

Our response: 

The Policy Center strongly supports the PPW program, which allows mothers and their babies/children to live in homes run by non-profits that provide them with treatment and essential services. We would like to see Congress and SAMHSA expand this program to address co-occurring mental health disorders and interpersonal violence/domestic violence. Further, these residential treatment programs should also be seed-funded and provide technical assistance to become providers in the state to bill Medicaid and commercial insurance. In the future, seed funding should also be provided through the PPW program to start residential treatment programs for maternal mental health as well.   

  • $534.6 million ($15 million increase) for 988 Lifeline and Behavioral Health Crisis Services, strengthening operations nationwide and restoring dedicated funding for the LGBTQ+ youth specialized services line that President Trump eliminated this summer.

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports this critical service and the need to provide states that are still developing their programs with ongoing support. 

Office of Women’s Health

  • $1.75 million (level funding) to advance the Stillbirth Working Group recommendations, focusing on better data collection, risk reduction in high-impact populations, and expanded maternal mental health and bereavement support.

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports level funding to advance the Stillbirth Working Group’s recommendations and commends the Committee for recognizing both the psychological impact of stillbirth and the critical need for maternal mental health and bereavement support. We urge HHS to prioritize these initiatives to ensure mothers have access to timely, effective care.

Department of Labor

Employee Benefits Security Administration

  • $191.1 million (level funding) to the Employee Benefits Security Administration EBSA), including support for additional efforts directed toward systemic and targeted audits of health care coverage provided through ERISA plans, to ensure parity between mental and physical health care coverage as required by current law. The President has paused enforcement of mental health parity rules and also requested a cut of $10 million for EBSA in the FY2026 budget. 

Our response: 

The Policy Center supports level funding for EBSA and strongly opposes cuts or pauses that would weaken the enforcement of mental health parity regulations. Robust oversight, including audits of ERISA plans, is essential to ensuring equitable access to mental and physical health care. These regulations continue to be critical to meeting the needs of people as the U.S. continues to address ongoing mental health and overdose crises.

The Policy Center will continue to monitor budget proposals for these programs and meet directly with leaders in Congress.