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.

Legislation:

TRIUMPH for New Moms Act:

In the past year, 2020 Mom led the development and introduction of the Taskforce Recommending Improvements for Unaddressed Mental Perinatal & Postpartum Health (TRIUMPH) for New Moms Act (H.R. 4217/S. 2779). This bill is being championed in the House of Representatives by Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Young Kim (R-CA), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and in the Senate by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). The TRIUMPH for New Moms Act would create a federal interdepartmental task force that would review existing programs for addressing MMHDs; eliminate any duplicative federal programs; identify best practices for addressing MMHDs; and ultimately develop a national strategy and offer recommendations to governors on how to implement that strategy to close gaps in maternal mental healthcare.

2020 Mom has led two organizational sign-on letters with 72 unique signatories, urging House and Senate leadership to quickly consider the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act. The letters can be accessed here and here.
We have disseminated two action alerts, resulting in 157 individuals in the 2020 Mom network contacting their Member of Congress and/or Senator to urge their support of the TRIUMPH Act.

Moms Matter Act:

2020 Mom has supported the Shades of Blue Project’s Moms Matter Act (H.R. 909/S. 484), led by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), John Katko (R-NY), and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). This bill, if passed, would create a grant program within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that moms have better access to mental health and substance use disorder services. It would also create a grant program within HHS to bolster and diversify the maternal mental health and substance use workforce. Both of these grant programs would have a particular focus on racial and ethnic minority groups. The Moms Matter Act has been included in the Build Back Better Act, and is expected to be signed into law.

2020 Mom led two impactful organizational sign-on letters with over 100 unique signatories, urging House and Senate leadership to swiftly pass the Moms Matter Act. The letters can be accessed here and here.
We sent out four action alerts, urging the 2020 Mom network to contact their lawmakers and ask them to support the Moms Matter Act. Through these action alerts, a total of 642 individuals contacted their lawmakers.
2020 Mom reached out to “grasstops” non-profit leaders in select States to have them contact their lawmakers and encourage support of the legislation.
2020 Mom’s lobbying, grassroots, and grasstops efforts helped secure 29 of 56 Moms Matter Act co-sponsors.

Other Legislation:

In the past year, 2020 Mom has supported 53 other federal bills, in addition to the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act and the Moms Matter Act. We have supported a range of policies that will either directly or indirectly impact maternal mental health. Some of these bills include:

Anti-Racism in Public Health Act (S. 162/H.R. 666)
Data to Save Moms Act (S. 347/H.R. 925)
Improving Social Determinants of Health Act (S. 104/H.R. 379)
Kira Johnson Act (S. 1042/H.R. 1212)
Parity Implementation Assistance Act (S. 1962/H.R. 3753)
Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act (S. 2425/H.R. 2981)
Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education (SHINE) for Autumn Act (H.R. 5487)
Telehealth Response for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services (TREATS) Act (S. 340)
VA Peer Support Specialist Act (S. 2386/H.R. 4575)

Federal Policy Letters/Comments:

Letters to lawmakers and federal agencies are a crucial part of policy development. Through letters and comment submissions, we are able to share our recommendations and policy priorities.

In the past year, 2020 Mom led 15 letters and signed onto 52 letters to lawmakers and federal agencies related to mental health issues.

2020 Mom’s letters:

Urging House Energy & Commerce Committee leaders to consider the TRIUMPH for New Moms in Fall 2021 - official Mental Health Liaison Group letter
Asking Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) to consider the TRIUMPH for New Moms in Fall 2021 - official Mental Health Liaison Group letter
Requesting House Energy & Commerce Committee leaders to consider the TRIUMPH for New Moms in Fall 2021 -signed by 32 maternal health/public health organizations
Encouraging Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) to consider the TRIUMPH for New Moms in Fall 2021 -signed by 32 maternal health/public health organizations
Urging House Energy & Commerce Committee leaders to consider the Moms Matter Act - official Mental Health Liaison Group letter
Requesting House Energy & Commerce Committee leaders to consider the Moms Matter Act - signed by 70 maternal health/public health organizations
Asking Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) to consider the Moms Matter Act - official Mental Health Liaison Group letter
Encouraging Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) to consider the Moms Matter Act - signed by 70 maternal health/public health organizations
Recommending that Sen. Manchin (D-WV) support at least 4 weeks of paid family leave after birth in the absence of more robust paid family leave benefits in the Build Back Better Act
Comments to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) regarding maternity care professional target areas
Recommendations to Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Crapo (R-ID) on mental health efforts under jurisdiction of Senate Finance Committee
Recommendations to Senators Bennet (D-CO) and Cornyn (R-TX) on reimagining the mental health system
Recommendations to Senators Murphy (D-CT) and Cassidy (R-LA) on authorization of programs within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Suggesting that the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) prioritize maternal mental health in their upcoming Women's Health Consensus Conference (WHCC)

Some of the letters we have signed onto in the past year include:

Thank you to House Democratic Leadership for including all eligible Black Maternal Health Momnibus provisions in their budget reconciliation package (led by Families USA)
Asking House and Senate Appropriators to include funding for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the Fiscal Year 2022 continuing resolution (led by Mental Health Liaison Group)
Requesting that Senators Bennet and Cornyn support improved parity for the MH/SUD system under Medicare or traditional fee-for-service Medicaid (led by The Kennedy Forum)
Asking CMS to clarify a few key provisions related to digital therapeutics to advance mental health equity (led by Mental Health America)
Urging the Senate to pass the Build Back Better Act expeditiously to prevent a lapse in the Child Tax Credit (led by Coalition on Human Needs)

To help support our ongoing efforts to change the maternal mental health care system, please consider donating here. Together we truly are making a difference.

We appreciate the support of the 2020 Mom community in advancing our health policy agenda, and we look forward to even greater accomplishments in the year ahead.