By Joy Burkhard, MBA

It’s an exciting time for maternal mental health for a number of reasons - and at the Policy Center, we are particularly excited to report that the new Federal Task Force on Maternal Mental Health launched on September 27.

It was formed after the passage of the TRIUMPH for New Moms Act, which was championed by the Policy Center. We wrote the bill recognizing that low support and treatment rates of maternal mental health (MMH) disorders are caused by many complex factors and that cross-sector and cross-government players are critical to solving this crisis.

The Task Force is charged with identifying, evaluating, and making recommendations to coordinate and improve federal activities to improve maternal mental health care in America.

The Task Force will create a strategy reporting to Congress and states to implement best practices around prevention, screening, and diagnosis; expand evidence-based interventions, treatments, and community practices; and communications and community engagement. During the task force meeting today, the task force leaders shared equity and trauma-informed practices will be addressed throughout the Task Force work.

The Task Force is co-chaired by the Health and Human Services Agency (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, M.D., and Assistant Secretary of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA) Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D. and operates through SAMSHA and the Office of Women’s Health.

Join us in celebrating this important moment.

So you, the maternal mental health field, are kept abreast; we will continue to share updates and progress made by the task force through blog posts after each meeting.

Our work shaping and reporting on national mental health policy is made possible through a 2020-2024 capacity grant from the Perigee Fund.