II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3824 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a grant program 

for screening, assessment, and treatment services for maternal mental 

health and substance use disorders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2022 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. BALDWIN, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize a 

grant program for screening, assessment, and treatment 

services for maternal mental health and substance use 

disorders, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Into the Light for Ma5 ternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Act 

6 of 2022’’ or the ‘‘Into the Light for MMH and SUD Act 

7 of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Maternal mental health conditions are the 

4 most common complications of pregnancy and child5 birth, affecting 1 in 5 women or 800,000 women an6 nually, during pregnancy or the year following preg7 nancy. 

8 (2) Maternal mental health and substance use 

9 disorders contribute to the high rate of maternal 

10 mortality in the United States, with suicide and 

11 drug overdose combined being the leading cause of 

12 death for women in the first year following preg13 nancy. 

14 (3) Women who experience racial and economic 

15 inequities are 3 to 4 times more likely to be im16 pacted by maternal mental health and other behav17 ioral health disorders. 

18 (4) Untreated maternal mental health condi19 tions and substance use disorders can have long20 term negative impacts on the mother, baby, family, 

21 and society. 

22 (5) Mothers with untreated mental health con23 ditions during pregnancy are more likely to have 

24 poor nutrition and struggle with substance use dis25 orders, which can lead to poor birth outcomes for 

26 the baby. 


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1 (6) Untreated maternal mental health condi2 tions and substance use disorders can contribute 

3 to— 

4 (A) impaired parent-child interactions; 

5 (B) behavioral, cognitive, or emotional 

6 delays in the child; and 

7 (C) adverse childhood experiences that can 

8 negatively impact the child’s life. 

9 (7) Untreated maternal mental health condi10 tions are estimated to cost the United States econ11 omy $14,000,000,000 or $32,000 per mother-infant 

12 pair every year in addressing poor health outcomes 

13 and accounting for lost wages and productivity of 

14 the mother. 

15 (8) Although the United States Preventive 

16 Services Task Force and several national medical or17 ganizations encourage health care providers to 

18 screen and treat maternal mental health conditions, 

19 75 percent of women impacted remain untreated. 

20 (9) Frontline providers who care for women 

21 during pregnancy and the first year following preg22 nancy are often reluctant to screen for maternal 

23 mental health conditions, citing lack of education, 

24 insurance reimbursement, and resources for affected 

25 women. 


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1 SEC. 3. SCREENING AND TREATMENT FOR A MATERNAL 

2 MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DIS3 ORDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 317L–1 of the Public 

5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–13a) is amended— 

6 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘MA7 TERNAL DEPRESSION’’ and inserting ‘‘MATER8 NAL MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE

9 DISORDERS’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) by inserting ‘‘, Indian Tribes and Trib12 al organizations (as such terms are defined in 

13 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

14 Education Assistance Act), and urban Indian 

15 organizations (as such term is defined in sec16 tion 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement 

17 Act)’’ after ‘‘States’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘for women who are preg19 nant, or who have given birth within the pre20 ceding 12 months, for maternal depression’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘for women who are postpartum, 

22 pregnant, or have given birth within the pre23 ceding 12 months, for maternal mental health 

24 and substance use disorders’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (b) of section 317L– 

2 1 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–13a) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘a State shall submit’’ and in5 serting ‘‘an entity listed in subsection (a) shall sub6 mit’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraphs (1) and (2), by striking ‘‘ma8 ternal depression’’ each place it appears and insert9 ing ‘‘maternal mental health and substance use dis10 orders’’. 

11 (c) PRIORITY.—Subsection (c) of section 317L–1 of 

12 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–13a) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘may give priority to States pro15 posing to improve or enhance access to screening’’ 

16 and inserting the following: ‘‘shall give priority to 

17 entities listed in subsection (a) that— 

18 ‘‘(1) are proposing to create, improve, or en19 hance screening, prevention, and treatment’’; 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘maternal depression’’ and in21 serting ‘‘maternal mental health and substance use 

22 disorders’’; 

23 (3) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (1), as so designated, and inserting a semi25 colon; and 


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1 (4) by inserting after such paragraph (1) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(2) are currently partnered with, or will part4 ner with, a community-based organization to address 

5 maternal mental health and substance use disorders; 

6 ‘‘(3) are located in an area with high rates of 

7 adverse maternal health outcomes or significant 

8 health, economic, racial, or ethnic disparities in ma9 ternal health and substance use disorder outcomes; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(4) operate in a health professional shortage 

12 area designated under section 332.’’. 

13 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Subsection (d) of section 

14 317L–1 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 247b–13a) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘to 

18 health care providers; and’’ and inserting ‘‘on 

19 maternal mental health and substance use dis20 order screening, brief intervention, treatment 

21 (as applicable for health care providers), and 

22 referrals for treatment to health care providers 

23 in the primary care setting and nonclinical 

24 perinatal support workers;’’; 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘to 

2 health care providers, including information on 

3 maternal depression screening, treatment, and 

4 followup support services, and linkages to com5 munity-based resources; and’’ and inserting ‘‘on 

6 maternal mental health and substance use dis7 order screening, brief intervention, treatment 

8 (as applicable for health care providers) and re9 ferrals for treatment, followup support services, 

10 and linkages to community-based resources to 

11 health care providers in the primary care set12 ting and clinical perinatal support workers; 

13 and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(C) enabling health care providers (such 

16 as obstetrician-gynecologists, nurse practi17 tioners, nurse midwives, pediatricians, psychia18 trists, mental and other behavioral health care 

19 providers, and adult primary care clinicians) to 

20 provide or receive real-time psychiatric con21 sultation (in-person or remotely), including 

22 through the use of technology-enabled collabo23 rative learning and capacity building models (as 

24 defined in section 330N), to aid in the treatVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 15, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3824.IS S3824

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1 ment of pregnant and postpartum women; 

2 and’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and re5 designating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as sub6 paragraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

7 (B) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated, 

8 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (C) in subparagraph (B), as redesig10 nated— 

11 (i) by inserting ‘‘, including’’ before 

12 ‘‘for rural areas’’; and 

13 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

14 and inserting a semicolon; and 

15 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (B), 

16 as redesignated, the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) providing assistance to pregnant and 

18 postpartum women to receive maternal mental 

19 health and substance use disorder treatment, 

20 including patient consultation, care coordina21 tion, and navigation for such treatment; 

22 ‘‘(D) coordinating with maternal and child 

23 health programs of the Federal Government 

24 and State, local, and Tribal governments, in25 cluding child psychiatric access programs; 


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1 ‘‘(E) conducting public outreach and 

2 awareness regarding grants under subsection 

3 (a); 

4 ‘‘(F) creating multi-State consortia to 

5 carry out the activities required or authorized 

6 under this subsection; and 

7 ‘‘(G) training health care providers in the 

8 primary care setting and nonclinical perinatal 

9 support workers on trauma-informed care, 

10 culturally- and linguistically-appropriate serv11 ices, and best practices related to training to 

12 improve the provision of maternal mental health 

13 and substance use disorder care for racial and 

14 ethnic minority populations, including with re15 spect to perceptions and biases that may affect 

16 the approach to, and provision of, care.’’. 

17 (e) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.—Section 317L–1 of 

18 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–13a) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub21 section (g); and 

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

25 provide technical assistance to grantees and entities listed 


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1 in subsection (a) for carrying out activities pursuant to 

2 this section. 

3 ‘‘(f) DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES.—The 

4 Secretary, based on evaluation of the activities funded 

5 pursuant to this section, shall identify and disseminate 

6 evidence-based or evidence-informed best practices for 

7 screening, assessment, and treatment services for mater8 nal mental health and substance use disorders, including 

9 culturally- and linguistically-appropriate services, for 

10 women during pregnancy and 12 months following preg11 nancy.’’. 

12 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub13 section (g) of section 317L–1 (42 U.S.C. 247b–13a) of 

14 the Public Health Service Act, as redesignated, is further 

15 amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘$24,000,000’’; and 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘2018 through 2022’’ and in19 serting ‘‘2023 through 2028’’. 

20 SEC. 4. MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH HOTLINE. 

21 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

22 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 399V–7. MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH HOTLINE. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall maintain, di3 rectly or by grant or contract, a national hotline to provide 

4 emotional support, information, brief intervention, and 

5 mental health and substance use disorder resources to 

6 pregnant and postpartum women at risk of, or affected 

7 by, maternal mental health and substance use disorders, 

8 and to their families or household members. 

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR HOTLINE.—The hotline 

10 under subsection (a) shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) be a 24/7 real-time hotline; 

12 ‘‘(2) provide voice and text support; 

13 ‘‘(3) be staffed by certified peer specialists, li14 censed health care professionals, or licensed mental 

15 health professionals who are trained on— 

16 ‘‘(A) maternal mental health and sub17 stance use disorder prevention, identification, 

18 and intervention; and 

19 ‘‘(B) providing culturally- and linguis20 tically-appropriate support; and 

21 ‘‘(4) provide maternal mental health and sub22 stance use disorder assistance and referral services 

23 to meet the needs of underserved populations, indi24 viduals with disabilities, and family and household 

25 members of pregnant or postpartum women at risk 


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1 of experiencing maternal mental health and sub2 stance use disorders. 

3 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In maintaining 

4 the hotline under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) consult with the Domestic Violence Hot6 line, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and Vet7 erans Crisis Line to ensure that pregnant and 

8 postpartum women are connected in real-time to the 

9 appropriate specialized hotline service, when applica10 ble; 

11 ‘‘(2) conduct a public awareness campaign for 

12 the hotline; and 

13 ‘‘(3) consult with Federal departments and 

14 agencies, including the Centers of Excellence of the 

15 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad16 ministration and the Department of Veterans Af17 fairs, to increase awareness regarding the hotline. 

18 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 

19 an annual report to Congress on the hotline under sub20 section (a) and implementation of this section, including— 

21 ‘‘(1) an evaluation of the effectiveness of activi22 ties conducted or supported under subsection (a); 

23 ‘‘(2) a directory of entities or organizations to 

24 which staff maintaining the hotline funded under 

25 this section may make referrals; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) such additional information as the Sec2 retary determines appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

4 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro5 priated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 

6 2028.’’. 

Æ 


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