|
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to a strategic plan to address postpartum depression. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Health and Safety |
|
Code, is amended by adding Section 32.046 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 32.046. POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION STRATEGIC PLAN. (a) |
|
The commission shall develop and implement a five-year strategic |
|
plan to improve access to postpartum depression screening, |
|
referral, treatment, and support services. Not later than |
|
September 1 of the last fiscal year in each five-year period, the |
|
commission shall develop a new strategic plan for the next five |
|
fiscal years beginning with the following fiscal year. |
|
(b) The strategic plan must provide strategies to: |
|
(1) increase awareness among state-administered |
|
program providers who may serve women who are at risk of or are |
|
experiencing postpartum depression about the prevalence and |
|
effects of postpartum depression on outcomes for women and |
|
children; |
|
(2) establish a referral network of community-based |
|
mental health providers and support services addressing postpartum |
|
depression; |
|
(3) increase women's access to formal and informal |
|
peer support services, including access to certified peer |
|
specialists who have received additional training related to |
|
postpartum depression; |
|
(4) raise public awareness of and reduce the stigma |
|
related to postpartum depression; and |
|
(5) leverage sources of funding to support existing |
|
community-based postpartum depression screening, referral, |
|
treatment, and support services. |
|
(c) The commission shall coordinate with the department, |
|
the statewide health coordinating council, the office of mental |
|
health coordination, and the statewide behavioral health |
|
coordinating council in developing the strategic plan. |
|
(d) The commission, in consultation with the department, |
|
the statewide health coordinating council, the office of mental |
|
health coordination, and the statewide behavioral health |
|
coordinating council, shall annually review and update, as |
|
necessary, the strategic plan. |
|
(e) For purposes of this section, "postpartum depression" |
|
means a disorder in which a woman experiences moderate to severe |
|
depression following a pregnancy, regardless of whether the |
|
pregnancy resulted in birth, or an act defined by Section |
|
245.002(1). |
|
SECTION 2. Not later than September 1, 2020, the Health and |
|
Human Services Commission shall develop the initial strategic plan |
|
required by Section 32.046, Health and Safety Code, as added by this |
|
Act. |
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 253 was passed by the House on April |
|
16, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 89, Nays 55, 1 present, not |
|
voting. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 253 was passed by the Senate on May |
|
15, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: _____________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
_____________________ |
|
Governor |