Preventing perinatal mental health conditions in pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries to improve military readiness

(a)

Pilot program

(1)

Establishment

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Defense Health Agency, shall establish a pilot program to assess the feasibility and impact of providing evidence-based perinatal mental health prevention programs for pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries in military medical treatment facilities with the goal of reducing the rates of perinatal mental health conditions and improving the military readiness of such members and their families.(2)

Requirements

Pursuant to the pilot program, the Secretary shall carry out the following:(A)Integrate the evidence-based perinatal mental health prevention programs for pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries within existing maternal or pediatric care or programming such as primary care, obstetric care, pediatric care, or family or parenting programs, when applicable.(B)Select pilot sites in a manner to represent the diversity amongst the Armed Force including—(i)at least two military medical treatment facilities per Armed Force;(ii)geographically diverse sites across the United States and outside of the continental United States; and(iii)prioritization of military medical treatment facilities with established maternal health programs or Women’s Clinics.(C)Implement the prevention programs at times, locations, and structured in a manner that incentivizes participation by pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries, including removing barriers for member and beneficiary participation such as childcare availability, differences in rank and military occupational specialty, and any other factor the Secretary determines.(D)Increase awareness of and encourage participation in care or programming for pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries as described in subparagraph (A).(b)

Advisory committee

(1)

Establishment

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish an advisory committee to assist the Department of Defense in carrying out the requirements under this section.(2)

Members

The Secretary shall select the members of the advisory committee including the following:(A)Members of the Armed Forces or beneficiaries—(i)who are or have experienced perinatal care in the previous five years while in the service;(ii)represent various branches and ranks within the Armed Forces; and(iii)preference for members of the Armed Forces or beneficiaries who experienced a perinatal mental health condition.(B)Representatives of military and veterans service organizations.(C)Experts in perinatal mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention.(D)Representatives from the Federal Maternal Mental Health Hotline and related perinatal mental health programs.(3)

Duties

The advisory committee shall guide the Secretary through the implementation of the requirements under this section by providing recommendations to the Secretary on the following items:(A)Identification of evidence-based perinatal prevention programs.(B)Strategies to increase participation amongst a diverse group of pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries.(C)Outreach to eligible pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries on the benefits of prevention and availability of pilot program participation.(D)Strategies to reduce stigma amongst members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries about perinatal mental health conditions and the use of prevention programs.(c)

Technical assistance

The Secretary shall provide technical assistance to military medical treatment facilities in implementing evidence-based perinatal prevention programs under subsection (a) and outside of this pilot program.(d)

Study

The Secretary shall conduct a study of the effectiveness of the pilot program under subsection (a) in preventing or reducing the onset of symptoms of perinatal mental health conditions amongst pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries.(e)

Reports

(1)

Annual report

The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives an annual report on the progress of the pilot program administered under subsection (a) for the year covered by the report, including the number of pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces and beneficiaries completing the evidence-based prevention program broken out by type of prevention program, military service, military occupational specialty, rank, marital status, birth setting of delivery, sex, age, race, and ethnicity.(2)

Final report

The Secretary shall submit a final report to the Congressional Defense Committees, and make sure report available to the public, including—(A)all elements within the annual report under paragraph (1);(B)an assessment and findings from the study in subsection (d);(C)recommendations on whether the model studied in the pilot program should be continued or more widely adopted by the Department; and(D)recommendations on how to scale the pilot program and ensure cost-effective sustainability.(f)

Authorization of appropriations

There are to be appropriated to carry out this section, $5,000,000 for each fiscal year 2025 through 2029.(g)

Definitions

In this section:(1)

Perinatal mental health condition

The term perinatal mental health condition means a mental health disorder that onsets during the pregnancy or within the one-year postpartum period.(2)

Prevention programs

The term prevention programs means an activity shown to avert or decrease the onset or symptoms of a perinatal mental health condition.