California’s perinatal mental health system is fragmented and inconsistent, leaving too many families without timely care. CPWA works to strengthen the policies, partnerships, and systems that shape how families access care—aligning public agencies, providers, and communities to build a coordinated, prevention-focused framework for perinatal mental health in California.
SB 626, co-created by CPWA and authored by Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, strengthens California’s perinatal mental health system by improving screening, clinical follow-up, care coordination, and health plan accountability statewide. In 2024-2025 the bill passed unanimously through policy committees, and now in 2026 is continuing to move through the legislature as we deepen stakeholder engagement, broaden public awareness, and build lasting consensus for reform.
Key provisions of the bill include:
- Provider Screening & Follow-Up: Requires licensed perinatal providers to offer maternal mental health screening and ensure patients who screen positive are offered appropriate clinical evaluation and, when clinically indicated, treatment or referral, consistent with applicable standards of care.
- Case Management & Care Coordination: Requires health plans and insurers to provide case management and care coordination for patients who screen positive, helping families access behavioral health navigation, treatment providers, community supports, medication access assistance when prescribed, and timely follow-up care.
- Health Plan Accountability: Strengthens accountability by integrating maternal mental health screening, referral, care coordination, and follow-up into existing health plan quality improvement and population health management processes.
- Inclusive Language and Definitions: Updates statutory language to recognize the full range of maternal experiences regardless of pregnancy outcome and to ensure the law is inclusive of gender-diverse birthing people, consistent with current clinical guidelines.
