SPAC Receives 1st LA Perinatal Task Force Partnership Award

This weekend the California Junior Leagues' SPAC delegates representing 16 communities gathered together in Pasadena for our annual Winter conference to discuss various legislation that impacting our communities.

On Friday evening we held a cocktail reception with several members of the L.A. County Perinatal Task Force including founder, Kimberly Wong to celebrate the work accomplished with ACR 105, the Perinatal Depression Awareness resolution. Much to our surprise, Kimberly presented SPAC with the organization's first annual Perinatal Mental Health Champion Award for advancing this important cause.

It was a tremendous honor to receive this recognition.

In addition to discussing ACR 105 at the conference, the SPAC delegates reviewed nearly 100 bills and ultimately voted to support roughly 35 bills.

Additionally the delegation discussed potential legislation which we would like to sponsor this year and/or next. Sponsoring legislation involves working hand in hand with the legislator who "carries" the bill, pushing the legislation through each step of the advocacy process, including sending letters of support to policy committee chairs, and securing speakers to testify at committee hearings. The delegation requested that the SPAC Legislative Liaison research three potential options:

1. Improving Nutritional Value of School Lunches

2. Requiring Foster Parents receive Additional Training prior to Taking in Youth with Disabilities

3. Teen Dating Violence Prevention Courses in Junior/High Schools

Research is currently underway and a decision will be made as to which sponsored legislation will be selected, by the end of April.

After an eventful couple of days, Cathy Barakin SPAC's Legislative Consultant with Sacramento Advocacy had this to say about our work:

"No other advocacy organization in California comes close to representing the vast needs and interests of the State's underserved women and children. You are respected because you are real people doing this work on your own time and you are considered experts on the needs of the communities you serve. Even in these tough fiscal times, you must continue to be their voice."

ACR 105 Amended, SPAC "Convenes" in Pasadena

ACR 105 was amended on March 10, to recognize not just May 2009, but to recognize the month of May every year as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month in CA. Several additional legislators were added as co-authors as well.

Following is a link to the current version of ACR 105.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0101-0150/acr_105_bill_20100309_amended_asm_v98.html

The Assembly Health Committee hearing is scheduled for March 23rd. Because all but one of the committee members have signed-on as co-authors, approval is set to occur via consent, meaning there is no need to testify. From the health committee, the bill will move to the Assembly Floor for a vote. The Junior Leagues State Public Affairs Committee (SPAC) delegates are hard-at-work outreaching legislators to request support and encourage more to sign-on as co-authors. Additionally, due to the efforts of the Los Angeles County Perinatal Taskforce, today the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support ACR 105.

The CA Women's Caucus hearing is still tentatively set for May 4 in Sacramento. We encourage supporters of ACR 105 to attend. Julie Elginer, SPAC Co-Chair continues to work with interested parties on securing people to testify. The first 30 minutes will be dedicated to the impact of Perinatal Depression on the mother (sponsored by Junior Leagues of California SPAC) and the second 30 minutes will explore the impact of Perinatal Depression on infants, children and families (sponsored by the March of Dimes).

On Monday the following articles appeared in the Los Angeles Times about resources for those suffering from perinatal depression and the affects depression can have on families.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-depression-resources-20100315,0,2388201.story

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-depression-20100315,0,4880790.story

The CA SPAC delegates will convene in Pasadena this weekend for our annual Winter conference. Among other things, our delegates will be deciding which bills introduced by the CA Assembly and Senate to take support positions on, as well as to identify 1-2 additional pieces of legislation that SPAC will sponsor this year and/or next year. All of the bills that SPAC supports or sponsors must fall into one of our four focus areas: Violence Prevention, Health, Education or Family Support.

May 4, Save-the-("Hearing")-Date

Please save the date!

The CA Women's Caucus has tentatively scheduled an informational hearing on ACR 105 (Perinatal Depression Awareness Month) for Tuesday, May 4 from 1:30 – 2:30 PM in Sacramento.

Julie Elginer, the SPAC Co-Chair is currently working with members of the L.A. County Perinatal Task Force on the messages that we want to convey and will begin securing speakers soon.

Concurrent Resolution Moves Forward

Julie Elginer, Co-Chair of SPAC has been working relentlessly with many of our partners to make the new Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMAD) legislative plan a reality.

In summary after tremendous bipartisan support in the Assembly Health Committee, AB 159 was indefinitely held in suspense as part of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Given that California is facing an additional $15-20B fiscal shortfall in 2010, SPAC needed to take a revised approach. In November, the SPAC delegation voted to pursue the three pronged approach of (a) a concurrent resolution, (b) working with the CA Women’s Caucus OR the CA Commission on the Status of Women to hold informational hearings on PMAD and (c) approaching the CA Research Bureau to consider a research publication on this issue.

Concurrent Resolution (ACR 105)
On December 11, 2009, SPAC leadership met with Jackie Koenig (Legislative Director for Assembly Member Nava’s office), Liz Fuller (Consultant to the CA Women’s Caucus) and Lucy Krohn (Chief of Staff for Assembly Member Saldana - Chair of the CA Women’s Caucus). At that time, SPAC submitted the language for the Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) which was the work of numerous stakeholders, including many of those who testified on behalf of AB 159. The resolution was modeled largely off of ACR 51 (Koretz – 2003), and declares the month of May 2010 as Perinatal Depression Awareness Month in California. The resolution also requests that the StateDepartment of Health Care Services, the State Department of PublicHealth, the State Department of Mental Health, First 5 California, Postpartum Support International, and other stakeholders to work together to explore ways to improve women’s access to mental healthcare at the state and local levels, to facilitate increased awareness andeducation about perinatal depression, to explore and encourage the useof prenatal screening tools, and to improve the availability of effectivetreatment and community support services. Nava's office introduced the resolution this week. There were nine co-authors upon introduction, which illustrates the bi-partisan support for this effort.

to review a copy of the resolution, please click on the following link:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=acr_105&sess=CUR&house=A&author=nava

Informational Hearings
The California Women's Caucus has expressed interest in holding a legislative briefing/hearing in May during Women's Health Month on issues impacting maternal health, including PMAD. The hearing will likely be coordinated with the Assembly Health Committee in Sacramento. This will allow the content to become public record, and content of such committees is circulated to all legislators, staffers and gubernatorial staffers through the daily “pink sheet.” The hearing is being targeted for either Tuesday, May 4 or May 11. However we have learned that it is entirely possible the hearing might not occur despite all our best efforts as it is not uncommon that items relating to the fiscal crisis or pending legislation force cancellation of scheduled hearings. If the hearing goes forward, SPAC will assist in the identification of speakers and will be involved publicizing the hearing. Please tentatively mark your calendars!

CA Research Bureau Request
A Policy Analyst has been assigned who has been assigned this topic, is incredibly motive to move this issue forward. He is in the process of developing a project proposal for his leadership within the Bureau. Additionally, he is interested in holding a larger “stakeholders” meeting soon. Names of following organizations were provided as interested stakeholders:
LAC Perinatal Mental Health Taskforce, PSI, CMA Foundation, ACOG, Office of Women’s Health, County Mental Health Directors Association and more.

For more information on Federal postpartum legislation, please see the Perinatal Pro Weekly Blog at http://perinatalpro.com/. This week's highlights include:
The MOTHERS Act now passed in Senate & Time Magazine includes Katherine Stone’s MOTHERS Act Letter among Best of the Year

AB 159 to become a Concurrent Resolution + Research & Hearings

Welcome to the first of many posts which will address the current status of our public policy work around perinatal mood and anxiety disorders ("PMAD"). This blog is hosted by the Junior Leagues of California, State Public Affairs Committee (SPAC).

Julie Elginer our SPAC Co-Chair has been very busy working with leaders from various organizations, such as Postpartum Support International (PSI), the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AB 159 Co-sponsor) and the Perinatal Mental Health Task Force of L.A. County and L.A. Best Babies to formulate the right path for AB 159, "The Healthy Mother's Act," which became a two-year bill after stalling in appropriations due to it's too-high price tag in our ailing economy. With input from many, Nava's office was approached this week to present a new three-pronged plan:

1. Turn AB 159, into a Concurrent Resolution, much like the 2003 resolution, ACR 51. A CR specifies a specific issue for an awareness campaign generally for the month of the year in which it is introduced and passed. The resolution can also include "intent language," encouraging for example that named public agencies and/or private organizations work together or study an issue. It will do so without changing law. It's a very effective way to educate new members of the legislature on a particular topic, laying the foundation for future policy change.

2. Request Further Research on PMAD in California. We are in discussions with Nava's office about commissioning research through the California Research Bureau (CRB). If such research is conducted, it would become public record and be used by legislators and counsel when drafting future legislation.

3. Partner with Women's Groups to Hold Hearings

SPAC and our colleagues in the organizations mentioned above are in the process of outreaching organizations such as the Commission on the Status of Women and the Legislative Women's Caucus to discuss organizing hearings on PMAD which would allow survivors to tell their stories and practitioners/clinicians to discuss gaps in care and possible solutions and partnerships. We will work closely with various stakeholder groups to ensure that the right organizations and individuals testify and are invited to attend.

ACR 51

http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/03-04/bill/asm/ab_0051 0100/acr_51_bill_20030522_enrolled.html

Thank you for visiting our first post. Please return often, or subscribe by clicking on the link below, to keep informed about the status of this important work.

SPAC represents 11,000 women throughout California advocating for women and children's issues in the areas of health, education, violence prevention and family support.

The Junior Leagues of California are organizations of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.