What's happening
The CHARM Act creates programs and guidance to support pregnant women and newborns affected by substance use disorders in New York.
Why it matters
Expands support for healthcare providers. by requiring new guidance, training, and resources for those caring for pregnant women with substance use disorders—helping to standardize care and reduce stigma for expectant mothers seeking help.
Improves early identification and referral. by mandating universal screening for substance use disorder at prenatal visits, with validated tools and stigma-reducing language, potentially leading to earlier interventions and better outcomes for mothers and babies.
Addresses care for infants at risk. by developing protocols for hospitals and birth centers to treat newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome and connecting recovering mothers to ongoing community support and home visiting services after birth.
Creates a statewide workgroup to identify barriers. in the current system, bringing together a range of stakeholders to analyze gaps in care, improve coordination, and make recommendations for future improvements—ensuring ongoing evaluation and policy updates.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Support Mothers Battling Addiction
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to health
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7998
IN SENATE
March 16, 2018
Introduced by Sens. HANNON, AKSHAR, AMEDORE, JACOBS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to children and recovering mothers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "children and recovering mothers (CHARM) act".
§ 2. Article 25 of the public health law is amended by adding a new title 4-A to read as follows:
TITLE 4-A
CHILDREN AND RECOVERING MOTHERS Section 2576. Recovering expectant mother program.
2577. Newborn screening.
2578. Provider education.
2579. Workgroup.
§ 2576. Recovering expectant mother program. There shall be established a recovering expectant mothers program within the department whereby the commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of alcoholism and substance abuse services, shall provide guidance, education and assistance to providers caring for recovering expectant mothers, which shall include, but not be limited to:
1. establishing, in consultation with relevant health care providers, guidance on universal screening techniques for substance use disorder at prenatal visits. Such guidance shall rely on validated screening tools and questionnaires and utilize language to help reduce stigma;
2. providing information regarding use of medication assisted treatment for pregnant women, which shall include information regarding buprenorphrine training, tools for providers on effective management of women with opioid use disorder in pregnancy, and a referral list of certified providers;
3. providing referral information for substance abuse counseling, social support and basic needs referrals, which shall also include guid-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14812-02-8
S. 7998 2
ance on referring women to home visiting services that they may be eligible for after birth; and
4. developing a system for rapid consultation and referral linkage services for obstetricians and primary care providers statewide who provide care for expectant mothers with substance use disorder.
§ 2577. Newborn screening. The commissioner, in conjunction with the commissioner of alcoholism and substance abuse services, shall develop guidance for hospitals and midwifery birth centers on neonatal abstinence syndrome which shall include, but not be limited to, appropriate treatment methods for neonatal abstinence syndrome and information on home visiting services that recovering mothers may be eligible for, as well as other substances abuse services, social supports and basic need referrals in the community.
§ 2578. Provider education. The commissioner shall develop or approve a continuing medical education course for neonatal nurses, obstetricians, midwives, pediatricians, and other health care providers regarding treatment of expectant mothers and new mothers suffering from substance use disorder, and the treatment of newborns suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, which may include federally approved buprenorphine training, in order to facilitate comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care to this population.
§ 2579. Workgroup. The commissioner, in conjunction with the commissioner of alcoholism and substance abuse services, shall convene a workgroup of stakeholders, including but not limited to, hospitals, local health departments, obstetricians, midwives, pediatricians, and substance abuse providers to study and evaluate current barriers and challenges in identifying and treating expectant mothers, newborns, and new parents with substance use disorder. The workgroup shall report on its findings and recommendations to the commissioner, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate within one year of the effective date of this section.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, any actions necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be taken and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to children and recovering mothers
Purpose
To amend the Public Health Law by establishing the Children and Recover- ing Mothers (CHARM) act.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill creates the Children and Recovering Mothers (CHARM) act.
Section 2 amends Article 25 of the Public Health Law by adding a new title 4-A, in relation to children and recovering mothers. This section establishes a recovering expectant mothers program within the Department of Health, whereby the Commissioner, in consultation with the Commis- sioner of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, will assist providers caring for recovering expectant mothers through guidance on universal screening techniques, providing information regarding Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for pregnant women, providing referral informa- tion for substance abuse counseling, developing a system for consulta- tion and linkage services for obstetricians and primary care providers who care for recovering expectant mothers, developing provider educa- tion, and creating a workgroup of stakeholders to evaluate barriers in treating expectant mothers, newborns, and new parents with substance use disorder.
Section 3 provides that the act shall take effect on the 90th day after its enactment; provided, however, that effective immediately, any actions necessary for the implementation of the act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be completed on or before the effec- tive date.
Justification
Amid the ever-growing demographic impacted by the opioid epidemic are expectant mothers and their newborns. According to the National Insti- tutes of Health (NIH), there was a five-fold increase in the proportion of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) from 2000 to 2012, which is the equivalence of one baby being born with opiate with- drawal every 25 minutes. Babies born with NAS had average hospital stays of 16.9 days (an average amount of $66,700) compared to 2.1 days (an average amount of $3,500) for babies born without NAS.
These newborns can also suffer from low birth weight, prematurity, sudden infant death syndrome, and other forms of fetal distress at birth.
Vermont's Children and Recovering Mothers (CHARM) Collaborative, estab- lished in 2002 to provide care coordination services for pregnant women with addiction, MAT, substance abuse counseling services, standard prenatal care, as well as an on-going assessment of the social support needs of these women, has greatly helped VT in tackling this important issue. Building upon the principles of the VT program, this NY legis- lation seeks to educate providers, link pregnant women to care in an effort to address any substance use prior to the birth of the child, decrease the number of babies born with NAS, and to ensure linkage with supports after the child is born.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, any actions necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be taken and completed on or before such effective date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.