BILL NUMBER: S7513
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to children and
recovering mothers
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
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 Depart-
ment of Health, whereby the Commissioner, in consultation with the
Commissioner of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, will assist
providers caring for recovering expectant mothers through guidance on
universal screening techniques, providing information regarding Medica-
tion Assisted Treatment (MAT) for.pregnant women, providing referral
information for substance abuse counseling, developing a system for
consultation and linkage services for obstetricians and primary care
providers who care for recovering expectant mothers, developing provider
education, 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, established 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 legislation 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.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019-2020: A7955 - Referred to Health
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
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.