H-8268 (Shallcross Smith) & S-2562 (DiMario)
“It’s the most reliable program that I have worked with in my twenty years of working in primary care.” – Rhode Island Primary Care Provider
The need for pregnancy, postpartum, and pediatric access to mental health support is urgent and growing, with both a maternal and children’s mental health crisis occurring. In Rhode Island, there is a shortage of specialized mental health providers. As such, much of the burden for initial mental health care falls on frontline primary health care providers, who do not have extensive training and must navigate a complex and overtaxed system to connect patients to care.
Rhode Island’s MomsPRN and PediPRN programs help address this gap by empowering health care professionals, building competency, and increasing patient access to mental health care by offering frontline health care providers same-day, specialized clinical teleconsultations that include resource/referral support and ongoing professional education. At least 28 states have a perinatal psychiatry access program. All but 1 state has a child psychiatry access program.
Supports Health Care Professionals
As of September 2025, the PRN programs have helped 5,858 perinatal and pediatric patients by supporting 1,386 health care professionals at 486 practices across Rhode Island. The PRN programs offer same-day specialized clinical consultations and resource/referral services for mental health services. The program helps support primary health care providers to meet their patients’ mental health care needs so they can avoid lengthy wait times for specialized care.
Supports Moms and Babies
RI MomsPRN has directly helped 2,857 perinatal patients in Rhode Island. Even more are benefiting from the program because with each call a provider makes, they gain knowledge to support other patients. More than one in four (27.5%) women in RI experience depression before, during, or after their pregnancy.
Supports Children
PediPRN has directly helped 3,001 pediatric patients in Rhode Island. Even more benefit from the program as pediatric health care providers gain knowledge to support other patients. In RI, nearly one in three children (30%) ages three to seventeen has a diagnosable mental
health challenge.
The PRN 2026 bill will:
Permanently fund and sustain RI MomsPRN and PediPRN. The Governor’s proposed budget has funding allocated for RI MomsPRN, but not PediPRN. Federal grant funding for PediPRN is scheduled to end in September 2026. If no funding is allocated, the PediPRN program will close.
