Kira Johnson Act

742. Respectful maternity care training for all employees in maternity care settings

(a) Grants. The Secretary shall award grants for programs to reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination in maternity care settings and to advance respectful, culturally and linguistically congruent, trauma-informed care.

(b) Special consideration. In awarding grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give special consideration to applications for programs that would—

(1) apply to all maternity care providers and any employees who interact with pregnant and postpartum individuals in the provider setting, including front desk employees, sonographers, schedulers, health care professionals, hospital or health system administrators, security staff, and other employees;

(2) emphasize periodic, as opposed to one-time, trainings for all birthing professionals and employees described in paragraph (1);

(3) address implicit bias, racism, and cultural humility;

(4) be delivered in ongoing education settings for providers maintaining their licenses, with a preference for trainings that provide continuing education units;

(5) include trauma-informed care best practices and an emphasis on shared decision making between providers and patients;

(6) include antiracism training and programs;

(7) be delivered in undergraduate programs that funnel into health professions schools;

(8) be delivered in settings that apply to providers of the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966;

(9) integrate bias training in obstetric emergency simulation trainings or related trainings;

(10) include training for emergency department employees and emergency medical technicians on recognizing warning signs for severe pregnancy-related complications;

(11) offer training to all maternity care providers on the value of racially, ethnically, and professionally diverse maternity care teams to provide culturally and linguistically congruent care; or

(12) be based on one or more programs designed by a historically Black college or university or other minority-serving institution.

(c) Application. To seek a grant under subsection (a), an entity shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.

(d) Reporting. Each recipient of a grant under this section shall annually submit to the Secretary a report on the status of activities conducted using the grant, including, as applicable, a description of the impact of training provided through the grant on patient outcomes and patient experience for pregnant and postpartum individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups and their families.

(e) Best practices. Based on the annual reports submitted pursuant to subsection (d), the Secretary—

(1) shall produce an annual report on the findings resulting from programs funded through this section;

(2) shall disseminate such report to all recipients of grants under this section and to the public; and

(3) may include in such report findings on best practices for improving patient outcomes and patient experience for pregnant and postpartum individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups and their families in maternity care settings.

(f) Definitions. In this section:

(1) The term postpartum means the 1-year period beginning on the last day of an individual’s pregnancy.

(2) The term culturally and linguistically congruent means in agreement with the preferred cultural values, beliefs, worldview, language, and practices of the health care consumer and other stakeholders.

(3) The term racial and ethnic minority group has the meaning given such term in section 1707(g)(1).

(g) Authorization of appropriations. To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.