Bill > H1980

This bill aims to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency department boarding by amending the law on the involuntary hospitalization of individuals due to mental illness. The key provisions include: 1. Requiring mental health professionals to exhaust community-based treatment alternatives, such as crisis hotlines, mobile crisis intervention, and peer-run services, before seeking involuntary hospitalization. This is to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations. 2. Establishing a process where law enforcement officers or emergency medical technicians can transport individuals directly to a Community Behavioral Health Center for evaluation and treatment, if a mental health professional is not available. 3. Providing individuals who are held in an emergency department for 48 hours the right to a probable cause hearing to determine if they meet the criteria for emergency detention. 4. Requiring the Department of Mental Health to collect and report data on applications for involuntary hospitalization, and take actions in response to the information received, including any licensing actions. 5. Directing the Department of Mental Health to establish and maintain a database of available capacity at all inpatient psychiatric facilities for use by law enforcement, emergency medical technicians, and healthcare professionals. The overall goal is to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and ensure individuals have access to appropriate, less restrictive community-based mental health services.