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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2148 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2198 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Marjorie C. Decker |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act reducing emergency department boarding. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex1/15/2025 1 of 1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2148 FILED ON: 1/15/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2198 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Decker of Cambridge, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2198) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Marjorie C. Decker relative to emergency department boarding. Mental Health, Substance Use |
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| 20 | 20 | | and Recovery. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act reducing emergency department boarding. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Section 1. Section 12 of Chapter 123 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2after the first paragraph in subsection (a) the following paragraphs:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 No person shall be involuntarily held for more than 72 hours at a facility that has not |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4been authorized by the department to perform evaluations under section 12(b). Any person held |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5longer than 72 hours must be released. |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6 Any psychiatric hold lasting for more than 48 hours at a facility that has not been |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7authorized by the department to perform evaluations under section 12(b) must be referred to the |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8Committee for Public Counsel Services for appointment of counsel. |
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