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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2954 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2204 |
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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 | | Carol A. Doherty |
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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 relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of |
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| 13 | 13 | | Mental Health. |
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| 14 | 14 | | _______________ |
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| 15 | 15 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 16 | 16 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carol A. Doherty3rd Bristol1/16/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/11/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2954 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2204 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representative Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2204) of |
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| 20 | 20 | | Carol A. Doherty and James K. Hawkins relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment |
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| 21 | 21 | | units within the Department of Mental Health. Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery. |
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| 22 | 22 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 23 | 23 | | _______________ |
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| 24 | 24 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 25 | 25 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | An Act relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of |
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| 28 | 28 | | Mental Health. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 SECTION 1: Chapter 19 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2is hereby amended by adding the following section at the end thereof: - |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 Section 25. There shall be, within the Department of Mental Health, at least two intensive |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4stabilization and treatment units for patients who exhibit persistently aggressive or self- |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5destructive behavior or exhibit atypically, intensively violent behavior that requires specialized |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6care. One unit shall be designated for men and one unit shall be designated for women. Said |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7units shall be located at a specific and central location and be secured and physically separate |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8from other units. These units shall provide comprehensive evaluation, stabilization and |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9psychiatric treatment which shall include, but not be limited to: violence assessments, behavioral |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10management consultation, interpersonal conflict resolution strategies, critical incident |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11debriefings and transfer evaluations. These units shall include appropriate staffing levels to |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12address the needs of the patient population with an interdisciplinary staff, including but not 2 of 2 |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13limited to registered nurses, clinical social workers, mental health workers, psychiatrists, clinical |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14psychologists and rehabilitation specialists, who have undergone specialized training to work |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15effectively with this patient population. Upon behavior stabilization, the staff on the unit shall |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16develop a plan for the safe and timely transfer of the patient out of the intensive stabilization and |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17treatment unit. |
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