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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1585 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1659
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
John J. Cronin
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to crisis intervention services for emergency service providers; confidentiality of
information.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :John J. CroninWorcester and Middlesex 1 of 5
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1585 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1659
By Mr. Cronin, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1659) of John J. Cronin for
legislation to allow emergency service providers performing crisis intervention services to keep
information confidential from a third party. Public Safety and Homeland Security.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act relative to crisis intervention services for emergency service providers; confidentiality of
information.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Section 20O of chapter 233 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official
2Edition, is hereby amended by striking out Section 20O, and inserting in place thereof the
3following section:-
4 Section 1. Section 20O. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the
5context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
6 ''Certified emergency service provider'', an emergency service provider certified by the
7Massachusetts Peer Support Network or International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
8 “Confidential Information”, is information transmitted in confidence by and between an
9emergency service provider and a certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health
10professional during the course of a critical incident stress management session by a means which
11does not disclose the information to a person other than a person or persons participating in the 2 of 5
12critical incident stress management session with the emergency service provider. The term
13includes all information received by the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental
14health professional during the critical incident stress management session.
15 ''Crisis intervention'', immediate short-term psychological care provided by a certified
16emergency service provider providing critical incident stress management to an emergency
17service provider after said emergency service provider's response to a critical incident.
18 ''Crisis intervention services'', consultation, counseling, debriefing, defusing, intervention
19services, prevention or referral.
20 ''Critical incident'', an event resulting in psychological stress or trauma to an emergency
21service provider as a result of said emergency service provider's response to the incident.
22 ''Critical incident stress management'', a program designed to assist an emergency service
23provider in coping with the psychological stress or trauma resulting from said emergency service
24providers response to a critical incident.
25 ''Emergency service provider'', an active or retired law enforcement officer, police officer,
26state police trooper, sheriff or deputy sheriffs, firefighter, or emergency medical personnel.
27 ''Secretary'', the secretary of the executive office of public safety and homeland security.
28 (b) Information provided by an emergency service provider to a certified emergency
29service provider or licensed mental health professional as part of crisis intervention services
30provided by the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional to
31the emergency service provider either individually or as part of a group shall be confidential and
32shall not be disclosed to a third party, except as provided by subsection (e). 3 of 5
33 (c) An emergency service provider has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent
34others from disclosing, confidential communications made during a critical incident stress
35management session for the purpose of lessening the impact of an event, accelerating their own
36normal coping abilities, and helping to prevent the development of post traumatic stress disorder,
37as follows:
38 (1) between the emergency service provider and the certified emergency service provider
39or licensed mental health professional;
40 (2) between other emergency service providers participating in a group critical incident
41stress management session and the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental
42health professional.
43 (d) The privilege may be claimed by the emergency service provider, the emergency
44service provider’s guardian or conservator, or the personal representative of a deceased
45emergency service provider as the case may be at the time the privilege is claimed.
46 (e) Subsection (b) shall not apply to information provided by an emergency service
47provider to a certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional as part
48of crisis intervention services provided by the certified emergency service provider or licensed
49mental health professional to the emergency service provider if:
50 (i) the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional
51providing crisis intervention services has reasonable cause to believe that the emergency service
52provider receiving the crisis intervention services is in need of treatment in a hospital for mental
53or emotional illness or that there is a threat of imminently dangerous activity by the emergency 4 of 5
54service provider receiving the crisis intervention services against himself or herself or another
55person;
56 (ii) the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional
57providing crisis intervention services has reasonable cause to believe that the emergency service
58provider receiving the crisis intervention services has engaged in conduct required to be reported
59pursuant to section 51A of chapter 119;
60 (iii) the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional
61providing crisis intervention services has reasonable cause to believe that the emergency service
62provider receiving the crisis intervention services has engaged in conduct in violation of any
63federal or state law;
64 (iv) the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional
65providing crisis intervention services has reasonable cause to believe that the emergency service
66provider receiving the crisis intervention services has admitted to criminal conduct;
67 (v) the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional
68providing crisis intervention services has reasonable cause to believe that the emergency service
69provider receiving the crisis intervention services has admitted to conduct that constitutes a
70violation of the laws that are normally enforced by the entity for which the emergency service
71provider receiving the crisis intervention services is employed;
72 (vi) the certified emergency service provider or licensed mental health professional
73providing crisis intervention services was an initial emergency service responder, a witness, or a
74party to the critical incident that prompted an emergency service provider to engage in crises
75intervention services; or 5 of 5
76 (vii) the emergency service provider receiving the crisis intervention services waives
77confidentiality and gives express consent for the certified emergency service provider or licensed
78mental health professional to testify or the emergency service provider receiving the crisis
79intervention services otherwise divulges information related to such services to any third party.
80 (d) An emergency service provider who provides crisis intervention services to
81emergency service providers pursuant to this section shall: (i) be certified by the Massachusetts
82Peer Support Network or International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.; (ii) provide
83documentation of such certification to their employer; and (iii) annually provide their employer
84with proof of such certification.
85 An entity employing a certified emergency service provider shall maintain the
86documentation provided by the employee under this subsection of the employee's certification by
87the Massachusetts Peer Support Network or the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation,
88Inc. Such documentation shall be made available at the request of the secretary.
89 (e) If an entity employing a certified emergency service provider determines that an
90employee has violated this section, the entity shall promptly notify in writing the Massachusetts
91Peer Support Network and or the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc. of the
92violation. An employee that violates this section shall be considered decertified and shall not be
93eligible to provide crisis intervention services as a certified emergency service provider for a
94period of 5 years.