H2204 • 2025

An Act relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of Mental Health

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Carol A. Doherty
Last action: 2026-03-30
Official status: Accompanied a study order, see H5319 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of Mental Health

An Act relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of Mental Health By Representative Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

An Act relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of Mental Health By Representative Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
2204) of Carol A.
Doherty and James K.
Hawkins relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of Mental Health.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-30 House
Accompanied a study order, see H5319 (under House Rule 27)
2025-10-31 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 11/10/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2
2025-02-27 House
Referred to the committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery
2025-02-27 Senate
Senate concurred
House
Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of Mental Health
By Representative Doherty of Taunton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2204) of Carol A. Doherty and James K. Hawkins relative to creating intensive stabilization and treatment units within the Department of Mental Health. Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

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Bill H.2204

SECTION 1: Chapter 19 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following section at the end thereof: -

Section 25. There shall be, within the Department of Mental Health, at least two intensive stabilization and treatment units for patients who exhibit persistently aggressive or self-destructive behavior or exhibit atypically, intensively violent behavior that requires specialized care. One unit shall be designated for men and one unit shall be designated for women. Said units shall be located at a specific and central location and be secured and physically separate from other units. These units shall provide comprehensive evaluation, stabilization and psychiatric treatment which shall include, but not be limited to: violence assessments, behavioral management consultation, interpersonal conflict resolution strategies, critical incident debriefings and transfer evaluations. These units shall include appropriate staffing levels to address the needs of the patient population with an interdisciplinary staff, including but not limited to registered nurses, clinical social workers, mental health workers, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and rehabilitation specialists, who have undergone specialized training to work effectively with this patient population. Upon behavior stabilization, the staff on the unit shall develop a plan for the safe and timely transfer of the patient out of the intensive stabilization and treatment unit.

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