A quarterly legislative update from the Treatment Advocacy Center
Fall 2022
Our Fall 2022 issue of SMI Advocate covers legislative news from June 30 to October 4. With most state legislatures having already adjourned and Congress on summer recess during the majority of this period, we have the chance to dive deeper into a series of bills in California in addition to sharing several other updates.
The California State Legislature passed Gov. Gavin Newsom's CARE Court program, designed to disrupt the revolving door of homelessness, short-term hospitalization and incarceration those with untreated severe mental illness often experience. The legislature also passed reforms to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (responding to feedback from stakeholders last year on ways to improve the law) and a bill allowing assisted outpatient treatment courts to hold status hearings and be more involved in treatment.
The Maryland Department of Health has proposed a regulation to define "danger" in Maryland, where the lack of statutory definition has long been a barrier to timely treatment. A bill to establish a psychiatric deterioration standard is still active in Ohio, and legislatures in Massachusetts and Michigan passed bills related to the psychiatric bed shortage.
Congress reconvened from summer recess in early September. Treatment Advocacy Center is advocating for President Biden's new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, tasked with developing leaps in innovation in biomedical and health research, to include direly needed clinical research on SMI. We continue to closely watch the progress of bills in the U.S. House and Senate to reauthorize and improve the Assisted Outpatient Treatment grant program, incorporating our recommendations to broaden its pool of eligible applicants.
Don't miss our Winter 2022 issue of SMI Advocate in December which will recap the entire year of legislative accomplishments!
Read the full article at: https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/Treatment/newsletters/46330