Urge your State Legislators to Support Mental Health Treatment Plans in Maryland

As your constituent, I urge you to vote YES on SB8/HB121 - Mental Health - Treatment Plans for Individuals in Facilities. Under current Maryland Law, clinics, hospitals with inpatient psychiatric care, and any other institution that provides treatment for individuals with mental disorders are required to develop and periodically update a written treatment plan for those admitted individuals.

The problem is that individuals receiving treatment from state facilities are having issues getting a timely resolution to request for treatment plan reassessment due to current interpretations and lack of clarity in the law.

SB8/HB121 will help resolve these issues by establishing new state requirements related to an individual’s treatment plan, which would increase the opportunity for family members to help their loved ones. The legislation includes:

1.	Setting a long-range discharge goal and an estimate of the probable length of inpatient stay
2.	Reassessing an individual’s treatment plan once every 15 days for the two months after the individual is admitted, and once every 60 days for the remainder of the stay of that individual.
3.	Requiring the individual that is receiving treatment at the facility to be consulted about the addition of family members and/or any other person to be a part of the development, review, and reassessment of the admitted individual’s treatment plan.
4.	Requiring that a health care facility must ensure the patient’s treatment is coordinated between providers.

If passed, the legislation would empower individuals receiving treatment and their appointed representatives to be more involved in treatment decisions as well as reassess treatment plans. I urge you to vote YES on SB8/HB121 and help Marylanders get the care, support, and treatment they need.