Support MAMH's work to ensure that individuals across the lifespan have access to the supports and services they need to promote positive mental health and overall well being!
See how you can help with MAMH's most urgent priorities!
MAMH's state budget priorities benefit people with mental health conditions!
LEARN MOREMAMH's legislative agenda for supports four main goals - expanding access, promoting well being, legal reform, and workforce development. With a focus on prevention and parity, MAMH staff and partners will work closely with legislators on bills to advance each of these priorities.
You can make a difference by contacting your legislators today and encouraging them to support the goals that matter to you!
MAMH joins advocates, providers, and people with lived experience across the Commonwealth in opposing involuntary outpatient commitment in the Commonwealth. Learn more here about H.1801/S.1115 and why we oppose these bills. Find a more detailed examination of the problem here.
| Legislation | Description | More Information |
|---|---|---|
H.2220 & S.1390, An Act relative to access to psychiatric collaborative care |
This bill would require adequate payment for the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) to encourage adoption of the model in primary care practices, which in turn would allow for earlier identification and treatment of mental health conditions. |
Bill (House - Rep. LaNatra) |
H.2193 & S.1394, An Act to ensure efficient and effective implementation of the Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform |
This bill would help ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the Behavioral Health Help Line (BHHL), Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHCs), and Behavioral Health Urgent Care Providers. |
Bill (House - Reps. Barber and Rogers) |
S.1399, An Act to increase investment in behavioral health care in the Commonwealth |
Behavioral health services have long been underfunded, leaving individuals without access to timely care. This bill creates a timeline and process for increasing investment in behavioral health expenditures in the Commonwealth, while keeping within total health care expenditures (TCHE), a measure of total health care spending. |
|
H.1135 & S.709, An Act for supportive care for serious mental illness |
This bill requires commercial insurers to cover Coordinated Specialty Care, a recovery-oriented treatment program for people with first episode psychosis, and Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT), a team-based, evidenced-based program offering treatment, rehabilitation, and support services in community settings. |
Bill (House - Rep. Decker) |
| Legislation | Description | More Information |
|---|---|---|
H.3291, H.3313 & S1386, An Act transferring Bridgewater State Hospital from the Department of Correction to the Department of Mental Health |
MAMH is working with NAMI Mass and other partners on this bill to transfer the administration and oversight of Bridgewater State Hospital (BSH), the state psychiatric facility for people detained by the criminal legal system, from the Department of Correction (DOC) to Department of Mental Health (DMH), the state mental health authority. |
Bill (House - Rep. Barber) |
H.1652, An Act Relative to reforming the competency to stand trial process |
Criminal defendants, waiting for evaluations of their competency to stand trial (CST), fill our psychiatric hospital beds and leave psychiatric patients waiting in emergency departments (EDs). This bill allows the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to move forensic patients more efficiently through the competency evaluation and restoration processes. |
|
H.2197 & S.1402, An Act ensuring access to addiction services |
This bill would require that all Section 35 beds, for men as well as women, be in health care facilities licensed or approved by the Department of Public Health (DPH) or the Department of Mental Health (DMH), and not in state or county correctional carceral facilities. |
Bill (House - Reps. Decker and Scarsdale) |
MAMH is proud to join the nation’s leading mental health advocacy organizations in calling for policy, programs, and standards that prioritize mental health care and address the social and economic conditions that contribute to mental health conditions. Read our Our Unified Vision for Transforming Mental Health and Substance Use Care!