An Act To Address Maine's Shortage of Behavioral Health Services for Minors”
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1418
Committee Amendment CA_A_H815 (House)
Amends: 34-B MRSA §15001, 34-B MRSA §15005

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to H.P. 1031, L.D. 1418, Bill, “An Act To 
Address Maine's Shortage of Behavioral Health Services for Minors”
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the 
following:
'Sec. 1.  34-B MRSA §15001, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
1-A.  Behavioral health needs.  "Behavioral health needs" means a wide range of 
mental health disorders and illnesses, substance use disorder, developmental disabilities 
and autism spectrum disorder.
Sec. 2.  34-B MRSA §15001, sub-§6-A is enacted to read:
6-A.  Extended stay.  "Extended stay" means a stay of a patient in a health care 
facility that is longer than 24 hours.
Sec. 3.  34-B MRSA §15001, sub-§7-A is enacted to read:
7-A.  Hospital emergency department.  "Hospital emergency department" means 
the department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medical and surgical care to 
patients arriving at the hospital with health conditions, including illnesses and trauma, 
requiring immediate care.
Sec. 4.  34-B MRSA §15005 is enacted to read:
§15005.  Data collection regarding children in hospital emergency departments
1.  Data collection; posted on website.  A hospital shall provide data to the 
department in a mutually agreed upon format on the number of children with behavioral 
health needs remaining in hospital emergency departments for extended stays, the length 
of the extended stays and the reasons for the extended stays.  The department shall post 
aggregated data on an annual basis on a publicly accessible website without any 
information, including health care information, that may directly identify any individual 
child or family.
Date: 
(Filing No. H-          )
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to H.P. 1031, L.D. 1418
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
2.  Coordination by department.  The department shall designate coordinators who 
have the responsibility to facilitate the provision of appropriate services as needed for a 
child with behavioral health needs who no longer requires medical or surgical care in a 
hospital emergency department but requires services to address behavioral health needs in 
another setting, including, but not limited to, a hospital or a setting in the community.  
The coordinator shall communicate between the department, the hospital emergency 
department and other providers of behavioral health services.
3.  Report.  Beginning January 1, 2022 and annually thereafter, the department shall 
submit a report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
health and human services matters that includes an annual compilation of the data 
collected by the department pursuant to subsection 1 and any relevant actions taken by 
the department, including by coordinators authorized in subsection 2, that affect the 
number of children with behavioral health needs remaining in hospital emergency 
departments for extended stays and the length of the extended stays.
Sec. 5.  Department of Health and Human Services to promote and 
improve use of children's behavioral health program coordinators.  The 
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services shall 
promote and improve the use of children's behavioral health program coordinators that 
are currently designated by the department to ensure children's emotional and behavioral 
challenges receive the most effective services in the least restrictive environment in order 
to assist hospital emergency departments to find appropriate behavioral health placements 
for children with behavioral health needs who no longer need medical or surgical care in 
a hospital emergency department.  The department shall submit a report, no later than 
January 1, 2022, to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction 
over health and human services matters regarding its efforts to improve the use of 
behavioral health program coordinators to assist hospitals and children with behavioral 
health needs as described in this section.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively.
SUMMARY
This amendment replaces the bill.  It requires the Department of Health and Human 
Services to collect data on the number of children with behavioral health needs remaining 
in hospital emergency departments for extended stays, the length of the extended stays 
and the reasons for the extended stays and post the data annually on a publicly accessible 
website without any information, including health care information, that may directly 
identify any individual child or family.  The department is required to submit a report to 
the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human 
services matters with annual data and any department efforts to reduce the number of 
children and lengths of stay.  The department is also required to promote and improve the 
use of the current children's behavioral health program coordinators within the Office of 
Child and Family Services to assist hospitals to place children in more appropriate
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT “      ” to H.P. 1031, L.D. 1418
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
behavioral health settings and report its efforts in a report to the joint standing committee 
of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)
Approved: 03/14/20
LD 1418
LR 24(03)
Fiscal Detail and Notes
Fiscal Note
Minor cost increase - General Fund
Any additional costs to the Department of Health and Human Services from the provisions of this bill are expected to 
be minor and can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources.
An Act To Address Maine's Shortage of Behavioral Health Services for Minors
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Conference Committee Amendment " "
Committee: Health and Human Services
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
LR0024(03) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1