An Act To Expand Access to Mental Health and Crisis Care for Individuals in Jails and Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1968
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: TALBOT ROSS

Legislative Document
No. 1968
H.P. 1463
House of Representatives, February 10, 2022
An Act To Expand Access to Mental Health and Crisis Care for 
Individuals in Jails and Individuals Experiencing Homelessness
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
CONCEPT DRAFT
SUMMARY
This bill is a concept draft pursuant to Joint Rule 208.
This bill proposes to create pathways to alleviate the crisis of individuals experiencing 
homelessness and individuals languishing in the county jail system who are suffering from 
acute mental health crises and substance use disorder by implementing the following 
measures to improve their access to psychiatric treatment, wraparound services, supportive 
housing and other services that are part of the continuum of care:
1. Examining and removing barriers to admission to crisis services, psychiatric 
facilities, detoxification services and recovery residences;
2. Immediately removing barriers to permanent supportive housing by creating 
pathways to develop rapid rehousing and affordable housing, including the creation of the 
following landlord and developer incentives:
A. Incentive points for tax credits applicable to low-income housing to fund permanent 
supportive housing with adequate and ongoing support services;
B. Project-based rental subsidies to the units dedicated to permanent supportive 
housing; and
C. The use of available housing funds, including grant funds, to fund permanent 
supportive housing with adequate and ongoing support services;
3.  Providing secure treatment centers for nonviolent individuals in the custody of jails 
when diversion is recommended by a prosecutor and approved by a judge, with appropriate 
provisions for individuals' consent and procedures if an individual lacks capacity to 
consent;
4. Funding the hiring and training of 20 additional intensive case managers within the 
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health in order to provide 
outreach and support from the time individuals are homeless or incarcerated through when 
they are successfully housed, including by interfacing with the community, jails, hospitals 
and law enforcement in order to provide continuity in providing wraparound services and 
housing;
5. Increasing the number of peer coaches to provide mental health services to 
individuals by establishing a 30-hour certificate program.  The State must pay the cost of 
the certificate program upon an individual's completion of the program.  The program must 
include 2 hours of ethics credits and training on topics related to veterans, diversity and 
mental health, including, but not limited to, substance use, post-traumatic stress disorder, 
anxiety, depression or other diagnosed conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity, 
domestic violence, sexual abuse, trauma, incarceration and individuals with disabilities, 
including learning disabilities.  The program must include 10 hours of continuing education 
annually.  The program must be created by a person with a minimum of 10 years' 
experience in teaching at an accredited counseling program at an accredited institution of 
higher learning.  Upon completing the certificate program, the peer coach must be 
supervised by a licensed counselor, social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist.  A peer 
coach may submit reimbursement to MaineCare or another government program that pays 
for counseling services. A peer coach may not be held liable for any damages related to 
providing peer coaching services.  A peer coach must be 18 years of age or older and may 
not be a registered sex offender;
6. Requiring real-time reporting to the Department of Health and Human Services of 
available treatment beds in psychiatric facilities and community-based residential treatment 
facilities in order to highlight and address the challenges of serving individuals in need of 
treatment.  At least once every 24 hours, each facility must submit information about its 
admissions, including the number of available beds, the number of occupied beds, the 
number of staffed beds and an explanation for any beds that are not in use.  The department 
must make this information available on its publicly accessible website; and
7.  Amending the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 15, section 101-D in order to:
A. Include an assertive community treatment team in the assessment of a defendant for 
placement in an appropriate institution for the care and treatment of persons with 
mental illness;
B. Provide that a defendant may not be placed in a jail or a Department of Corrections 
facility unless competency restoration services can be provided in that setting; and
C. Ensure that upon an order of commitment from a court, the placement occurs within 
days.