An Act To Increase the Availability of Assertive Community Treatment Services
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1848
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: MADIGAN
Amends: 34-B MRSA §3801

Legislative Document
No. 1848
H.P. 1369
House of Representatives, December 22, 2021
An Act To Increase the Availability of Assertive Community 
Treatment Services
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 20, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MADIGAN of Waterville.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  34-B MRSA §3801, sub-§7-C is enacted to read:
7-C.  Prescriber.  "Prescriber" means a licensed health care provider with authority to 
prescribe, including a licensed physician, certified nurse practitioner or licensed physician 
assistant who has training or experience in psychopharmacology.
Sec. 2.  34-B MRSA §3801, sub-§11, as amended by PL 2017, c. 407, Pt. A, §159, 
is further amended to read:
11.  Assertive community treatment.  "Assertive community treatment" or "ACT" 
means a self-contained service with a fixed point of responsibility for providing treatment, 
rehabilitation and support services to persons with mental illness for whom other 
community-based treatment approaches have been unsuccessful.  Assertive community 
treatment uses clinical and rehabilitative staff to address symptom stability; relapse 
prevention; maintenance of safe, affordable housing in normative settings that promote 
well-being; establishment of natural support networks to combat isolation and withdrawal; 
the minimizing of involvement with the criminal justice system; individual recovery 
education; and services to enable the person to function at a work site. Assertive community 
treatment is provided by multidisciplinary teams who are on duty 24 hours per day, 7 days 
per week; teams must include a psychiatrist prescriber, registered nurse or licensed 
practical nurse, certified rehabilitation counselor or certified employment specialist, a peer 
recovery specialist and a substance use disorder counselor and may include an occupational 
therapist, community-based mental health rehabilitation technician, psychologist, licensed 
clinical social worker or licensed clinical professional counselor. A licensed practical nurse 
may be included on an ACT team in lieu of a registered nurse if the prescriber is not a 
certified nurse practitioner. An ACT team member who is a state employee is, while in 
good faith performing a function as a member of an ACT team, performing a discretionary 
function within the meaning of Title 14, section 8104‑B, subsection 3.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the behavioral and developmental services law regarding mental 
health hospitalization to add the definition of "prescriber," which is defined to mean a 
licensed health care provider with authority to prescribe, including a licensed physician, 
certified nurse practitioner or licensed physician assistant who has training or experience 
in psychopharmacology.  It also amends the definition of "assertive community treatment" 
to change the composition of the multidisciplinary team that provides assertive community 
treatment by removing reference to the term "psychiatrist" and replacing it with the term 
"prescriber" and by providing that a licensed practical nurse may be a member of the team 
in lieu of a registered nurse if the prescriber is not a certified nurse practitioner.