Pennsylvanians experience a mental health crisis almost every day. For some, this crisis results in the individual voluntarily seeking help from Pennsylvania’s mental and behavioral health system. For others, this help comes in the form of mandated help. These two methods of emergency mental health care, voluntary and involuntary (also known as “302”), are laid out in Pennsylvania’s Mental Health Procedures Act (MHPA) – an act written over 50 years ago.
 
The very mental and behavioral health system that the MHPA was built upon no longer exists, and it is critical that we address the modernization needed to help Pennsylvanians in need of emergency mental health care; and I am eager to introduce legislation to do just that. From medical providers to parole officers, over 30 stakeholders and advocates have helped me identify the obstacles they face every day because of their interaction with the MPHA. This legislation is a step in the right direction to make this act better for the very people these stakeholders and advocates serve.
 
This legislation represents a major overhaul of the MHPA. Reforms include:
 
  • Bringing Pennsylvania in line with other states by altering the standard of a 302 to "predictable psychological deterioration," thus ensuring that loved ones and law enforcement don't have to wait until a person is in crisis until a 302 can be executed.
  • Incorporating language that ensures treatment preferences are - whenever possible - given to the least restrictive methods possible. 
  • Enhancing uniformity between counties so that the MHPA operates identically across the state.
  • Updating and clarifying definitions to bring them in-line with modern medical practice and court cases.
  • Clarifying timelines, including when individuals can be examined and when court proceedings can begin. 
  • Enhancing data collection.
While our mental and behavioral health system remains woefully underfunded and understaffed, these updates to the MHPA will help ensure that our current voluntary and involuntary commitment system serves the people it was created to protect. Please join me in supporting this legislation to recognize and implement best practices as well as removing unnecessary barriers to care so we can improve emergency mental health care and save Pennsylvanians’ lives.