Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
                                           Act 989 of the Regular Session
 State of Arkansas                   As Engrossed:       S4/19/21
 93rd General Assembly                        A Bill
 Regular Session, 2021                                                             HOUSE BILL 1880
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 By: Representative L. Johnson
 By: Senator C. Tucker
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                                   For An Act To Be Entitled
                AN ACT TO AMEND THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISIS
                INTERVENTION PROTOCOL ACT OF 2017; AND FOR OTHER
                PURPOSES.
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                                               Subtitle
                         TO AMEND THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISIS
                         INTERVENTION PROTOCOL ACT OF 2017.
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 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS:
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        SECTION 1.       Arkansas Code  20-47-802(b), concerning the legislative
 intent of the Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Protocol Act of 2017, is
 amended to read as follows:
        (b)    Further, it is the intent of the General Assembly that the
 behavioral health crisis intervention protocol created under this subchapter
 and established to address engagement with a member of the public who is an
 individual with a behavioral health impairment results not in prosecution or
 incarceration but in a lawful detention of the individual treatment of the
 individual in a voluntary clinical setting until his or her behavioral health
 impairment is managed to the point that the individual is substantially less
 likely to commit a criminal or otherwise dangerous act.
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        SECTION 2.       Arkansas Code  20-47-804 is amended to read as follows:
        20-47-804.       Crisis intervention protocol not exclusive  Voluntary stay
 at crisis stabilization unit.
        (a)    If during or after the initiation of a crisis intervention
     *JMB450*                                                                    04-19-2021 09:25:19 JMB450
     As Engrossed:     S4/19/21                                                     HB1880
 protocol under this subchapter a mental health professional or medical
 professional believes the individual being detained treated would benefit
 more from a longer commitment in a residential facility, the mental health
 professional or medical professional may institute commitment proceedings as
 authorized under  20-47-201 et seq.
      (b)   If a commitment proceeding is initiated under  20-47-201 et seq.
 in a court with jurisdiction, that proceeding shall control and any custodial
 detention or treatment as part of a crisis intervention protocol initiated
 under this subchapter shall cease in lieu of any commitment or treatment
 ordered by the court.
      (c)(1)     A crisis intervention protocol may be ended before the maximum
 detention time of seventy-two (72) ninety-six (96) hours has elapsed, as
 described under  20-47-810, by the law enforcement agency crisis
 stabilization unit that has custody of the individual at its discretion if:
                        (A)   The individual in custody treatment under this
 subchapter agrees to remain at the crisis stabilization unit voluntarily;
                        (B)   The detaining law enforcement agency treating crisis
 stabilization unit reasonably believes that the individual would not be a
 danger to himself or herself or to others if he or she remained at the crisis
 stabilization unit voluntarily; and
                        (C)   The crisis stabilization unit agrees to allow the
 individual to remain at the crisis stabilization unit.
               (2)(A)     An individual who is released from custody and remains at
 a crisis stabilization unit voluntarily under this subsection is free to
 leave the crisis stabilization unit at any time.
                        (B)   A crisis stabilization unit may:
                               (i)    Discharge an individual who is released from
 custody and remains at the crisis stabilization unit voluntarily at its
 discretion; and
                               (ii)   As part of the discharge process and subject to
 the consent of the person no longer in custody, provide the person with a
 follow-up treatment plan and a request that the person utilize the treatment
 plan, including subsequent appointments with a mental health professional.
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      SECTION 3.        Arkansas Code  20-47-805(b) and (c), concerning the
 establishment of crisis intervention teams, are amended to read as follows:
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     As Engrossed:    S4/19/21                                                    HB1880
      (b)    A crisis intervention team shall have at least one (1) designated
 hospital or community mental health center within the specified crisis
 stabilization unit catchment area that has agreed to serve as a crisis
 stabilization unit and to provide psychiatric emergency services, triage and
 referral services, and other appropriate medical services for individuals in
 the custody of identified by a crisis intervention team officer or who have
 been referred by the community mental health center within the specified
 crisis stabilization unit catchment area.
      (c)(1)     As a participating partner and serving as a crisis
 stabilization unit, a hospital, community mental health center, or mental
 health facility may establish a comprehensive psychiatric emergency service
 to provide psychiatric emergency services to an individual with a behavioral
 health impairment for a period of time greater than allowed in a hospital or
 other facility's emergency department when, in the opinion of the treating
 physician, psychiatric nurse practitioner, or psychiatric physician
 assistant, the individual is likely to be stabilized within seventy-two (72)
 ninety-six (96) hours so that continuing treatment can be provided in the
 local community rather than a crisis stabilization unit or the Arkansas State
 Hospital.
               (2)(A)     During the time an individual with a behavioral health
 impairment is under a crisis intervention protocol and detained in treatment
 at a crisis stabilization unit, the individual is considered to be in the
 custody of the law enforcement agency that detained the individual treatment
 on a voluntary basis.
                        (B)   This subchapter does not authorize the forfeit of any
 state or federal constitutional right regarding the detention and custody of
 an individual with a behavioral health impairment who has been detained or
 placed in custody due to the commission of a criminal offense.
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      SECTION 4.        Arkansas Code  20-47-809 and 20-47-810 are amended to read
 as follows:
      20-47-809.        Implementation of psychiatric emergency services.
      (a)(1)     To implement psychiatric emergency services under a crisis
 intervention protocol under this subchapter, a crisis stabilization unit
 shall request licensure from the Department of Human Services for the number
 of extended observation beds that are required to adequately serve the
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     As Engrossed:       S4/19/21                                                 HB1880
 designated crisis stabilization unit catchment area.
               (2)    A license for the requested extended observation beds is
 required before the crisis stabilization unit may put the extended
 observation beds into service for patients.
      (b)   If the Department of Human Services determines that psychiatric
 emergency services under this subchapter are adequate to provide for the
 privacy and safety of all patients receiving services in the crisis
 stabilization unit, the Department of Human Services may approve the location
 of one (1) or more of the extended observation beds units within another area
 of the single point of entry rather than in proximity to the emergency
 department.
      (c)   Each psychiatric emergency service crisis stabilization unit shall
 provide or contract to provide qualified physicians, licensed mental health
 professionals, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychiatric physician
 assistants, and ancillary personnel necessary to provide services twenty-four
 (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week.
      (d)(1)     A psychiatric emergency service provided by a crisis
 stabilization unit shall have at least one (1) physician, one (1) psychiatric
 nurse practitioner, one (1) psychiatric physician assistant, or one (1)
 mental health professional who is a member of the staff of the crisis
 stabilization unit and who is on duty and available at all times.
               (2)    However, the medical director of the psychiatric emergency
 service crisis stabilization unit may waive the requirement under subdivision
 (d)(1) of this section if provisions are made for:
                       (A)   A physician in the emergency department to assume
 responsibility and provide initial evaluation and treatment of an individual
 with a behavioral health impairment in the custody of a crisis intervention
 team officer or referred by the community mental health center;
                       (B)   A licensed mental health professional to screen and
 assess an individual with a behavioral health impairment within thirty (30)
 minutes of notification that the individual has arrived; and
                       (C)   The physician, psychiatric nurse practitioner,
 psychiatric physician assistant, or mental health professional on call for
 the psychiatric emergency service to evaluate the individual with a
 behavioral health impairment onsite within twelve (12) hours of the
 individual's admission.
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     As Engrossed:       S4/19/21                                                 HB1880
               (3)    A crisis stabilization unit is encouraged to use
 telemedicine under this subchapter to the extent it is effective and
 authorized by state law.
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      20-47-810.       Seventy-two-hour Ninety-six-hour maximum time of detention.
      (a)   An individual with a behavioral health impairment who is admitted
 to a psychiatric emergency service crisis stabilization unit under a crisis
 intervention protocol under this subchapter shall have a final disposition
 within a maximum of seventy-two (72) ninety-six (96) hours or be released
 from custody remain on a voluntary basis.
      (b)   If the individual with a behavioral health impairment cannot be
 stabilized within seventy-two (72) ninety-six (96) hours of entering into a
 crisis intervention protocol, a participating partner may institute
 commitment proceedings as authorized under  20-47-201 et seq.
      (c)   An individual who has been released from custody and has chosen to
 stay at a crisis stabilization unit voluntarily under  20-47-804(c) is not
 bound by the seventy-two-hour maximum time of detention under this section.
      (d)(c)     As part of the discharge process after the seventy-two-hour
 hold ninety-six-hour stay has expired and the individual is being released
 from custody, and subject to the consent of the individual no longer in
 custody, a crisis stabilization unit may shall provide the individual with a
 follow-up treatment plan and a request that the individual utilize the
 treatment plan, including subsequent appointments with a mental health
 professional.
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      SECTION 5.       Arkansas Code  20-47-812 is amended to read as follows:
      20-47-812.       Development of crisis intervention protocols.
      (a)(1)     A director of a community mental health center local criminal
 justice coordinating committee shall actively encourage hospitals, community
 mental health centers, mental health services providers, and other mental
 health professionals to develop psychiatric emergency services.
               (2)    If a collaborative agreement can be negotiated with a
 hospital, community mental health center, or other healthcare facility that
 can provide a comprehensive psychiatric emergency service, that hospital,
 community mental health center, or other healthcare facility shall be given
 priority when designating the single point of entry.
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     As Engrossed:   S4/19/21                                                  HB1880
      (b)   The Department of Human Services local criminal justice
 coordinating committee shall encourage community mental health center
 directors to actively work with hospitals, mental health services providers,
 other mental health professionals, the Department of Human Services, and law
 enforcement agencies to develop a crisis intervention protocol and associated
 crisis intervention teams and psychiatric emergency services and shall
 facilitate the development of those collaborations.
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                                 /s/L. Johnson
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                               APPROVED: 4/28/21
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Statutes affected: 
Old version HB1880 Original - 4-6-2021 03:24 PM: 20-47-802(b), 20-47-804, 20-47-201, 20-47-810, 20-47-805(b)
Old version HB1880 V2 - 4-19-2021 09:25 AM: 20-47-802(b), 20-47-804, 04-19-2021, 20-47-201, 20-47-810, 20-47-805(b)
HB 1880: 20-47-802(b), 20-47-804, 04-19-2021, 20-47-201, 20-47-810, 20-47-805(b)
Act 989: 20-47-802(b), 20-47-804, 04-19-2021, 20-47-201, 20-47-810, 20-47-805(b)