Best bet
Massachusetts Community Behavioral Health Centers & Help Line
- Call or text the help line: 833-773-2445
- Chat online and more information: Masshelpline.com
- Behavioral health center locations
Provides 24/7 expanded and direct access for those that may be experiencing a mental and/or behavioral health crisis to clinical evaluations and treatments in communities across the Commonwealth.
Massachusetts laws
MGL c. 6A, §§ 16P-16S "Enhancing children's mental health treatment ("Yolanda's law"):
- § 16P Coordination of clinically-appropriate behavioral health services for children; monthly report
- § 16Q Children's behavioral health advisory council; members; terms; powers and duties; annual report
- § 16R Geographically-based interagency review team for disabled children who qualify for services from multiple agencies
- § 16S Coordination of purchase of behavioral health services for children
MGL c. 6A, § 16EE 988 crisis hotline centers; 988 commission
MGL c. 6A, § 18L Silver alert community response system
Used to alert when an adult with serious memory impairment such as Alzheimer's disease or other type of dementia is reported to a police department as a missing person.
MGL c. 19 Department of Mental Health
MGL c. 111, § 247 Postnatal individuals; screening for postpartum depression or major depressive disorders
Postnatal screenings for postpartum depression or major depressive disorder: Every postnatal individual who receives, or has an infant who receives, health care services from a primary care provider, obstetrician, gynecologist, certified nurse-midwife or licensed certified professional midwife shall be offered a screening for postpartum depression or major depressive disorder.
MGL c. 111, § 248 Universal postpartum home visiting services; establishment and administration
Provides voluntary home or community-based services for birthing people and caregivers with newborns, including, but not limited to: emotional health and postpartum depression supports.
MGL c. 112, § 172A Allied mental health and human service professionals; privilege against disclosures in court, legislative or administrative proceedings; exercise or waiver of privilege by guardian; scope of privilege
Protecting patient confidentiality.
MGL c. 118E, § 10O Coverage for mental health acute treatment, community-based acute treatment and intensive community-based acute treatment
MGL c. 118E, § 10P Coverage for mental health or substance use disorder services delivered through psychiatric collaborative care model
MGL c. 118E, § 10Q Coverage for annual mental health wellness examination
MGL c. 118E, § 81 Mental health and substance use disorder benefits; benefits for children and adolescents under the age of 19 for the diagnosis and treatment of mental, behavioral, emotional or substance use disorders substantially interfering with or limiting the functioning and social interactions of such child or adolescent; consent to disclosure of information
MGL c. 123 Mental health
MGL c. 140, §§ 131R-131Y Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO)
Provides a process for family and household members to petition the court to temporarily take weapons from people who pose a risk to themselves or others.
St. 2022, c. 177 An act addressing barriers to care for mental health
Addresses, among other things, emergency room boarding, requires emergency rooms to have a behavioral health clinician available, and will also create an online portal for faster patient care.
Massachusetts regulations and guidelines
104 CMR Department of Mental Health
Interpretive guidelines for 104 CMR 29 determining service authorization for children, adolescents and adults (Revised 12/1/2011)
Criteria for determining who can receive mental health services through the Department.
Massachusetts court rules and standards
Probate and Family Court Standing Order 4-11: Administrative process for uncontested "Rogers" reviews and extensions. A Rogers guardianship is a type of guardianship where the court gives the guardian permission to agree to extraordinary treatment for an incapacitated person who can't to agree to treatment themself.
Supreme Judicial Court standards on substance use disorders and mental health conditions
"[T]he Supreme Judicial Court adopted these Standards on Substance Use Disorders and Mental Health Conditions in recognition of recent advances in behavioral health, including substance use disorder diagnosis and treatment, mental health care, and increased recognition of the role of trauma, including childhood trauma, and the complex interplay of co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders."
Massachusetts Executive Orders
EO 422 Services for mentally ill individuals under age 19
Forms
DMH forms, Mass. Department of Mental Health.
Including Complaint Form, Application for Care, Patients’ Rights and more.
Mental health forms, Mass. Trial Court.
Including new prisoner Petition for Transfer form under MGL c. 123, § 18(a1/2).
Uncontested extension of order for antipsychotic medications (Rogers), Mass. Probate and Family Court.
Selected cases
Web sources
Agreement between the United States and the Massachusetts Department of Correction, December 20, 2022.
An agreement between the Massachusetts state prison system and the U.S. Department of Justice regarding mental health care for incarcerated individuals.
Apply for mental health services, Mass. Department of Mental Health.
How to apply for services. There is now one application for both adults and children.
Campus mental health know your rights: A guide for students who want to seek help for mental illness or emotional distress, Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, 2017.
Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI), MassHealth.
Helps "MassHealth children with behavioral, emotional, and mental health needs and their families with integrated behavioral health services and a comprehensive, community-based system of care." These services are also sometimes called "Rosie D. services". See also: Quick reference Children's Behavioral Health Initiative (Rosie D. services) [2013] and Health service finder.
COVID-19: Trial Court substance use disorder and mental health resources
A collection of substance use disorder and mental health resources, including links to online support groups and recovery meetings, self-care resources, and hotlines and helplines.
Department of Mental Health residential housing, Mass. Legal Help, 2017.
"If you live in a residential housing program licensed, funded, or operated by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH), there are certain procedures that your program must follow to legally evict you. These procedures provide you with some legal protections."
DMH resource guides, Mass. Department of Mental Health.
- Consumer and family resource guide
Tailored to the needs of consumers and families. - Extreme risk guide
"This guide provides information on resources that may be helpful to individuals, who are seeking an extreme risk protective order, or who had an extreme risk protective order issued against them." - Multicultural populations resource guide
Contains information about agencies and institutions in the Commonwealth that offer culturally and linguistically appropriate services. - Resource directory
A listing of the cities and towns will direct you to the appropriate DMH site office and contact. - Resources for Transition Age Youth And Young Adults (Ages 16-22)
Services for Transition Age Youth and Young Adults (TAYA) bridge the Child, Youth and Family & Adult Mental Health Services Divisions. - Western Massachusetts young adult resource guide
Developed to reflect the changing needs of the young adult population who need assistance in reaching their goals.
Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
An independent agency of the SJC, it provides both advice and direct representation. Their resources and publications include:
- DMH complaint process
- Hospitalization in connection with a criminal case
- Managing credit and debt
- Movement rights on an inpatient psychiatric unit
- Restraint and seclusion in hospitals, including emergency rooms
- Rights regarding provider and treatment choice
- Six fundamental rights of persons receiving services at inpatient mental health facilities in Massachusetts
- Your rights regarding hospitalization and discharge
- Your rights under the community residence tenancy (CRT) law
- and many more
Parents' how-to guide to children's mental health services in Massachusetts, 3rd ed., 2011, Boston Bar Association.
Includes steps for getting help, paying for services, services in your child's school, and more.
Section 35 Commission report (7-1-2019)
Recommendations of the committee charged to study Section 35 commitments, or involuntary inpatient treatment for people with a substance abuse disorder in Massachusetts.
Veterans mental health, Department of Veterans Affairs.
Learn about treatment and benefits. Includes a list of resources by mental health topic.
What to know about section 35 civil commitments in Massachusetts, WBUR, July 3, 2019.
Provides an overview of the process and statistics concerning involuntary commitment for drug or alcohol addiction.
Print sources
CPCS mental health proceedings in Massachusetts: A manual for defense counsel, MCLE, 2020.
Mental health law (Mass Practice v.53), Thomson West, 2007 with supplement.
Note: The publisher has ceased updates to this volume as of June 2025.
Contact
Online
| Last updated: | June 23, 2025 |
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