House panel advances Snyder bill on minors’ health services
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, said the House Human Services Committee on March 22 approved her legislation that would eliminate confusion over when a minor’s consent is needed for mental health examinations and other health services.
“I have pursued this legislation ever since I learned of a family’s difficulties securing mental health treatment for their child and being stymied by the confusion surrounding the mental health law affecting minors,” Snyder said in a news release. “We must not allow confusion over minors’ rights to impede treatments that are sometimes needed desperately and swiftly.”
House Bill 381, voted unanimously out of committee and sent to the full House for consideration, would enable the state Department of Human Services to issue updated guidelines regarding minors’ consent to mental health treatments and specify the conditions when a minor’s consent is needed.
“The goal is to provide for more uniform application of the standards so recovery-oriented programs can be implemented more quickly,” Snyder said. “My measure would clarify the regulations so mental health professionals can work more expediently and effectively when circumstances dictate.”