Description: On August 9, 2010, House Bill 4681: An Act to Improve Emergency Access to Mental Health Services became law in Massachusetts. This important bill gives Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSWs) in Massachusetts the authority to sign a Section 12(a) or temporary care paper, colloquially known as a “pink paper”. The law enables LICSWs to hold or send a patient for emergency evaluation for the following purposes: suicidality, homicidality or markedly impaired judgment due to mental illness. The law went into effect on November 8, 2010.
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the criteria for Section 12(a) and how it differs from Section 12(b), 12(e) and Section 35.
2. Identify elements of assessing the suicidal or potentially homicidal patient including Duty to Warn.
3. Know the legal aspects of authorizing a Section 12(a).
4. Understand the client’s perspective and cautions LICSWs should observe when exercising this authority.
Karen O. Talley, ESQ. is the Staff Attorney, Mental Health Litigation Unit, Committee for Public Counsel Services
Janet S. Richmond, LICSW is the Associate Director, Psychiatry Urgent Care Clinic, Boston Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine Immediate Past Vice President American Association for Emergency Psychiatry (AAEP)
