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Bill would reestablish commission to study crisis care gaps for people with intellectual disabilities
Summary
Representative JD Bernardi’s bill to reestablish a commission to examine delivery of behavioral crisis services for people whose impairment is primarily due to intellectual disability was presented by Representative Mark McClain, who said last year’s commission lacked time and membership to complete its work.
The House Committee on Health and Human Services and Elderly Affairs heard testimony on House Bill 370, a bill to reestablish a commission to study delivery of behavioral crisis services to people whose behavioral crises occur primarily because of intellectual disability.
Representative Mark McClain, standing in for prime sponsor Representative JD Bernardi, told the panel the issue arises from the mental‑illness definition in state statute (RSA 135‑C:2) that excludes impairment “primarily caused by intellectual disability.” He said hospitals reported about 10 cases a year in which people in behavioral crisis were “warehoused” without appropriate treatment because they fell within that statutory exclusion and appointment of the commission last session was delayed and incomplete.
“Every year, there are about 10 cases of individuals who experience a significant enough behavioral crisis that they are brought to a local hospital … those hospitals without a prophy staff and services for these episodes essentially just warehouse the individuals without treatment for up to three or four weeks before releasing them,” McClain said.
Committee members discussed overlap with prior work and broader societal attitudes toward mental illness and developmental disability. Representative McKay said public stigma and outdated language complicate care and urged the commission to examine those barriers. Representative Hartnett, who provided clinical perspective from years of practice, described emergency rooms’ challenges in rapidly distinguishing psychiatric illness from developmental disability and supported a study to propose practical system changes.
The committee closed the public hearing with no vote recorded; sponsors asked the Legislature to reestablish the commission with a timeline sufficient to complete its work and deliver interim and final reports.
