Speaker of the House backs bill to end pediatric 'overstay' in unlicensed settings
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Summary
House Bill 1559 would prohibit Maryland’s use of unlicensed settings — hotels, shelters, office buildings — and emergency‑department overstays for pediatric behavioral‑health patients and create a senior adviser, placement review panel, rapid‑response team and advisory council to improve placements and data sharing.
Jocelyn Pena Malnik, Speaker of the House, told the Senate Finance Committee on March 31 that House Bill 1559 seeks to end Maryland’s practice of placing children in unlicensed settings and leaving medically cleared pediatric patients to languish in emergency rooms. She said the bill responds to “heartbreaking and simply unacceptable” cases she and others have seen, including a 2025 incident she described in which a 16‑year‑old died after being placed in a hotel.
The bill would prohibit the use of hotels, homeless shelters and other unlicensed settings for pediatric placements and curb what Pena Malnik called “pediatric overstay” in emergency departments effective Jan. 1, 2027. It also would establish a senior adviser for children and families in the governor’s office to oversee Maryland Department of Health and Department of Human Services pediatric overstay coordinators; create a placement review panel and a rapid response team that must meet daily until a placement is found; and form an advisory council and a Maryland system of care for children, youth and families to standardize data collection and metrics across agencies.
Delegate Mike Griffith, who co‑sponsored the bill, described personal experience in foster care and said the legislation grew from bipartisan concern. He noted the bill incorporates recommendations from a work group established under last year’s House Bill 962, which required pediatric overstay coordinators in MDH and DHS.
Sponsors emphasized coordination and oversight: Pena Malnik said the law would require multiple agency touchpoints, daily placement efforts and a federal‑ and state‑compliant process that preserves patients’ safety and dignity. She told the committee the House passed the measure 127–0.
Committee members praised the bill’s aims. The chair noted gaps in agency communication and welcomed the bill’s tracking and oversight provisions. No questions were offered that changed the bill’s scope during the hearing; sponsors urged a favorable report.
If enacted, the measure would be enforced through agency‑level coordinators and the new placement and review panels; it also calls for standardized interagency data collection to better count and monitor children in overstay and placements not taken under DSS jurisdiction. The committee did not take a formal vote during the hearing; sponsors asked for a favorable report and referred the bill to committee processing.
The next procedural step will be committee consideration of the report; sponsors said they stand ready to work with Senate members on any conforming amendments. The bill’s supporters included hospital associations and state agencies that participated in crafting the bill text.
