HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4489

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, March 5, 2020.

The committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, to whom was referred the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 126) of Patricia A. Haddad and others relative to access to early intervention services for children with prenatal exposure to opioids, reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4489) ought to pass.

For the committee,

KAY KHAN.

        FILED ON: 2/4/2020

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4489

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act relative to early intervention services for children with prenatal exposure to opioids.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 1 of Chapter 111G of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following definitions:-

"Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome", symptoms and signs exhibited by a newborn due to drug withdrawal, the term used to represent the pattern of effects that are associated with opioid withdrawal in newborns.

"Substance-Exposed Newborn", a newborn who was exposed to alcohol or other drugs ingested by the mother in utero.

SECTION 2. Section 2 of Chapter 111G of the General Laws, is hereby amended by inserting after the third paragraph thereof the following paragraph:-

The department shall review and revise the early intervention operational standards to ensure that children under the age of 3, who are diagnosed with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and children under the age of 3, who meet the definition of substance-exposed newborns, are deemed categorically eligible for early intervention services until the child's third birthday.