House Bill 497 Alabama 2026 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Brett EasterbrookRepresentative

Republican

Session

2026 Regular Session

Title

Mental health; Alabama Department of Mental Health, Division of Developmental Disabilities Community Incident Prevention and Management System provided, incident types and reporting requirements established, implementation required, adoption of more stringent reporting requirements in certain circumstances prohibited

Summary

HB497 would create a formal critical-incident classification and reporting system for Alabama's developmental-disabilities services, require timely reporting to the Department of Mental Health, and ban stricter reporting requirements than this act or federal law.

What This Bill Does

It establishes critical incident type classifications and provider reporting requirements for the ADMH Division of Developmental Disabilities Community Incident Prevention and Management System (IPMS). It requires ADMH to adopt and amend rules to implement the IPMS and to ensure that no more stringent reporting is imposed than this act or applicable federal law. It defines the 14 critical incident types, sets reporting timelines (24 hours for critical incidents and quarterly for other incidents) and requires use of an electronic incident management system. The act becomes effective October 1, 2026.

Who It Affects

• Providers certified by ADMH to offer services to individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; they must classify incidents, report critical incidents within 24 hours, and submit other incidents quarterly under the IPMS.
• Recipients with developmental or intellectual disabilities who receive those services; the IPMS aims to protect them by standardizing incident prevention, reporting, and management, and by clarifying protections against mistreatment and other harms.

Key Provisions

• Create critical incident type classifications and provider reporting requirements for use within the ADMH Division of Developmental Disabilities IPMS.
• Require ADMH to adopt and amend rules and policies necessary to implement the IPMS.
• Prohibit ADMH from requiring or adopting more stringent incident reporting than the requirements in this act or federal law/regulations.
• Specify 14 critical incident types (e.g., mistreatment, physical/sexual/verbal abuse, neglect, elopement, unexplained death, exploitation, major/minor injuries, law-enforcement involvement, medication errors with serious consequences, rights violations, misuse of restraints or seclusion, suicide attempts) and define related terms.
• Set reporting timelines: critical incidents must be reported within 24 hours to the ADMH Regional Office or designated entity; all other incident types must be submitted at least quarterly to the electronic incident management system.
• Direct ADMH to adopt rules and policies to implement and administer the IPMS and to oversee provider compliance.
• Effective date: October 1, 2026.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 25, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Mental Health