AR HB1266

Minors age 16 and older may consent to outpatient mental health services (excluding medication) for suicide prevention, chemical addiction or dependency, or sexual, physical, or emotional abuse without parental consent.

Mental health professionals may treat qualifying minors without parental consent and can advise parents with the minor's permission, unless there is a compelling need for disclosure based on substantial probability of harm to the minor or others.

Services are limited to six sessions or thirty days, whichever occurs sooner; after this limit, the professional must terminate services or notify the parent or legal guardian to obtain consent for continued treatment.

Parents or legal guardians who did not consent to treatment are not obligated to pay for services or liable for their costs.

Health benefit plans cannot exclude coverage for these outpatient mental health services based on the enrollee or dependent being under the age of majority.