Bill Text: NY A00812 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to involuntary in-patient mental health treatment where care and treatment in a hospital is essential to a person's welfare if, in the absence of such care and treatment, the person's mental illness is likely to result in serious harm.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to mental health [A00812 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A00812-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           812

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 11, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BRAUNSTEIN  -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Mental Health

        AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation  to  clarifying  the
          standards for involuntary in-patient care and treatment

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1.  Short title. This act shall be  known  as  the  "New  York
     2  State Mental Health Reform Act".
     3    §  2.  Legislative  findings. With the intent of restoring dignity and
     4  transparency to our state's treatment and care of mentally ill patients,
     5  the state engaged in reforming procedures and policies  in  implementing
     6  preferred outpatient treatment through a structured outpatient treatment
     7  process  commonly  referred  to  as  Kendra's Law. The law was to ensure
     8  those individuals requiring mental  health  treatment  were  afforded  a
     9  dignified  process  in treatment while allowing the patient's liberty to
    10  be free to pursue their daily lives without stigma or negative  connota-
    11  tions attached to mental health.
    12    Unfortunately, the practical application of the state's mental hygiene
    13  laws  has allowed thousands of people who require  more stringent mental
    14  health protocols for treatment to go without  appropriate  oversight  to
    15  ensure  their  treatment is pursued thus, resulting in severe behavioral
    16  transgression to include a large degree of homelessness, criminal behav-
    17  ior, toxic drug use and alcoholism. The severity of  abhorrent  outcomes
    18  as  the  result  of  a failure to give medical professionals, as well as
    19  judicial direction in determining certain behavioral dysfunction(s) that
    20  display a need for in-patient  care,  has  severely  impacted  patient's
    21  health, welfare, and their ability to regularly function in society. All
    22  too  often,  we are seeing unsuspecting citizens killed or maimed as the
    23  result of violent behavior by patients who have  either  disregarded  or
    24  rejected available or mandated mental health services due to their dete-
    25  riorating  mental state, which compounds the deleterious outcome for the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01614-01-3
        A. 812                              2

     1  patient as well as society.    Although  outpatient  commitment  is  the
     2  preferred mode of treatment for patients seeking mental health services,
     3  the  occasion  arises  where  judicial  intervention  to seek immediate,
     4  mandated  treatment through court ordered in-patient treatment, in order
     5  to facilitate an expedited pathway for seeking  medical  or  psychiatric
     6  help  is necessary to prevent on-going negative behavioral episodes that
     7  places the patient or the public at risk of physical injury or death.
     8    § 3. The second, third and fourth undesignated paragraphs  of  section
     9  9.01 of the mental hygiene law, as amended by chapter 723 of the laws of
    10  1989, are amended to read as follows:
    11    "in  need of involuntary care and treatment" means that a person has a
    12  mental illness for which care and treatment as a patient in  a  hospital
    13  is  essential  to such person's welfare and [whose] which so impairs the
    14  person's judgment [is so impaired that he] that the person is unable  to
    15  understand the need for such care and treatment. Care and treatment in a
    16  hospital  shall be considered essential to a person's welfare if, in the
    17  absence of such care and treatment, the person's mental illness is like-
    18  ly to result in serious harm.
    19    ["likelihood to result in serious harm" or] "likely to result in seri-
    20  ous harm" means presenting a substantial risk  of:  (a)  [a  substantial
    21  risk of] physical or mental harm to the person as manifested by:
    22    (i) threats of or attempts at suicide or serious bodily harm;
    23    (ii)  substantial  interference  with the person's ability to meet the
    24  person's needs for food, clothing, shelter or medical care; or
    25    (iii) other conduct demonstrating that  the  person  is  dangerous  to
    26  himself or herself, or (b) [a substantial risk of physical harm to other
    27  persons  as  manifested by] homicidal or other violent behavior by which
    28  others are placed in reasonable fear of serious physical harm.    Evalu-
    29  ation  of  the  likelihood that a person's mental illness will result in
    30  serious harm shall include consideration of  all  relevant  information,
    31  including credible reports of the person's recent behavior and any known
    32  relevant aspects of the person's medical and behavioral history.
    33    "need  for  retention"  means [that] the need of a person who has been
    34  admitted to a hospital pursuant to this  article  [is  in  need]  for  a
    35  further  period  of  involuntary care and treatment in a hospital [for a
    36  further period]. Evaluation of need for retention shall include  consid-
    37  eration  of  the  person's  preparedness, with appropriate and available
    38  support, to adhere to essential outpatient treatment.
    39    § 4. Subdivision (a) of section 9.39 of the  mental  hygiene  law,  as
    40  amended  by  chapter  789  of  the  laws  of 1985, is amended to read as
    41  follows:
    42    (a) The director of any hospital maintaining adequate staff and facil-
    43  ities for the observation, examination, care, and treatment  of  persons
    44  alleged  to  be mentally ill and approved by the commissioner to receive
    45  and retain patients pursuant to this  section  may  receive  and  retain
    46  therein  as a patient for a period of fifteen days any person alleged to
    47  have a mental illness for which immediate observation, care, and  treat-
    48  ment in a hospital is appropriate and which is likely to result in seri-
    49  ous  harm to himself, herself or others. ["Likelihood to result in seri-
    50  ous harm" as used in this article shall mean:
    51    1. substantial risk of physical  harm  to  himself  as  manifested  by
    52  threats  of  or  attempts  at  suicide  or  serious bodily harm or other
    53  conduct demonstrating that he is dangerous to himself, or
    54    2. a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as  manifested
    55  by  homicidal  or  other  violent behavior by which others are placed in
    56  reasonable fear of serious physical harm.]
        A. 812                              3

     1    The director shall cause to be entered upon the hospital  records  the
     2  name  of  the person or persons, if any, who have brought such person to
     3  the hospital and the details of the circumstances leading to the  hospi-
     4  talization of such person.
     5    The  director  shall  admit  such person pursuant to the provisions of
     6  this section only if a staff physician of the hospital upon  examination
     7  of  such  person finds that such person qualifies under the requirements
     8  of this section. Such person shall not be retained for a period of  more
     9  than  forty-eight  hours  unless  within  such  period  such  finding is
    10  confirmed after examination by another physician who shall be  a  member
    11  of  the  psychiatric staff of the hospital. Such person shall be served,
    12  at the time of admission, with written notice of his or her  status  and
    13  rights  as  a  patient under this section. Such notice shall contain the
    14  patient's name. At the same time, such notice shall also be given to the
    15  mental hygiene legal service and personally or by mail to such person or
    16  persons, not to exceed three in number, as may be designated in  writing
    17  to  receive  such notice by the person alleged to be mentally ill. If at
    18  any time after admission, the patient,  any  relative,  friend,  or  the
    19  mental  hygiene legal service gives notice to the director in writing of
    20  request for court hearing on the question of need for immediate observa-
    21  tion, care, and treatment, a hearing shall be held as herein provided as
    22  soon as practicable but in any event not more than five days after  such
    23  request is received, except that the commencement of such hearing may be
    24  adjourned  at  the  request  of the patient. It shall be the duty of the
    25  director upon receiving notice of such request for  hearing  to  forward
    26  forthwith  a  copy  of  such  notice with a record of the patient to the
    27  supreme court or county court in  the  county  where  such  hospital  is
    28  located. A copy of such notice and record shall also be given the mental
    29  hygiene  legal  service.  The court which receives such notice shall fix
    30  the date of such hearing and cause the patient or other person  request-
    31  ing the hearing, the director, the mental hygiene legal service and such
    32  other  persons  as  the  court may determine to be advised of such date.
    33  Upon such date, or upon such other date to which the proceeding  may  be
    34  adjourned, the court shall hear testimony and examine the person alleged
    35  to  be  mentally  ill, if it be deemed advisable in or out of court, and
    36  shall render a decision in writing that there  is  reasonable  cause  to
    37  believe  that the patient has a mental illness for which immediate inpa-
    38  tient care and treatment in a hospital is appropriate and which is like-
    39  ly to result in serious harm to himself, herself or  others.  If  it  be
    40  determined  that  there is such reasonable cause, the court shall forth-
    41  with issue an order authorizing the retention of such  patient  for  any
    42  such  purpose  or  purposes  in  the hospital for a period not to exceed
    43  fifteen days from the date of admission. Any such order entered  by  the
    44  court  shall  not  be  deemed  to be an adjudication that the patient is
    45  mentally ill, but only a determination that there is reasonable cause to
    46  retain the patient for the purposes of this section.
    47    § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
    48  have become a law.