Bill Text: NY A07724 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides a mental hygiene legal service to certain patients or residents of residential health care facilities; requires the director of any department facility or the chief administrator of certain facilities to provide the mental hygiene legal service with the written service plan for patients who have a serious mental illness and who are about to be discharged.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to ways and means [A07724 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A07724-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7724 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 20, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. MEEKS -- (at request of the Office of Court Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Mental Health AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law and the public health law, in relation to providing a mental hygiene legal service to certain patients or residents of residential health care facilities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 47.01 of the mental hygiene law, 2 as amended by chapter 658 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (a) There shall be a mental hygiene legal service of the state in each 5 judicial department. The service shall provide legal services, assist- 6 ance and advocacy to patients or residents of a facility as defined in 7 section 1.03 of this chapter, patients or residents of residential 8 healthcare facilities licensed and operating pursuant to article twen- 9 ty-eight of the public health law who have been admitted directly from a 10 facility as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter and who have a seri- 11 ous mental illness as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter [and are12receiving services related to such illness], or any other place or 13 facility which is required to have an operating certificate pursuant to 14 article sixteen or thirty-one of this chapter, and to persons alleged to 15 be in need of care and treatment in such facilities or places, and to 16 persons entitled to such legal assistance as provided by article ten of 17 this chapter. The head of such service in each judicial department and 18 such assistants and such staff as may be necessary shall be appointed 19 and may be removed by the presiding justice of the appellate division of 20 the judicial department. Appointments and transfers to the service shall 21 comply with the provisions of the civil service law. Standards for qual- 22 ifications of the personnel in the service shall be established by the 23 presiding justice of the appellate division of the judicial department. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10268-01-1A. 7724 2 1 The presiding justice of the appellate division of the judicial depart- 2 ment shall promulgate such rules or regulations as may be necessary to 3 effectuate the purposes of this article. 4 § 2. Section 47.03 of the mental hygiene law, as added by chapter 789 5 of the laws of 1985, subdivision (c) as amended by chapter 408 of the 6 laws of 1999, subdivisions (d) and (e) as amended and subdivision (f) as 7 added by chapter 7 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows: 8 § 47.03 Functions, powers and duties of the service. 9 The mental hygiene legal service in each judicial department of the 10 state shall perform the following duties: 11 (a) To study and review the admission and retention of all patients or 12 residents which shall include a review of the willingness of the patient 13 or resident to remain in his or her status and the determination of the 14 facility director as to suitability of such status, as provided for by 15 this chapter; 16 (b) To inform patients or residents and, in proper cases, others 17 interested in such persons' welfare of procedures for admission and 18 retention and of the patients' or residents' right to have judicial 19 hearing and review, to be represented by legal counsel, and to seek 20 independent medical opinion; 21 (c) To provide legal services [and], assistance and advocacy to 22 patients or residents and their families related to the admission, 23 retention, and care and treatment of such persons, to provide legal 24 services and assistance to subjects of a petition or patients subject to 25 section 9.60 of this chapter, and to inform patients or residents, their 26 families and, in proper cases, others interested in the patients' or 27 residents' welfare of the availability of other legal resources which 28 may be of assistance in matters not directly related to the admission, 29 retention, and care and treatment of such patients or residents; 30 (d) To provide legal services, assistance and advocacy to patients or 31 residents of residential health care facilities licensed or operating 32 pursuant to article twenty-eight of the public health law who have been 33 admitted directly from a facility as defined in section 1.03 of this 34 chapter and who have a serious mental illness as defined in section 1.03 35 of this chapter; 36 (e) To be granted access at any and all times to any facility or place 37 or part thereof described in subdivision (a) of section 47.01 of this 38 article, and to all books, records and data pertaining to any such 39 facility or place deemed necessary for carrying out its functions, 40 powers and duties. The mental hygiene legal service may require from the 41 officers or employees of such facility or place any information deemed 42 necessary for the purpose of carrying out the service's functions, 43 powers and duties. Information, books, records or data which are confi- 44 dential and any limitations on the release thereof imposed by law upon 45 the party furnishing the information, books, records or data shall apply 46 to the service. Provided, however, whenever federal regulations 47 restrict, or as a condition of federal aid require that a facility 48 restrict the release of information contained in the clinical record of 49 a patient or client, or restrict disclosure of the identity of a patient 50 or access to that patient, to a greater extent than is allowed under 51 this section, the provisions of such federal law or federal regulation 52 shall be controlling; 53 [(e)] (f) To initiate and take any legal action deemed necessary to 54 safeguard the right of any patient or resident of a facility as defined 55 in section 1.03 of this chapter, or patients or residents of residential 56 health care facilities licensed and operating pursuant to article twen-A. 7724 3 1 ty-eight of the public health law who have been admitted to such resi- 2 dential health care facility directly from a facility as defined in 3 section 1.03 of this chapter and who have a serious mental illness as 4 defined in section 1.03 of this chapter to protection from abuse or 5 mistreatment, which may include investigation into any such allegations 6 of abuse or mistreatment of any such patient or resident; and 7 [(f)] (g) To provide legal services and assistance in accordance with 8 article ten of this chapter. 9 § 3. Subdivision (c) of section 47.03 of the mental hygiene law, as 10 added by chapter 789 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows: 11 (c) To provide legal services [and], assistance and advocacy to 12 patients or residents and their families related to the admission, 13 retention, and care and treatment of such persons, and to inform 14 patients or residents, their families and, in proper cases, others 15 interested in the patients' or residents' welfare of the availability of 16 other legal resources which may be of assistance in matters not directly 17 related to the admission, retention, and care and treatment of such 18 patients or residents; 19 § 4. Section 29.13 of the mental hygiene law, as added by chapter 332 20 of the laws of 1976, subdivision (b) as amended by chapter 135 of the 21 laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows: 22 § 29.13 Treatment plans. 23 (a) Subject to the regulations of the commissioner, the director of 24 each departmental facility shall require the development of a written 25 treatment plan to assure adequate care and treatment for each patient. 26 (b) The written treatment plan shall include, but not be limited to, a 27 statement of treatment goals; appropriate programs, treatment or thera- 28 pies to be undertaken to meet such goals; and a specific timetable for 29 assessment of patient programs as well as for periodic mental and phys- 30 ical reexaminations. In causing such a plan to be prepared or when such 31 a plan is to be revised, the patient shall be advised of whatever 32 services may be available to him or her through the mental hygiene legal 33 service, including advocacy services, and the following persons shall be 34 interviewed and provided an opportunity to actively participate in such 35 preparation or revision: the patient; an authorized representative of 36 the patient, to include the mental hygiene legal service, and the parent 37 or parents if the patient is a minor, unless such minor sixteen years of 38 age or older objects to the participation of the parent or parents and 39 there has been a clinical determination by a physician indicating that 40 the involvement of the parent or parents is not clinically appropriate 41 and such determination is documented in the record; upon the request of 42 the patient sixteen years of age or older, a significant individual to 43 the patient including the mental hygiene legal service and any relative, 44 close friend or individual otherwise concerned with the welfare of the 45 patient, other than an employee of the facility. 46 § 5. Section 29.15 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding a 47 new subdivision (o) to read as follows: 48 (o) It shall be the responsibility of the director of any department 49 facility or the chief administrator of any facility providing inpatient 50 services subject to licensure by the office of mental health to notify 51 the mental hygiene legal service when a patient who has a serious mental 52 illness, as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter, and is receiving 53 services related to such illness is about to be discharged to a residen- 54 tial health care facility licensed and operating pursuant to article 55 twenty-eight of the public health law and to provide the mental hygieneA. 7724 4 1 legal service with the written service plan developed for such person as 2 required under subdivision (f) of this section. 3 § 6. Subdivision 3 of section 2803-c of the public health law is 4 amended by adding a new paragraph r to read as follows: 5 r. In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 47.01 of the mental 6 hygiene law, no facility shall restrict or prohibit the mental hygiene 7 legal service operating pursuant to article forty-seven of the mental 8 hygiene law from access to patients or their records who have been 9 admitted to the facility directly from a facility as defined by section 10 1.03 of the mental hygiene law and who have a serious mental illness. 11 Disclosure of records to the mental hygiene legal service shall not give 12 rise to any claims against the facility, its staff, or the patient's 13 physician based solely on the fact of such disclosure pursuant to statu- 14 tory authorization. 15 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 16 the amendments to subdivision (c) of section 47.03 of the mental hygiene 17 law made by section two of this act shall not affect the repeal of such 18 subdivision pursuant to section 18 of chapter 408 of the laws of 1999, 19 as amended, when upon such date the provisions of section three of this 20 act shall take effect. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment 21 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation 22 of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made 23 and completed on or before such effective date.
