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History
- Print number 2759a
- Amend and recommit to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Creates mental health incident review panels
In Assembly Committee · Mental Health · Sponsor Robert J. Rodriguez
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the mental hygiene law and the education law, in relation to creating mental health incident review panels
Purpose
This bill would authorize the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health to convene panels of state and local officials to review violent incidents involving persons with mental illness
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill adds a new Mental Hygiene Law § 31.38 to give the commissioner of the Office of Mental Health (OMH) the authority to establish one or more mental health incident review panels to evaluate the circumstances surrounding incidents in which a person with serious mental illness is physically injured or causes physical injury, or suffers a serious and preventable medical complication, or becomes involved in a violent criminal incident. Such panels must include state mental health and local government officials, and may include members from law enforcement agencies. To encourage candid assessments of systemic or other problems that led to the incident under review, the information obtained by the review panel will be deemed confidential. The OMH Commissioner must make an annual report to the legislature and the Governor summarizing the findings and recommendations made by the review panels.
Read the full memo (717 words)
Section 2 of the bill amends § 33.13(c) of the Mental Health Law by adding a new paragraph 17 to allow mental health information to be disclosed to a mental health review panel.
Section 3 of the bill amends Education Law § 6527 to provide that the reviews conducted by the mental health incident review panels will not be subject to disclosure and that the information received by the panels will be protected by the statutory quality assurance privilege.
Section 4 of the bill contains the effective date.
Existing law
A quality assurance privilege is generally recognized as an essential mechanism allowing medical facilities to address quality concerns in a confidential manner that will help them to sustain a culture of quality improvement. The New York Court of Appeals has recognized that the statutory privilege set forth in Education Law § 6527, which protects quality assurance records of certain entities from disclosure in the context of Civil Procedure Law and Rules discovery provisions, "promotes the quality of care through self-review without fear of legal reprisal." Katherine F. v. New York, 94 N.Y.2d 200, 205 (1999). Under Mental Hygiene Law § 29.29, the OMH Commissioner must establish procedures for review and analysis of accidents and other injuries affecting the health and welfare of patients at a mental health facility. Such reviews and analyses are subject to the confidentiality provisions set forth in Education Law § 6527.
Justification
This bill, which creates a statutory scheme modeled after the child fatality reviews conducted pursuant to Social Services Law § 422-b, allows for improved State and local response to incidents that occur outside of a mental health facility in which persons with mental illness are harmed or harm others, or suffer serious and preventable medical complications, or become involved in violent criminal offenses. First, the bill allows the OMH Commissioner to include local and state officials with varied backgrounds on review panels, which will permit more effective and widely-ranging evaluations of these incidents. Impaneling members with mental health, social services and law enforcement backgrounds will ensure that an incident review panel may consider a wide range of perspectives when: (1) identifying systemic and individual problems that may have contributed to a particular incident; and (2) recommending policy or legislative changes to prevent future occurrences and enhance public safety.
Second, the bill will ensure that incident reviews are conducted objectively, and that the panel members and other persons with whom the panel members consult may frankly and freely discuss and analyze any errors or shortcomings in the mental health and/or criminal justice system that may have led to the incident's occurrence. These assurances of confidentiality will lead to both improved quality of care for persons with mental illness and enhanced protection for the public.
Legislative history
2011-12; S.3018 - Died in Mental Health 2009/10: S.4901 - Referred to Mental Health and Development Disabilities; A.6835. S.8710 Passed Senate in 2008
Fiscal implications
2014-13: 5991 - Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
Effective date
30 days after it shall have become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.