Imposes a duty to protect upon mental health practitioners; requires mental health practitioner to make timely and reasonable efforts to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm

Title of bill

An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to imposing a duty to protect upon mental health practitioners

Purpose or general idea of bill

To amend the Mental Hygiene Law to allow mental health practitioners working in private practice to make efforts to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm to an individual or individuals where a patient has made a threat or expressed a desire to harm an individual or individuals.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 adds a new section 9.42 to the Mental Hygiene Law which would impose a duty on mental health practitioners to make reasonable efforts to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm where a client directly communicates a threat of serious, imminent harm to self or against an identifiable person or persons. Reasonable efforts, for purposes of this statute, would include modifying the aspects of treatment in order to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm, initiating procedures for hospitalization, notifying the intended victim or victims, or notifying law enforcement officials. This section also immunizes a mental health practitioner from civil or criminal liability where he or she determines a need to disclose information that is normally protected by patient or client confidentiality rules.

Section 2 sets forth an immediate effective date.

Justification

Psychologists are often the first to learn about the imminent threat of harm to a person or group of people, and can serve an important, frontline function in keeping the public safe. This legislation would provide psychologists with clear requirements for when and how they must deal with patients that make a threat of harm to a specific person, while being protected from liability.

Under current law, psychologists working in programs licensed by the Office of Mental Health and the Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities are subject to this duty to protect where a patient has conveyed a threat of harm. This legislation would extend that duty to practitioners in the private sector where a threat includes a serious intent to act and the patient has the ability to carry out that threat, making it more likely that a practitioner will take rapid, effective action to protect the public.

Prior legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications

None to state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.