What's happening
This bill expands mental hygiene legal services to certain residents of residential healthcare facilities with serious mental illness.
Why it matters
Extends legal protections to a vulnerable group. By including residents of residential healthcare facilities with serious mental illness who were admitted directly from mental health facilities, the bill ensures that these individuals receive the same legal assistance as those in psychiatric institutions, addressing a major gap in advocacy and oversight.
Supports continuity of mental health care. The amendment recognizes that individuals with serious mental illnesses may still require legal assistance after moving to residential healthcare settings, helping to safeguard their rights around treatment decisions, placement, and discharge.
Could improve care quality and facility accountability. With mental hygiene legal services involved, residential healthcare facilities may face increased scrutiny regarding their treatment of residents with serious mental illness, potentially leading to better care standards and respect for residents' legal rights.
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Who cares
Residential healthcare patients with serious mental illness
The bill would extend Mental Hygiene Legal Service assistance to those admitted directly from a facility defined in Mental Hygiene Law section 1.03 who are receiving services related to their illness.
Mental Hygiene Legal Service
The service in each judicial department would be required to provide legal assistance to this additional group of patients and residents.
Article 28 residential healthcare facilities
Qualifying patients and residents in these licensed facilities would become eligible for Mental Hygiene Legal Service assistance.
Headline styles
Free Legal Help for Patients
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Delivered to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading cal.93
- Returned to assembly
- Died in senate
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
- Delivered to senate
- Passed assembly
- Advanced to third reading cal.376
- Reported
- Reported referred to ways and means
Show 1 earlier action
- Referred to mental health
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.
Legal Aid for Mental Health
In Senate Committee · Mental Health And Developmental Disabilities · Sponsor Kevin S. Parker
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1362
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 11, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. CUSICK, TITONE, ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Mental Health
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to providing a mental hygiene legal service to certain patients or residents of residential healthcare facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 47.01 of the mental hygiene law, as amended by chapter 7 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
(a) There shall be a mental hygiene legal service of the state in each judicial department. The service shall provide legal assistance to patients or residents of a facility as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter, patients or residents of residential healthcare facilities licensed and operating pursuant to article twenty-eight of the public health law who have been admitted directly from a facility as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter and who have a serious mental illness as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter and are receiving services related to such illness, or any other place or facility which is required to have an operating certificate pursuant to article sixteen or thirty-one of this chapter, and to persons alleged to be in need of care and treatment in such facilities or places, and to persons entitled to such legal assistance as provided by article ten of this chapter. The head of such service in each judicial department and such assistants and such staff as may be necessary shall be appointed and may be removed by the presiding justice of the appellate division of the judicial department. Appointments and transfers to the service shall comply with the provisions of the civil service law. Standards for qualifications of the personnel in the service shall be established by the presiding justice of the appellate division of the judicial department. The presiding justice of the appellate division of the judicial department shall promulgate such rules or regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00259-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.