What's happening
The bill expands mental hygiene legal services to certain residents of residential healthcare facilities with serious mental illness.
Why it matters
Expands legal advocacy protections. to a vulnerable population—residents of residential healthcare facilities (like nursing homes or rehabilitation centers) with serious mental illness—giving them access to the same state-provided legal services as those in mental health facilities.
Ensures continuity of legal rights. for people admitted directly from mental health facilities to residential healthcare settings, recognizing that their psychiatric needs and legal vulnerabilities may continue after transfer.
Could improve oversight and accountability. in residential healthcare facilities, as legal service access may help address or expose issues like improper treatment, rights violations, or inappropriate placements for residents with serious mental illness.
Signals a broader recognition. that mental health-related legal needs do not end upon discharge from psychiatric facilities, and that specialized legal support is essential for ongoing protection and advocacy in a variety of healthcare settings.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Legal Aid for Mental Health
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- 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.
Free Legal Help for Patients
In Senate Committee · Mental Health And Developmental Disabilities · Sponsor Michael Cusick
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2441
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 13, 2017
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
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
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00259-01-7
S. 2441 2
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.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
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
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill provides mental hygiene legal services with authority to provide legal assistance to patients or residents of residential health care facilities including nursing homes who have been admitted directly from a psychiatric facility or a psychiatric ward of a hospital and who have a serious mental illness for which they are receiving services related to such illness.
Summary of specific provisions
Sections 1 of the bill amends section 47.01 subdivision (a) of the mental hygiene law to include patients and residents of residential healthcare facilities including nursing homes who have been directly admitted from a facility licensed by the Office of Mental Health and who have a serious mental illness and are receiving services for such illness.
Read the full memo (645 words)
Section 2 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date.
Justification
The NYS Court of Appeals, the State's highest court, recently ruled that Mental Hygiene Legal Services (MHLS) lacks jurisdiction to represent mentally ill individuals who have been admitted to nursing homes from psychiatric centers and psychiatric hospital wards because the Office of Mental Health does not license the facilities. The legislature amended the law in 1993 to significantly expand MHLS's jurisdiction to include individuals in a range of other in and out-patient facilities without regard to the type of facility or a person's lack of legal admission status in order to avoid the need for MHLS to do battle to establish a jurisdictional foothold. Unfortunately, by a vote of 4-3, the Court of Appeals decided that those amendments are not sufficient to afford seriously mentally ill individuals access of protective MHLS when in a setting not licensed by OMH.
In the mid 1990's a practice of transferring individuals from psychiatric centers and psychiatric wards of hospitals to specialized units in nursing homes called neurobiological units (NED's) where they continued to receive intensive psychiatric treatment was begun. These individuals were not there for traditional nursing home care. A series of award winning articles in the New York Times focused in part on this practice and claimed that the residents in the NBD were being deprived their legal protection. The article claimed that the NED's were like being involuntarily committed to a psychiatric center without any legal protections. MHLS began looking into the matter and sought access to the residents and their records in order to provide advocacy and legal representation. Nursing homes denied them access and in June 2003, MHLS commenced a court action seeking jurisdiction to protect the rights of these individuals. Nursing homes have since shut down NED's, however there continues to be a steady flow of seriously mentally ill individuals being transferred from OMH licensed psychiatric centers and hospital wards to nursing homes. Seriously mentally ill individuals deserve the same protections that they would be afforded had they remained in the OMH licensed facilities. They are not being discharged because they have been cured or stabilized. If these individuals continue to require intensive, institutional care and treatment that a nursing home provides, they must continue to be provided with the protections that MHLS was designed to provide. Many of these individuals have been in nursing homes for years without legal representation waiting this court decision. This bill will clearly put in statute MHLS' authority to provide legal assistance to these seriously mentally ill individuals who are alleged to be in need of care and treatment in such restrictive settings.
Prior legislative history
2015-16: S.1907/A.1459 - Reported and Committed to Finance 2013-14: S.801/A.190 - Reported to Finance 2011-12: S.3423A/A.126A - Passed Assembly; Reported to Finance 2010: A.10824-B/S.7432-A - Vetoed Memo 6811
Fiscal implications
No new costs.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.