NY State Senate Bill 2015-S1907

Senate Bill S1907

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Provides a mental hygiene legal service to certain patients or residents of residential healthcare facilities

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Finance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 12, 2016	reported and committed to finance
Jan 06, 2016	referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
Jan 15, 2015	referred to mental health and developmental disabilities

Votes

- Apr 11, 2016 - Committee Vote
  S1907
  
  8
  
  Aye
  
  0
  
  Nay
  
  3
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Committee Vote: Apr 11, 2016
      
      aye (8)
      
      Carlucci
      
      Felder
      
      Hamilton
      
      Krueger
      
      Murphy
      
      Rivera
      
      Serrano
      
      Seward
      
      aye wr (3)
      
      Hannon
      
      Ortt
      
      Serino

2015-S1907 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1459
Current Committee:: Senate Finance
Law Section:: Mental Hygiene Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §47.01, Ment Hyg L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: A10824
2011-2012: S3423, A126
2013-2014: S801, A190
2017-2018: S2441, A1362
2019-2020: S3766, A4482

2015-S1907 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides a mental hygiene legal service to patients or residents of residential healthcare facilities who have been admitted directly from a facility and who have a chronic mental illness and are receiving services related to such illness.

2015-S1907 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S1907

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.

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 (NEU'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:

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.

2015-S1907 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  1907

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 15, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Develop-
  mental Disabilities

AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene  law,  in  relation  to  providing  a
  mental hygiene legal service to certain patients or residents of resi-
  dential healthcare facilities

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, 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 depart-
ment.  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.
                                                           LBD01879-01-5

S. 1907                             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.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

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