BILL NUMBER: S5945

SPONSOR: REICHLIN-MELNICK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to incident notifi-
cations and reports

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this legislation is to establish an incident notification
and reporting system

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 requires that facilities operated, licensed, or certified by
the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), the
Office of Health (OMH), or the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
Services (CASAS) have a streamlined incident notification and reporting
system. These facilities are required to submit written notice and
notice by telephone to a qualified person within 24 hours and within 10
              

days of an incident. These facilities must also provide a copy of a
written incident report, offer to hold a meeting to discuss the inci-
dent, and provide a follow up report of any actions taken.  Adds a
provision that allows the Director the option to send all records to
qualified persons electronically.

Section 2 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In May of 2007, New York State enacted Jonathan's Law (Mental Hygiene
Law § 33.23). The law is named after Jonathan Carey, a 13-year-old boy
with autism who died while in the care of the Office for People with
Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD). Before his tragic death, Jonathan's
parents tried on many occasions to obtain information about several
unexplained injuries, changes in treatment, and instances of suspected
abuse and neglect, all to no avail.  Jonathan's Law requires that
parents and guardians of people with developmental disabilities who live
in facilities operated, licensed, or certified by OPWDD, or OASAS to
receive a notification via phone call of an accident or injury that
affects the health or safety of a patient within twenty-four hours of
the incident being reported. The law also provides these loved ones
access to the incident report and any follow up records on actions taken
concerning abuse allegations and mandates the Director of facilities to
offer the opportunity to react to discuss the incident.

In July of 2019, the State Comptroller's office conducted a review of
incidents reported at OMH facilities over the period of April, 1, 2015
to January 9, 2019 to determine if OMH was in compliance with these
requirements. The Comptroller determined that, because of a misinterpre-
tation of the policy, the only action routinely undertaken by OMH was
providing notification of an incident to qualified persons via telephone
within 24 hours of a report being filed. The families were not being
offered the opportunity to meet to discuss the incident or receive
copies of written reports unless they specifically requested it.

This bill provides clarifying language, which will prevent further
misinterpretations and boost compliance across all state government
facilities subject to the law's provisions. This will improve patient
safety and health by ensuring the proper steps are being taken following
an incident to notify those that should be aware an incident occurred.
Finally, this bill brings the law into the modern era by allowing
records to be delivered electronically. This added convenience will help
support compliance and may drastically cut down on the time parents,
guardians, and other qualified persons typically have to wait to under-
stand the incident their loved one experienced.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-20: S.6682 - referred to Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.