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Persons with Disabilities

P Passed

P HB415

Persons with disabilities. Provides that the local disabilities boards must report every three years instead of every two years and clarifies that the localities may provide additional staff to these boards. The Department of Rehabilitative Services shall administer the funds appropriated for local disability boards, including staff support to the boards, and provide guidance and technical assistance to the boards with consultation for appropriate state agencies. The Department for Rehabilitative Services currently provides staff support to the local disabilities boards, with localities authorized to provide supplemental staff support.

Patron - Tate

P HB491

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. Revises the external human rights system for persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. The Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities is removed from the executive branch and becomes an independent state agency renamed the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy. The bill creates a governing board for the Office consisting of 11 members who are appointed by the Governor and the General Assembly for staggered terms. This board shall hire the agency director who, in turn, shall retain legal counsel. The Office is given the authority to access facilities and programs, receive notification of deaths in state facilities and to protect the confidentiality of records. The Office will also monitor compliance with human rights regulations and make the reports available to the public. The bill establishes within the Office an ombudsman program and creates the Protection and Advocacy Fund. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Future Delivery of Publicly Funded Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.

Patron - Hamilton

P HB1304

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities or mental illness. Provides for the confidentiality of client records and investigative files of the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities (DRVD). DRVD staff currently review client files to determine which documents are protected by existing exemptions under Virginia's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and which must be provided in response to FOIA requests made by adverse parties in legal proceedings, the media and others. This bill would protect sensitive information obtained by DRVD during its investigation of complaints of abuse or neglect.

Patron - Bloxom

P HB1348

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities or mental illness. Provides the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities (DRVD) with access to facilities or institutions that provide care and treatment to individuals with disabilities to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect, to monitor the care and treatment of individuals with disabilities, and to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities. The Department is also provided authority to examine the records of the facilities or institutions (including individual records), unless prohibited by federal law, regarding commitment, care, treatment, and habitation of individuals with disabilities within the facilities and institutions. Patient records will be accessible without written consent of the person when the individual is the subject of a complaint or there is probable cause to believe that the patient has been subjected to abuse or neglect, the patient is unable to authorize the Department to have access by reason of his mental or physical condition, and there is no legal guardian or the Commonwealth or a designee of the Commonwealth is the legal guardian. This access is already granted to DRVD under federal law; Virginia statutory access will clarify and strengthen DRVD's ability to access public and private facilities and institutions. The Department will not have access to peer review, utilization review, disciplinary committee or practice privilege application files which are privileged communications pursuant to the Medical Malpractice Act.

Patron - Drake

P HB1350

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities or mental illness. Provides for notification to the Director of the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities (DRVD) by the directors of state facilities of critical incidents or deaths in state mental health and mental retardation facilities within 48 hours of their occurrence. The Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services shall provide a follow-up written report of the known facts within 15 working days of the critical incident or death. Such notification promotes DRVD's ability to carry out its federal mandate to monitor and investigate incidents of abuse and neglect.

Patron - Drake

P HB1520

Disability; developmental disability. Specifies that Prader-Willi syndrome is included in the definition of "functional and central nervous system disabilities." The Department of Rehabilitative Services coordinates services to persons with such disabilities. "Prader-Willi syndrome" means a specific disorder that is usually caused by a chromosomal change, resulting in life-long functional and cognitive impairments and life-threatening obesity.

Patron - Dillard

P SB552

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities or mental illness. Provides for the confidentiality of client records and investigative files of the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities (DRVD). DRVD staff currently review client files to determine which documents are protected by existing exemptions under Virginia's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and which must be provided in response to FOIA requests made by adverse parties in legal proceedings, the media and others. This bill would protect sensitive information obtained by DRVD during its investigation of complaints of abuse or neglect.

Patron - Hanger

P SB554

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities or mental illness. Provides the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities (DRVD) with access to facilities or institutions that provide care and treatment to individuals with disabilities and to access the records of such facilities and institutions, as well as the records of individuals with disabilities within the facilities and institutions for the purposes of investigating abuse or neglect. Such access is already granted to DRVD under federal law, and state statutory access will clarify and strengthen DRVD's ability to access public and private facilities and institutions. The Department will not have access to privileged information as defined in the Medical Malpractice Act.

Patron - Hanger

P SB555

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities or mental illness. Provides for notification to the Director of the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities (DRVD) by the directors of state facilities of critical incidents or deaths in state mental health and mental retardation facilities within 48 hours of their occurrence. The Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services shall provide a follow-up written report of the known facts within 15 working days of the critical incident or death. Such notification promotes DRVD's ability to carry out its federal mandate to monitor and investigate incidents of abuse and neglect.

Patron - Hanger

P SB709

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. Revises the external human rights system for such persons. The Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities is removed from the executive branch and becomes an independent state agency renamed the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy. The bill creates a governing board for the Office consisting of 11 members who are appointed by the Governor and the General Assembly for staggered terms. This board shall hire the agency director who, in turn, shall retain legal counsel. The Office is given the authority to access facilities and programs and to protect the confidentiality of records. The Office will also monitor compliance with human rights regulations and make the reports available to the public. The bill establishes within the Office an ombudsman program and creates the Protection and Advocacy Fund. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Future Delivery of Publicly Funded Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, HJR 225 (1998).

F Failed

F HB1349

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. Transfers the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities from the Secretariat of Health and Human Resources to the Secretariat of Administration. This bill codifies Executive Order 46 (1999).

Patron - Drake

F SB553

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. Transfers the Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities from the Secretariat of Health and Human Resources to the Secretariat of Administration. This bill codifies Executive Order 46 (1999).

Patron - Hanger

C Carried Over

C HB1026

Persons with disabilities. Includes in the definition of "physical impairment" severe chemical sensitivities.

Patron - Dillard