Institutions for the Mentally Ill; Mental Health Generally
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Passed
- P HB1586
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Community services boards. Makes a technical amendment to correct language that was inadvertently left out of House Bill 428 (1998). This bill clarifies, through the technical amendment, that a combination of cities or counties or a combination of cities and counties establishing an administrative policy board must receive an independent annual audit of the total revenues, expenditures, and data of the board, provide a copy of the audit to the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and arrange for the provision of legal services to the administrative policy board. Present law authorizes localities to designate their community services boards as (i) operating boards, (ii) administrative policy boards, or (iii) policy advisory boards.
- Patron - Hall
- P HB1775
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Civil commitment of sexually violent predators. Authorizes the civil commitment of persons convicted of a violent sex offense or persons charged with such an offense and found unrestorably incompetent whose mental abnormalities render them so likely to commit sexually violent offenses that they constitute a threat to the health and safety of others. Such persons will be committed for an indeterminate period to facilities operated by the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services for treatment and confinement consistent with their needs. The bill requires reenactment by the 2000 General Assembly. This bill is identical to SB 845.
- Patron - Griffith
- P HB2414
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Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. Revises the internal and external human rights systems for such persons. The bill prohibits employees of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation or Substance Abuse Services (Department) or a community services board (CSB), behavioral health authority (BHA), local government department, CSB, BHA or local government contractor, or a licensed public or private provider from serving as an authorized representative for a consumer being treated in any public or private program or facility; makes program licensure pursuant to Chapter 8 (§ 37.1-179 et seq.) of Title 37.1 contingent upon satisfactory human rights performance as determined by a human rights review performed by the Department; and authorizes the Department Commissioner to sanction public or private programs operated, licensed or funded by the Department for noncompliance with the human rights regulations. Sanctions include a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation per day and, for up to a year, a prohibition on new admissions or a reduction of licensed capacity. The State Board shall promulgate regulations for the Commissioner to use in determining the imposition of administrative sanctions as appropriate and prescribe procedures to provide the public with access to data about the operations and performance of state facilities and licensed or funded public or private community programs reviewed or investigated by state or local human rights committees and advocates or against which complaints have been filed by advocates. Under the provisions of this bill, one-third of the appointments made by the State Board to the state or local human rights committees shall be consumers and family members of consumers, with at least two active consumers on each committee. Remaining appointments shall include lawyers, health care providers and persons with knowledge or training in the mental health, mental retardation or substance abuse fields. Current employees of Department, CSBs, BHAs or local government departments with a policy-advisory CSB or any program licensed by Department are prohibited from serving as a member of the state human rights committee. Current employees of Department, CSBs, BHAs or local government departments with a policy-advisory CSB or any program licensed by Department are prohibited from serving as a member of the local human rights committee in the jurisdiction in which they are employed. The Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities is removed from the executive branch and becomes an independent state agency called the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy. The bill creates a governing board for the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy consisting of 11 members who are appointed by the Governor, the General Assembly and the Council on Human Rights for staggered terms. This board shall hire the agency director, who, in turn, shall retain legal counsel. The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy is given the authority to access facilities and programs and protect the confidentiality of records. The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy will monitor the Office of Human Rights within the Department, the Department of Rehabilitative Services, and any other state or local government departments or agencies, contractors of those departments or agencies, and other entities or persons providing services to persons with disabilities or who may be represented by the Office, and make the reports available to the public. Finally, the bill establishes within the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy an ombudsman program.
- Patron - DeBoer
- P HB2568
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Substance Abuse Services Council. Adds a representative of the Substance Abuse Certification Alliance of Virginia (SACAVA), who shall be appointed by the Governor, to the Substance Abuse Services Council. SAVACA is a statewide organization that certifies substance abuse professionals through competency-based testing. There are also technical amendments.
- Patron - Christian
- P HB2572
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Criminal background checks. Requires national criminal background checks, including a fingerprint check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for any applicant for a job with an agency licensed by the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services and for any applicant with an agency that provides services under contract with a community services board, behavioral health authority or local government department. The requests for criminal background information are made by the authorized officer or director of the agency directly to the state Central Criminal Records Exchange, which shall forward the information to the FBI. Such direct access by a private agency is permitted by the Volunteers for Children Act passed by Congress in October 1998. The bill also provides a list of barrier crimes to aid the state law enforcement agency in determining whether the applicant has been convicted of a crime that bears upon the applicant's ability to be responsible for providing care to persons with mental illness, mental retardation or substance abuse. There are technical amendments.
- Patron - Christian
- P SB1054
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Mental Health; disclosure of information. Authorizes the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services and the community services boards to exchange client-specific information for the purpose of implementation of a performance and outcome measurement to monitor the delivery, effectiveness and outcome of treatment. Information which is publicly available shall be designed to prevent access to combinations of information which can reasonably be expected to identify any patient. State facilities are also required to report certain data to the Virginia Patient Level Data System. There is an amendment to extend the sunset date for the Virginia Patient Level Data System to July 1, 2003; it is currently scheduled to expire on July 1, 1999.
- Patron - Martin
- P SB1055
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State facility directors. Provides that any state facility director hired by the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation or Substance Abuse Services after July 1, 1999, shall be employed under a contract that specifies the terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, compensation, benefits, duties and responsibilities, performance standards, evaluation criteria, and contract termination and renewal provisions. The length of such employment contracts shall be two years, with provisions for annual renewals thereafter, based on the acceptable performance of the incumbent. Any director of a state facility employed by the Commissioner before July 1, 1999, may elect to continue his current employment status subject to the provisions of the Virginia Personnel Act or he may choose to be employed under such a contract. Any director of a state facility employed under an employment contract shall be exempt from the Virginia Personnel Act.
- Patron - Martin
- P SB1224
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Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. Revises the internal and external human rights systems for such persons. The bill prohibits employees of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation or Substance Abuse Services (Department) or a community services board (CSB), behavioral health authority (BHA), local government department with a policy advisor, CSB, BHA or local government contractor, or a licensed public or private provider from serving as an authorized representative for a consumer being treated in any public or private program or facility; makes program licensure pursuant to Chapter 8 (§ 37.1-179 et seq.) of Title 37.1 contingent upon satisfactory human rights performance as determined by a human rights review performed by the Department; and authorizes the Department Commissioner to sanction public or private programs operated, licensed or funded by the Department for noncompliance with the human rights and licensure regulations. Sanctions include a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation per day and, for up to a year, a prohibition on new admissions or a reduction of licensed capacity. The State Board shall promulgate regulations for the Commissioner to use in determining the imposition of administrative sanctions and prescribe procedures to provide the public with access to statistical data about the operations and performance of state facilities and public or private community programs licensed or funded by the Department. Under the provisions of this bill, one-third of the appointments made by the State Board to the state or local human rights committees shall be consumers and family members of consumers, with at least two active consumers on each committee. Remaining appointments shall include health care providers, lawyers and persons with interest, knowledge or training in the mental health, mental retardation or substance abuse fields. Current employees of the Department, CSBs, BHAs or local government departments with a policy-advisory CSB or any program licensed by Department are prohibited from serving as a member of the state human rights committee. Current employees of the Department, CSBs, BHAs or local government departments with a policy-advisory CSB or any program licensed by Department that serves an oversight function are prohibited from serving as a member of the local human rights committee. The Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities is removed from the executive branch and becomes an independent state agency called the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy. The bill creates a governing board for the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy consisting of 13 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 subject to board approval. The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy is given the authority to access facilities and programs and protect the confidentiality of records. The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy will monitor compliance with the human rights regulations and make the reports available to the public. Finally, the bill establishes within the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy an ombudsman program.
- Patron - Woods
F
Failed
- F HB1920
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Guardianship or conservatorship. Deletes the provisions in the evaluation report for guardianship or conservatorship detailing the proposed ward's incapacity, the dates of evaluation and evaluator's credentials and, instead, requires the evaluator's opinion as to whether the proposed ward has the ability to care for himself or his estate.
- Patron - Phillips
- F SB1030
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Guardianship and conservatorship. Allows the court to reimburse the petitioner when a guardian or conservator is not appointed but the court determines that the proceedings were brought in good faith, resulted in a benefit to the respondent or for good cause shown.
- Patron - Gartlan
- F SB1040
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Community services boards. Permits a board member of a nonprofit organization that receives funding from a community services board solely in the form of rent payments to be eligible for appointment to such board. Presently, employees or board members of an organization which receives funding from any community services board are ineligible from such appointments.
- Patron - Martin
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