TITLE 37.1. INSTITUTIONS FOR THE MENTALLY ILL; MENTAL HEALTH GENERALLY.

§ 37.1-3 amended.
Mental Health; board membership. Adds a practicing psychiatrist to the State Board of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. SB 400; CH. 50.

§ 37.1-42.2. See § 51.5-1; HB 9.

§§ 2.2-2905 and 37.1-42.2 amended.
State facility directors. Amends the provision that required all state facility directors hired by the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services after July 1, 1999, to be employed under a two-year contract, with provisions for annual renewals thereafter to allow facility directors to also be employed as classified employees. Further, any facility director hired under a contract shall remain subject to the provisions of the State Grievance Procedure. HB 840; CH. 271.

§ 37.1-98 amended.
Discharge of patients and residents from state facilities. Requires directors of training centers for persons with mental retardation to prepare a predischarge plan for residents in conjunction with the community services board that serves the political subdivision where the resident resided prior to admission or by the board that serves the political subdivision where the resident or legally authorized representative chooses to reside if the resident or his legally authorized representative on his behalf chooses to be discharged. The bill states that no resident of a training center who is enrolled in Medicaid will be discharged if the resident or his legally authorized representative on his behalf chooses to continue in the training center. Legally authorized representatives will make this decision if the resident lacks the mental capacity to do so. Finally, the bill requires that predischarge plans for all individuals discharged to an assisted living facility from state hospitals or training centers must identify the facility, document its appropriateness for housing and capacity to care for the individual, contain evidence of the facility's agreement to admit and care for the individual, and describe how the community services board will monitor the individual's care in the facility. The bill also contains technical changes. HB 1228; CH. 557/SB 661; CH. 62.

§§ 37.1-98 and 37.1-197.1. See § 63.1-1.1; SB 303.

§ 37.1-134.7 amended.
Guardianship and conservatorship; costs and fees. Authorizes the court to provide for payment from the respondent's estate for costs and fees incurred by petitioners even if a guardian or conservator is not appointed if the court finds that the petition is brought in good faith and for the benefit of the respondent. HB 1213; CH. 736.

§§ 37.1-179 and 37.1-179.1. See § 51.5-14.1; SB 504.

§§ 37.1-183.3 and 37.1-197.2 amended.
Criminal background checks; substance abuse treatment professionals. Permits community services boards, behavioral health authorities and agencies licensed by the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services to hire for adult substance abuse treatment programs persons who were convicted of a broader list of crimes: a misdemeanor violation relating to (i) unlawful hazing as set out in § 18.2-56; or (ii) reckless handling of a firearm as set out in § 18.2-56.1; any misdemeanor or felony violation related to (a) reckless endangerment of others by throwing objects as set out in § 18.2-51.3; (b) threat as set out in § 18.2-60; (c) breaking and entering a dwelling house with intent to commit other misdemeanor as set out in § 18.2-92; or (d) possession of burglarious tools as set out in § 18.2-94; or any felony violation relating to the distribution of drugs as set out in Article 1 (§ 18.2-247 et seq.) of Chapter 7 of Title 18.2, except an offense pursuant to subsection H. 1. or H. 2. of § 18.2-248 (drug lord offenses); or an equivalent offense in another state. The hiring provider must determine, based upon a screening assessment, that the criminal behavior was related to the applicant's use of substances, and that the person has been successfully rehabilitated. HB 658; CH. 712.

§ 2.2-5206 amended; §§ 37.1-189.3 and 37.1-197.3 added.
Acute care psychiatric and residential beds; children and adolescents; data collection and reporting. Requires the community policy and management teams, i.e., groups within the structure of the Comprehensive Services Act, to submit to the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services information on children under the age of 14 and adolescents between the ages of 14 to 17 for whom an admission to an acute care psychiatric or residential treatment facility (but not a group home) was sought but was not obtained. This information will be gathered from the family assessment and planning team or participating community agencies. The information to be submitted will include the child's date of birth, date of attempted admission, and the reason the admission could not be obtained. Further, identical information on failure to obtain admissions of children must be reported by the local mental health agencies to the Department. The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services will also collect and compile data to ascertain (i) the total number of inpatient acute care psychiatric beds for children under the age of 14 and between the ages of 14 and 17, and (ii) the total number of residential treatment beds for children under the age of 14 and between the ages of 14 and 17, exclusive of group homes. The Department will report this data on a quarterly basis to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and the Virginia Commission on Youth. HB 887; CH. 585/SB 426; CH. 619.

§ 37.1-194 amended.
Community services boards; services. Clarifies that the services that may be available through a community services board are to be provided to "adults, children and adolescents" rather than to "persons." HB 888; CH. 278/SB 413; CH. 51.

§ 37.1-256.1 amended.
Inspector General for Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. Requires the written reports of the Inspector General concerning facility inspections to be transmitted to the Governor for his review and comment, as deemed necessary, and deletes the requirement that, prior to release of the Inspector General's reports, the Inspector General must obtain assurances from the Attorney General that the reports do not violate confidentiality laws. The Inspector General must, insofar as feasible, provide copies of the semiannual reports to the Governor in advance of the date for their submission to the General Assembly to provide a reasonable opportunity for comments of the Governor to be appended to the reports when submitted to the General Assembly. The Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services must comment on any recommendations made by the Inspector General. HB 8; CH. 82.

§ 37.1-258 amended; § 37.1-48.2 added.
Restructuring of mental health care system. Provides that for any restructuring of the system of mental health services involving existing state mental health facilities, the Commissioner must establish a state and community consensus and planning team. Each team must develop a plan that addresses (i) the types, amounts, and locations of new and expanded community services that would be needed; (ii) the development of a detailed implementation plan designed to build community mental health infrastructure for current and future capacity needs; (iii) the creation of new and enhanced community services; (iv) the transition of state facility patients to community services in the locality of their residence prior to institutionalization or the locality of their choice; (v) the resolution of issues relating to the restructuring implementation process, including employment issues related to state facility employee transition planning and appropriate transitional benefits; and (vi) a six-year projection comparing the cost of the current structure and the proposed structure. In addition, the bill requires the Commissioner to ensure that each plan includes the following components: (a) a plan for community education; (b) a plan for the implementation of required community services, including state-of-the-art practice models and any models required to meet the unique characteristics of the area to be served, which may include models for rural areas; (c) a plan for assuring the availability of adequate staff in the affected communities, including specific strategies for transferring qualified state-facility employees to community services; (d) a plan for assuring the development, funding, and implementation of individualized discharge plans for individuals discharged; and (e) a provision for suspending implementation of the plan if the total general funds appropriated to the Department for state facility and community services decrease in any year of plan implementation by more than 10 percent from the year in which the plan was approved by the General Assembly. Further, the bill states that at least nine months prior to any proposed facility closure or conversion to any use other than the provision of mental health services, the state and community consensus and planning team must submit a plan to the Joint Commission on Health Care and the Governor for review and recommendation. The Joint Commission on Health Care will then make a recommendation to the General Assembly. Upon approval by the General Assembly and the Governor of such recommendation, the Commissioner may implement the proposed facility closure or conversion of the facility to any use other than the provision of mental health service. Any funds saved by the closure or conversion of the facility to any use other than the provision of mental health services, and not allocated to individualized services plans for patients being transferred or discharged as a result of the closure or conversion, will be invested in the Mental Health Trust Fund. Further, concurrent with the development of any required plan for restructuring Eastern State Hospital, the Commissioner, in consultation with the Chancellor of the Community College System, the President of Thomas Nelson Community College, and the President of the College of William and Mary or their designees, and with the advice of the state and community consensus and planning team, must assess the impact and feasibility of using a portion of the property now occupied by Eastern State Hospital located in James City County for the placement of a new campus of Thomas Nelson Community College and the development of a Center for Excellence in Aging and Geriatric Health. The Commissioner is authorized, upon completion of the feasibility study and a plan, and, with the consent of the Governor, to transfer to Thomas Nelson Community College a portion of the Eastern State Hospital property known as the Hancock Geriatric Treatment Center. This transfer will be subject to the following conditions: (1) the college operating a school of allied health professions and (2) funds equal to the assessed value of the property being deposited in the Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services Trust Fund. HB 995; CH. 803.

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