11100054D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1444
Offered January 12, 2011
Prefiled November 15, 2010
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 37.2-805, 37.2-806, and
37.2-836 of the Code of Virginia, relating to admission to a training center.
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Patron-- Morgan
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Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 37.2-805, 37.2-806, and 37.2-836 of the Code
of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 37.2-805. Voluntary admission; state
hospitals.
Any state facility hospital
shall admit any person requesting admission who has been (i) screened by the
community services board or behavioral health authority that serves the city or
county where the person resides or, if impractical, where the person is
located, (ii) examined by a physician on the staff of the state facility hospital,
and (iii) deemed by the board or authority and the state facility hospital
physician to be in need of treatment, training, or
habilitation in a state facility hospital.
§ 37.2-806. Judicial certification of eligibility for
admission of persons with mental retardation.
A. Whenever a person
alleged to have mental retardation is not capable of requesting admission to a
training center pursuant to § 37.2-805, a parent or guardian of the person or
another responsible person may initiate a proceeding to certify the person's
eligibility for admission pursuant to this section.
B.A. The parent or guardian of a person alleged to
have mental retardation and be incapable of making decisions
regarding his admission to
a facility for the care, training, or habilitation of persons with mental
retardation or any
other responsible person may
initiate a proceeding to certify that
the person is
eligible for admission to a training center pursuant
to this section. Prior to initiating the proceeding, the
parent, or guardian, or other responsible person
seeking the person's admission shall first obtain (i) a preadmission screening
report from the community services board or behavioral
health authority that serves the city or county where the person who is alleged
to have mental retardation resides or, if impractical,
where the person is located that (a)
states that the person has mental retardation, (b) identifies all
available treatment and placement options for the person including treatment and placement options that are
less restrictive than admission to a training center, (c)
states why each of those options has been determined to be inconsistent with
the best interests of the person, and (d) recommends
admission to a training center from
the community services board or behavioral health authority that serves the
city or county where the person who is alleged to have mental retardation
resides as
the best treatment and placement option for the person; and
(ii) the approval of the training center to which it is proposed that the
person be admitted. The Board shall adopt regulations establishing the
procedure and standards for the issuance of such approval. These regulations
may include provision for the observation and evaluation of the person in a
training center for a period not to exceed 48 hours. No person alleged to have
mental retardation who is the subject of a proceeding under this section shall
be detained on that account pending the hearing except for observation and
evaluation pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.
C.B. Upon the filing of a
petition in any city or county alleging that the person has mental retardation,
is in need of training, treatment, or habilitation, and has been approved for
admission pursuant to subsection B of this section A, a proceeding to certify the
person's eligibility for admission to the training center may be commenced. The
petition shall be filed with any district court or special justice. A copy of
the petition shall be personally served on the person named in the petition,
his attorney, and his guardian or conservator. Prior to any hearing under this
section, the judge or special justice shall appoint an attorney to represent
the person. However, the person shall not be precluded from employing counsel
of his choosing and at his expense.
D.C. The person who is the
subject of the hearing shall be allowed sufficient opportunity to prepare his
defense, obtain independent evaluations and expert opinion at his own expense,
and summons other witnesses. He shall be present at any hearing held under this
section, unless his attorney waives his right to be present and the judge or
special justice is satisfied by a clear showing and after personal observation
that the person's attendance would subject him to substantial risk of physical
or emotional injury or would be so disruptive as to prevent the hearing from
taking place.
E.D. Notwithstanding the above,
the judge or special justice shall summons either a physician or a clinical
psychologist who is licensed in Virginia and is qualified in the assessment of
persons with mental retardation or a person designated by the local community
services board or behavioral health authority who meets the qualifications
established by the Board. The physician, clinical psychologist, or community
services board or behavioral health authority designee may be the one who
assessed the person pursuant to subsection B of this section A. The judge or special
justice also shall summons other witnesses when so requested by the person or
his attorney. The physician, clinical psychologist, or community services board
or behavioral health authority designee shall certify that he has personally
assessed the person and has probable cause to believe that the person (i) does
or does not have mental retardation, (ii) is or is not eligible for a less
restrictive service, and (iii) is or is not in need of training, treatment, or
habilitation in a training center. The judge or special justice may accept
written certification of a finding of a physician, clinical psychologist, or community
services board or behavioral health authority designee, provided such
assessment has been personally made within the preceding 30 days and there is
no objection to the acceptance of the written certification by the person or
his attorney.
F.E. If the judge or special
justice, having observed the person and having obtained the necessary positive
certification and other relevant evidence, specifically finds that (i) the
person is not capable of requesting his own admission to a facility for
the care, training, or habilitation of persons with
mental retardation, (ii) the training center has approved the
proposed admission pursuant to subsection B of this section A, (iii) there is no less
restrictive alternative to training center admission, consistent with the best
interests of the person who is the subject of the proceeding, and (iv) the person
has mental retardation and is in need of training, treatment, or habilitation
in a training center, the judge or special justice shall by written order
certify that the person is eligible for admission to a training center for a period not to exceed 365 days from the date
of the order.
F. Upon expiration of
an order certifying that a person is eligible for admission to a training
center, the person shall be discharged from the training center
unless the person has been recertified
as eligible for admission to a training center for an additional
period not to exceed 365 days by a
separate petition and order issued
pursuant to this section after receipt and
review of the preadmission screening report required by clause (i)
of subsection A, the approval of the training center required by clause (ii)
of subsection A, the necessary positive certification required by
subsection D and any other relevant evidence, and a finding
that the person continues to meet the criteria set forth in subsection E. However, in cases in which all parties to a proceeding for recertification of
eligibility for admission to a training center
agree, the hearing may be waived and the judge or special justice may enter an
order after receiving and
reviewing the preadmission screening report, approval of the training center, necessary positive certification, and
other relevant evidence and finding that the person
continues to meet the criteria for eligibility for admission to a
training center.
G. Certification of eligibility
for admission hereunder shall not be construed as a judicial commitment for
involuntary admission of the person but shall authorize the parent or guardian
or other responsible person to admit the person to a training center and shall
authorize the training center to accept the person.
§ 37.2-836. Employees to accompany persons admitted
voluntarily to hospitals.
When application is made to the director of a facility hospital
for admission pursuant to § 37.2-805, he may send an employee from the facility hospital
to accompany the person to the facility hospital.
If for any reason it is impracticable for an employee to do so, then the
director may appoint some suitable person for the purpose, or may request the
sheriff of the county or city in which the person resides to convey him to the facility hospital.
The sheriff or other person appointed for the purpose shall receive only his
necessary expenses for conveying any person admitted to the facility hospital.
Expenses authorized herein shall be paid by the Department.
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