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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6398
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2945
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING VA RIOUS REVISIONS TO STATUTES
CONCERNING THE DEPAR TMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH AND
ADDICTION SERVICES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 17a-548 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2021): 3
(a) Any patient shall be permitted to wear his or her own clothes; to 4
keep and use personal possessions including toilet articles; to be present 5
during any search of his or her personal possessions, except a patient 6
hospitalized in the maximum security service of Whiting Forensic 7
Hospital when such search is conducted by police officers and probable 8
cause exists that contraband or hazardous items are hidden in the 9
patient's living area; to have access to individual storage space for such 10
possessions; and in such manner as determined by the facility to spend 11
a reasonable sum of his or her own money for canteen expenses and 12
small purchases. These rights shall be denied only if the superintendent, 13
director or his or her authorized representative determines that it is 14 Raised Bill No. 6398
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medically harmful to the patient to exercise such rights. An explanation 15
of such denial shall be placed in the patient's permanent clinical record. 16
Sec. 2. Section 17a-565 of the general statutes is repealed and the 17
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 18
There shall be an advisory board for Whiting Forensic Hospital, 19
constituted as follows: The Commissioner of Mental Health and 20
Addiction Services, three physicians licensed to practice in this state, 21
two of whom shall be psychiatrists, two attorneys of this state, at least 22
one of whom shall be in active practice and have at least five years' 23
experience in the trial of criminal cases, one licensed psychologist with 24
experience in clinical psychology, one licensed clinical social worker, 25
[and] one person actively engaged in business who shall have at least 26
ten years' experience in business management, and two persons with 27
psychiatric disabilities, at least one of whom shall have received 28
inpatient services in a psychiatric hospital. Annually, on October first, 29
the Governor shall appoint a member or members to replace those 30
whose terms expire for terms of five years each. The board shall elect a 31
chairman and a secretary, who shall keep full and accurate minutes of 32
its meetings and preserve the same. The board shall meet at the call of 33
the chairman at least quarterly. Members of the board shall receive no 34
compensation for their duties as such but shall be reimbursed for their 35
actual expenses incurred in the course of their duties. Said board shall 36
confer with the staff of the hospital and give general consultative and 37
advisory services on problems and matters relating to its work. On any 38
matter relating to the work of the hospital, the board may also confer 39
with the warden or superintendent of the affected Connecticut 40
correctional institution. 41
Sec. 3. Section 17a-450 of the general statutes is repealed and the 42
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 43
(a) There shall be a Department of Mental Health and Addiction 44
Services headed by a Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction 45
Services, appointed by the Governor with the advice of the Board of 46 Raised Bill No. 6398
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Mental Health and Addiction Services established pursuant to section 47
17a-456. 48
(b) For the purposes of chapter 48, the Department of Mental Health 49
and Addiction Services shall be organized to promote comprehensive, 50
client-based services in the areas of mental health treatment and 51
substance abuse treatment and to ensure the programmatic integrity 52
and clinical identity of services in each area. The department shall 53
perform the functions of: Centralized administration, planning and 54
program development; prevention and treatment programs and 55
facilities, both inpatient and outpatient, for persons with psychiatric 56
disabilities or persons with substance use disorders, or both; community 57
mental health centers and community or regional programs and 58
facilities providing services for persons with psychiatric disabilities or 59
persons with substance use disorders, or both; training and education; 60
and research and evaluation of programs and facilities providing 61
services for persons with psychiatric disabilities or persons with 62
substance use disorders, or both. The department shall include, but not 63
be limited to, the following divisions and facilities or their successor 64
facilities: The office of the Commissioner of Mental Health and 65
Addiction Services; Capitol Region Mental Health Center; Connecticut 66
Valley Hospital, including the Addictions Division and the General 67
Psychiatric Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital; the Whiting 68
Forensic Hospital; the Connecticut Mental Health Center; Ribicoff 69
Research Center; the Southwest Connecticut Mental Health System, 70
including the Franklin S. DuBois Center and the Greater Bridgeport 71
Community Mental Health Center; the Southeastern Mental Health 72
Authority; River Valley Services; the Western Connecticut Mental 73
Health Network; and any other state-operated facility for the treatment 74
of persons with psychiatric disabilities or persons with substance use 75
disorders, or both, but shall not include those portions of such facilities 76
transferred to the Department of Children and Families for the purpose 77
of consolidation of children's services. All department divisions and 78
facilities shall provide their patient records to the electronic health 79
record system established pursuant to subdivision (7) of subsection (c) 80 Raised Bill No. 6398
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of this section. Disclosures of patient information from the electronic 81
health record system outside of the department shall be in accordance 82
with applicable federal and state law. 83
(c) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services may: 84
(1) Solicit and accept for use any gift of money or property made by 85
will or otherwise, and any grant of money, services or property from the 86
federal government, the state or any political subdivision thereof or any 87
private source, and do all things necessary to cooperate with the federal 88
government or any of its agencies in making an application for any 89
grant; 90
(2) Keep records and engage in research and the gathering of relevant 91
statistics; 92
(3) Work with public or private agencies, organizations, facilities or 93
individuals to ensure the operation of the programs set forth in 94
accordance with sections 17a-75 to 17a-83, inclusive, 17a-450 to [17a-484] 95
17a-488a, inclusive, 17a-495 to 17a-528, inclusive, 17a-540 to 17a-550, 96
inclusive, 17a-560 to 17a-575, inclusive, 17a-580 to 17a-603, inclusive, 97
and 17a-615 to 17a-618, inclusive; 98
(4) Hold hearings, issue subpoenas, administer oaths, compel 99
testimony and order production of books, papers and records in the 100
performance of its duties; 101
(5) Operate trustee accounts, in accordance with procedures 102
prescribed by the Comptroller, on behalf of inpatient and outpatient 103
department clients; 104
(6) Notwithstanding [any] the provisions of sections 4-101 and 17b-105
239, [to the contrary,] establish medical reimbursement rates for 106
behavioral health services including, but not limited to, inpatient, 107
outpatient and residential services purchased by the department; [and] 108
(7) Establish and utilize an electronic health record system that allows 109
authorized department personnel to have access to patient health 110 Raised Bill No. 6398
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information, including psychiatric records from any of the department's 111
divisions and facilities set forth in subsection (b) of this section for 112
purposes of (A) providing diagnosis and treatment, and (B) improving 113
the department's health care operations, as defined in 42 CFR 164.501; 114
and 115
[(7)] (8) Perform such other acts and functions as may be necessary or 116
convenient to execute the authority expressly granted to it. 117
(d) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is 118
designated as the lead state agency for substance abuse prevention and 119
treatment in this state, and as such is designated as the state methadone 120
authority. As the designated state methadone authority, the department 121
is authorized by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of 122
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within 123
the United States Department of Health and Human Services to exercise 124
responsibility and authority for the treatment of opiate addiction with 125
an opioid medication, and specifically for: (1) Approval of exceptions to 126
federal opioid treatment protocols in accordance with the Center for 127
Substance Abuse Treatment, (2) monitoring all opioid treatment 128
programs in the state, and (3) approval of Center for Substance Abuse 129
Treatment certification of all opioid treatment programs in the state. The 130
Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services may adopt 131
regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the provisions of 132
this subsection. 133
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 17a-548(a)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 17a-565
Sec. 3 from passage 17a-450
Statement of Purpose:
To allow (1) patients in the maximum security building at Whiting
Forensic Hospital to be present during routine searches of personal
belongings and to add two members to the hospital's advisory board, Raised Bill No. 6398
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and (2) the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to use
one electronic health record system that all clinical staff can use for
documentation across all department clinics and hospitals.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]