Substitute House Bill No. 6398
Public Act No. 21-75
AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO STATUTES
CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT 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
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
1, 2021):
(a) Any patient shall be permitted to wear his or her own clothes; to
keep and use personal possessions including toilet articles; to be present
during any search of his or her personal possessions, except a patient
hospitalized in the maximum security service of Whiting Forensic
Hospital when such search is conducted by police officers and probable
cause exists that contraband or hazardous items are hidden in the
patient's living area; to have access to individual storage space for such
possessions; and in such manner as determined by the facility to spend
a reasonable sum of his or her own money for canteen expenses and
small purchases. These rights shall be denied only if the superintendent,
director or his or her authorized representative determines that it is
medically harmful to the patient to exercise such rights. An explanation
of such denial shall be placed in the patient's permanent clinical record. Substitute House Bill No. 6398
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Sec. 2. Section 17a-565 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021):
There shall be an advisory board for Whiting Forensic Hospital,
constituted as follows: The Commissioner of Mental Health and
Addiction Services, three physicians licensed to practice in this state,
two of whom shall be psychiatrists, two attorneys of this state, at least
one of whom shall be in active practice and have at least five years'
experience in the trial of criminal cases, one licensed psychologist with
experience in clinical psychology, one licensed clinical social worker,
[and] one person actively engaged in business who shall have at least
ten years' experience in business management, and two persons with
psychiatric disabilities, at least one of whom shall have received
inpatient services in a psychiatric hospital. Annually, on October first,
the Governor shall appoint a member or members to replace those
whose terms expire for terms of five years each. The board shall elect a
chairman and a secretary, who shall keep full and accurate minutes of
its meetings and preserve the same. The board shall meet at the call of
the chairman at least quarterly. Members of the board shall receive no
compensation for their duties as such but shall be reimbursed for their
actual expenses incurred in the course of their duties. Said board shall
confer with the staff of the hospital and give general consultative and
advisory services on problems and matters relating to its work. On any
matter relating to the work of the hospital, the board may also confer
with the warden or superintendent of the affected Connecticut
correctional institution.
Sec. 3. Section 17a-450 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) There shall be a Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services headed by a Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction
Services, appointed by the Governor with the advice of the Board of
Mental Health and Addiction Services established pursuant to section Substitute House Bill No. 6398
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17a-456.
(b) For the purposes of chapter 48, the Department of Mental Health
and Addiction Services shall be organized to promote comprehensive,
client-based services in the areas of mental health treatment and
substance abuse treatment and to ensure the programmatic integrity
and clinical identity of services in each area. The department shall
perform the functions of: Centralized administration, planning and
program development; prevention and treatment programs and
facilities, both inpatient and outpatient, for persons with psychiatric
disabilities or persons with substance use disorders, or both; community
mental health centers and community or regional programs and
facilities providing services for persons with psychiatric disabilities or
persons with substance use disorders, or both; training and education;
and research and evaluation of programs and facilities providing
services for persons with psychiatric disabilities or persons with
substance use disorders, or both. The department shall include, but not
be limited to, the following divisions and facilities or their successor
facilities: The office of the Commissioner of Mental Health and
Addiction Services; Capitol Region Mental Health Center; Connecticut
Valley Hospital, including the Addictions Division and the General
Psychiatric Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital; the Whiting
Forensic Hospital; the Connecticut Mental Health Center; Ribicoff
Research Center; the Southwest Connecticut Mental Health System,
including the Franklin S. DuBois Center and the Greater Bridgeport
Community Mental Health Center; the Southeastern Mental Health
Authority; River Valley Services; the Western Connecticut Mental
Health Network; and any other state-operated facility for the treatment
of persons with psychiatric disabilities or persons with substance use
disorders, or both, but shall not include those portions of such facilities
transferred to the Department of Children and Families for the purpose
of consolidation of children's services. All department divisions and
facilities shall provide their patient records to the electronic health Substitute House Bill No. 6398
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record system established pursuant to subdivision (7) of subsection (c)
of this section. Disclosures of patient information from the electronic
health record system outside of the department shall be in accordance
with applicable federal and state law.
(c) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services may:
(1) Solicit and accept for use any gift of money or property made by
will or otherwise, and any grant of money, services or property from the
federal government, the state or any political subdivision thereof or any
private source, and do all things necessary to cooperate with the federal
government or any of its agencies in making an application for any
grant;
(2) Keep records and engage in research and the gathering of relevant
statistics;
(3) Work with public or private agencies, organizations, facilities or
individuals to ensure the operation of the programs set forth in
accordance with sections 17a-75 to 17a-83, inclusive, 17a-450 to [17a-484]
17a-488a, inclusive, as amended by this act, 17a-495 to 17a-528,
inclusive, 17a-540 to 17a-550, inclusive, 17a-560 to 17a-575, inclusive,
17a-580 to 17a-603, inclusive, and 17a-615 to 17a-618, inclusive;
(4) Hold hearings, issue subpoenas, administer oaths, compel
testimony and order production of books, papers and records in the
performance of its duties;
(5) Operate trustee accounts, in accordance with procedures
prescribed by the Comptroller, on behalf of inpatient and outpatient
department clients;
(6) Notwithstanding [any] the provisions of sections 4-101 and 17b-
239, [to the contrary,] establish medical reimbursement rates for
behavioral health services including, but not limited to, inpatient, Substitute House Bill No. 6398
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outpatient and residential services purchased by the department; [and]
(7) Establish and utilize an electronic health record system that allows
authorized department personnel to have access to patient health
information, including psychiatric records from any of the department's
divisions and facilities set forth in subsection (b) of this section for
purposes of (A) providing diagnosis and treatment, and (B) improving
the department's health care operations, as defined in 45 CFR 164.501;
and
[(7)] (8) Perform such other acts and functions as may be necessary or
convenient to execute the authority expressly granted to it.
(d) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is
designated as the lead state agency for substance abuse prevention and
treatment in this state, and as such is designated as the state methadone
authority. As the designated state methadone authority, the department
is authorized by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within
the United States Department of Health and Human Services to exercise
responsibility and authority for the treatment of opiate addiction with
an opioid medication, and specifically for: (1) Approval of exceptions to
federal opioid treatment protocols in accordance with the Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment, (2) monitoring all opioid treatment
programs in the state, and (3) approval of Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment certification of all opioid treatment programs in the state. The
Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services may adopt
regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the provisions of
this subsection.