Provides that members of a mobile crisis team shall include any combination of behavioral health professionals, certified peer specialists, certified recovery peer advocates, credentialed family peer advocates, and credentialed youth peer advocates.
Directs the commissioner of the office of mental health to promulgate rules and regulations prohibiting any suicide prevention or mental health services hotline operated or sponsored by the state from being automated.
Directs the commissioner of the office of mental health and the director of the state office for the aging shall establish a mental home health services program for the aging to facilitate access to mental home health services to respond to identified mental health needs, including those needs that may have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the aging or families that may not have access to mental health professionals in-person; makes related provisions.
Imposes a duty to protect upon mental health practitioners; requires reasonable efforts to modify aspects of treatment in order to reduce or eliminate the risk of harm, initiating procedures for hospitalization, notifying the intended victim or victims, or notifying law enforcement officials when a person directly communicates a threat of serious, imminent harm to self or against a readily identifiable person or persons, and the threat includes both a serious intent to act and the ability to carry out the threat; does not require a mental health practitioner to take any action which, in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment, would endanger such mental health practitioner or increase the danger to a potential victim or victims.
Establishes the child psychiatry access project; provides that the office of mental hygiene shall establish regional child psychiatry access projects across the state to provide primary care providers with timely access to child psychiatry consultations in order to assist such primary care providers in meeting the mental health needs of the children and adolescents and their families; establishes a gift for the child psychiatry access project on state personal income tax forms, the proceeds from which shall be deposited into a child psychiatry access fund for the funding of such projects.
Requires the development of guidelines and procedures by the office of mental health to help avert retraumatization of victims of sexual offenses in a behavioral health outpatient setting.
Establishes a Black youth suicide prevention task force to study the current mental health practices and suicide prevention efforts of Black youth age 5 through 18 years and make recommendations therefor; provides for the number of members, manner of appointment and the topics to be reviewed.
Enacts the "minority mental health act" to establish the division of minority mental health within the office of mental health; provides that such division shall be responsible for assuring that mental health programs and services are culturally and linguistically appropriate to meet the needs of racial and ethnic minorities.
Relates to the discharge of residents of a community residence; provides that nothing shall be deemed construed as creating a relationship of landlord and tenant between an operator of a community residence and a resident; defines community residence.
Relates to establishing residential treatment facilities as an alternative to incarceration designated by the commissioner for the care and treatment of persons with serious mental illness who are accused of at least one felony level crime.
Relates to establishing integrated community mental health clinics to provide services to address mental health issues, anger management issues, substance abuse issues and isolation issues.
Relates to the geriatric demonstration program to promote mental health and home care collaboration; authorizes the commissioner of mental health to identify barriers to participation in the program and make recommendations to address such barriers.
Creates a Down syndrome awareness program to provide up-to-date and evidence-based information on Down syndrome to health care providers who order tests for a pregnant woman or infants to screen for Down syndrome.