By: Eltife S.B. No. 1889
(In the Senate - Filed April 12, 2013; April 15, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services;
April 23, 2013, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7,
Nays 0; April 23, 2013, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the transport of a mental health patient who is not a
resident of this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivision (12), Section 571.003, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(12) "Mental health facility" means:
(A) an inpatient or outpatient mental health
facility operated by the department, a federal agency, a political
subdivision, or any person;
(B) a community center or a facility operated by
a community center; [or]
(C) that identifiable part of a general hospital
in which diagnosis, treatment, and care for persons with mental
illness is provided; or
(D) with respect to a reciprocal agreement
entered into under Section 571.0081, any hospital or facility
designated as a place of commitment by the department, a local
mental health authority, and the contracting state or local
authority.
SECTION 2. Subsections (a), (c), and (e), Section 571.008,
Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department may return a nonresident patient
committed to a department mental health facility or other mental
health facility under Section 571.0081 to the proper agency of the
patient's state of residence.
(c) Subject to Section 571.0081, the [The] department may
enter into reciprocal agreements with the state or local
authorities, as defined by Section 571.0081, [proper agencies] of
other states to facilitate the return of persons committed to
mental health facilities in this state or another state to the
states of their residence.
(e) The state returning a committed patient to another state
shall bear the expenses of returning the patient, unless the state
agrees to share costs under a reciprocal agreement under Section
571.0081.
SECTION 3. Chapter 571, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 571.0081 to read as follows:
Sec. 571.0081. RETURN OF COMMITTED PATIENT TO STATE OF
RESIDENCE; RECIPROCAL AGREEMENTS. (a) In this section, "state or
local authority" means a state or local government authority or
agency or a representative of a state or local government authority
or agency acting in an official capacity.
(b) If a state or local authority of another state petitions
the department, the department shall enter into a reciprocal
agreement with the state or local authority to facilitate the
return of persons committed to mental health facilities in this
state to the state of their residence unless the department
determines that the terms of the agreement are not acceptable.
(c) A reciprocal agreement entered into by the department
under Subsection (b) must require the department to develop a
process for returning persons committed to mental health facilities
to their state of residence. The process must:
(1) provide suitable care for the person committed to
a mental health facility;
(2) use available resources efficiently; and
(3) consider commitment to a proximate mental health
facility to facilitate the return of the committed patient to the
patient's state of residence.
(d) For the purpose of this section, the department shall
coordinate, as appropriate, with a mental health facility, a mental
hospital, health service providers, courts, and law enforcement
personnel located in the geographic area nearest the petitioning
state.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Chapter
571, Health and Safety Code, applies only to a reciprocal agreement
between the state and another entity entered into on or after the
effective date of this Act. A reciprocal agreement entered into
between the state and another entity before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the reciprocal
agreement was entered into, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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