Collegiate Times

Today Gov. Kaine signed multiple bills concerning the treatment of people with a mental illness.

 Prompted by the shootings on April 16 at Virginia Tech, the bills discuss criteria for committing someone to a mental health facility, as well as disclosing information that could be considered for committing someone to such a health facility.

"The Virginia Tech tragedy reminded us that we must address the mental health needs of those in our family, among our friends, and in our community," Kaine said in a press release. "Working with members of the General Assembly, we will make significant investments in our mental health system and the bills before me today will establish standards for the system and increase accountability."           

Some of the bills before Kaine today were the Omnibus Mental Health bills, House Bill 499 and Senate Bill 246.

The bills address the following:

• Commitment criteria
• Disclosures of mental health information between parties (in various Code sections relating to juvenile and adult commitment, jail transfers, and the Health Records Privacy statute)
• Definition of "responsible person" who may initiate the involuntary treatment process
• Evidence that can be considered in issuing emergency custody orders (ECO), temporary detention orders (TDO), and commitment orders
• Two-hour ECO extension for good cause
• Feedback from community services boards to the petitioner or physician if a TDO will not be recommended
• Pre-hearing independent examination and CSB preadmission screening
• Required elements of independent exam
• Requirements for examiner and CSB to attend and participate in hearings
• Procedure for transfer of cases between courts, when necessary
• New Mandatory Outpatient Treatment (MOT) requirements and procedures
• And, confidentiality of court records.

Other bills before Kaine today were: 

• Commitment CriteriaHouse Bill 559 (Bell):

  changes the criteria for ECOs, TDOs, juveniles and involuntary commitment.  It includes how that criteria is applied to prisoners and juveniles, so that a person may be taken into custody, temporarily detained, or involuntarily committed if the person is mentally ill and there exists a exists "a substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness, the defendant will, in the near future, cause serious physical harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior causing, attempting, or threatening harm and other relevant information, if any,."

• House Bill 576 (Watts):

  provides that any health care provider or other provider rendering services to a person subject to involuntary commitment proceedings shall disclose to magistrates, juvenile officers, courts, attorneys, independent evaluators and community service board all information necessary and appropriate for them to perform their duties related to the commitment proceedings. The bill also provides that any health care provider shall be immune for any harm resulting from the disclosure of health records unless he intended the harm or acted in bad faith.

• Senate Bill 336 (Cuccinelli):

  provides that a health care provider or designee of a local community services board or behavioral health authority shall not be required to encrypt email containing information or medical records provided to a magistrate unless there is reason to believe that a third party will attempt to intercept the email.S

• House Bill 1005 (Bell):

  requires the board of visitors or other governing board of any public institution of higher education to establish policies and procedures requiring the notification of a parent of a dependent student when the student receives mental health treatment at the institution's student health or counseling center. The notification applies when there exists a substantial likelihood that the student will, in the near future, cause serious physical harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior or any other relevant information or suffer serious harm due to his lack of capacity to protect himself or to provide for his basic human needs.

• House Bill 1058 (Amundson):

  requires the board of visitors or other governing board of any public institution of higher education to establish policies and procedures requiring the release of a student's educational record if the parent requesting the record claims the student as a dependent.

• Senate Bill 538 (Obenshain):

  mandates that by January 1, 2009, each public institution of higher education establish a comprehensive, prompt, and reliable first warning and emergency notification system for students, staff, and faculty.

• Senate Bill 539 (Obenshain): 

  requires that the board of visitors or other governing body of every public institution of higher education establish a threat assessment team. The bill also requires the team to adopt a campus-wide committee charged with education and prevention of violence on campus.

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