BILL REQ. #:  S-1754.2 

Read first time 02/14/2007.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to detention of persons with a mental disorder or a chemical dependency; amending RCW 70.96B.010 and 70.96B.050; adding a new section to chapter 70.96B RCW; providing an expiration date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 70.96B.010 and 2005 c 504 s 202 are each amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Admission" or "admit" means a decision by a physician that a person should be examined or treated as a patient in a hospital, an evaluation and treatment facility, or other inpatient facility, or a decision by a professional person in charge or his or her designee that a person should be detained as a patient for evaluation and treatment in a secure detoxification facility or other certified chemical dependency provider.
     (2) "Antipsychotic medications" means that class of drugs primarily used to treat serious manifestations of mental illness associated with thought disorders, which includes but is not limited to atypical antipsychotic medications.
     (3) "Approved treatment program" means a discrete program of chemical dependency treatment provided by a treatment program certified by the department as meeting standards adopted under chapter 70.96A RCW.
     (4) "Attending staff" means any person on the staff of a public or private agency having responsibility for the care and treatment of a patient.
     (5) "Chemical dependency" means:
     (a) Alcoholism;
     (b) Drug addiction; or
     (c) Dependence on alcohol and one or more other psychoactive chemicals, as the context requires.
     (6) "Chemical dependency professional" means a person certified as a chemical dependency professional by the department of health under chapter 18.205 RCW.
     (7) "Commitment" means the determination by a court that a person should be detained for a period of either evaluation or treatment, or both, in an inpatient or a less restrictive setting.
     (8) "Conditional release" means a revocable modification of a commitment that may be revoked upon violation of any of its terms.
     (9) "Custody" means involuntary detention under either chapter 71.05 or 70.96A RCW or this chapter, uninterrupted by any period of unconditional release from commitment from a facility providing involuntary care and treatment.
     (10) "Department" means the department of social and health services.
     (11) "Designated chemical dependency specialist" or "specialist" means a person designated by the county alcoholism and other drug addiction program coordinator designated under RCW 70.96A.310 to perform the commitment duties described in RCW 70.96A.140 and this chapter, and qualified to do so by meeting standards adopted by the department.
     (12) "Designated crisis responder" means a person designated by the county or regional support network to perform the duties specified in this chapter.
     (13) "Designated mental health professional" means a mental health professional designated by the county or other authority authorized in rule to perform the duties specified in this chapter.
     (14) "Detention" or "detain" means the lawful confinement of a person under this chapter, or chapter 70.96A or 71.05 RCW.
     (15) "Developmental disabilities professional" means a person who has specialized training and three years of experience in directly treating or working with individuals with developmental disabilities and is a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker, and such other developmental disabilities professionals as may be defined by rules adopted by the secretary.
     (16) "Developmental disability" means that condition defined in RCW 71A.10.020.
     (17) "Discharge" means the termination of facility authority. The commitment may remain in place, be terminated, or be amended by court order.
     (18) "Evaluation and treatment facility" means any facility that can provide directly, or by direct arrangement with other public or private agencies, emergency evaluation and treatment, outpatient care, and timely and appropriate inpatient care to persons suffering from a mental disorder, and that is certified as such by the department. A physically separate and separately operated portion of a state hospital may be designated as an evaluation and treatment facility. A facility that is part of, or operated by, the department or any federal agency does not require certification. No correctional institution or facility, or jail, may be an evaluation and treatment facility within the meaning of this chapter.
     (19) "Facility" means either an evaluation and treatment facility or a secure detoxification facility.
     (20) "Gravely disabled" means a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental disorder, or as a result of the use of alcohol or other psychoactive chemicals:
     (a) Is in danger of serious physical harm resulting from a failure to provide for his or her essential human needs of health or safety; or
     (b) Manifests severe deterioration in routine functioning evidenced by repeated and escalating loss of cognitive or volitional control over his or her actions and is not receiving such care as is essential for his or her health or safety.
     (21) "History of one or more violent acts" refers to the period of time ten years before the filing of a petition under this chapter, or chapter 70.96A or 71.05 RCW, excluding any time spent, but not any violent acts committed, in a mental health facility or a long-term alcoholism or drug treatment facility, or in confinement as a result of a criminal conviction.
     (22) "Imminence" means the state or condition of being likely to occur at any moment or near at hand, rather than distant or remote. A designated crisis responder shall consider the potential likelihood of relapse or decompensation subsequent to an interview and prior to service of an order to appear in determining imminence.
     (23) "Intoxicated person" means a person whose mental or physical functioning is substantially impaired as a result of the use of alcohol or other psychoactive chemicals.
     (((23))) (24) "Judicial commitment" means a commitment by a court under this chapter.
     (((24))) (25) "Licensed physician" means a person licensed to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine and surgery in the state of Washington.
     (((25))) (26) "Likelihood of serious harm" means:
     (a) A substantial risk that:
     (i) Physical harm will be inflicted by a person upon his or her own person, as evidenced by threats or attempts to commit suicide or inflict physical harm on oneself;
     (ii) Physical harm will be inflicted by a person upon another, as evidenced by behavior that has caused such harm or that places another person or persons in reasonable fear of sustaining such harm; or
     (iii) Physical harm will be inflicted by a person upon the property of others, as evidenced by behavior that has caused substantial loss or damage to the property of others; or
     (b) The person has threatened the physical safety of another and has a history of one or more violent acts.
     (((26))) (27) "Mental disorder" means any organic, mental, or emotional impairment that has substantial adverse effects on a person's cognitive or volitional functions.
     (((27))) (28) "Mental health professional" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or social worker, and such other mental health professionals as may be defined by rules adopted by the secretary under the authority of chapter 71.05 RCW.
     (((28))) (29) "Peace officer" means a law enforcement official of a public agency or governmental unit, and includes persons specifically given peace officer powers by any state law, local ordinance, or judicial order of appointment.
     (((29))) (30) "Person in charge" means a physician or chemical dependency counselor as defined in rule by the department, who is empowered by a certified treatment program with authority to make assessment, admission, continuing care, and discharge decisions on behalf of the certified program.
     (((30))) (31) "Private agency" means any person, partnership, corporation, or association that is not a public agency, whether or not financed in whole or in part by public funds, that constitutes an evaluation and treatment facility or private institution, or hospital, or approved treatment program, that is conducted for, or includes a department or ward conducted for, the care and treatment of persons who are mentally ill and/or chemically dependent.
     (((31))) (32) "Professional person" means a mental health professional or chemical dependency professional and shall also mean a physician, registered nurse, and such others as may be defined by rules adopted by the secretary pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
     (((32))) (33) "Psychiatrist" means a person having a license as a physician and surgeon in this state who has in addition completed three years of graduate training in psychiatry in a program approved by the American medical association or the American osteopathic association and is certified or eligible to be certified by the American board of psychiatry and neurology.
     (((33))) (34) "Psychologist" means a person who has been licensed as a psychologist under chapter 18.83 RCW.
     (((34))) (35) "Public agency" means any evaluation and treatment facility or institution, or hospital, or approved treatment program that is conducted for, or includes a department or ward conducted for, the care and treatment of persons who are mentally ill and/or chemically dependent, if the agency is operated directly by federal, state, county, or municipal government, or a combination of such governments.
     (((35))) (36) "Registration records" means all the records of the department, regional support networks, treatment facilities, and other persons providing services to the department, county departments, or facilities which identify persons who are receiving or who at any time have received services for mental illness.
     (((36))) (37) "Release" means legal termination of the commitment under chapter 70.96A or 71.05 RCW or this chapter.
     (((37))) (38) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department or the secretary's designee.
     (((38))) (39) "Secure detoxification facility" means a facility operated by either a public or private agency or by the program of an agency that serves the purpose of providing evaluation and assessment, and acute and/or subacute detoxification services for intoxicated persons and includes security measures sufficient to protect the patients, staff, and community.
     (((39))) (40) "Social worker" means a person with a master's or further advanced degree from an accredited school of social work or a degree deemed equivalent under rules adopted by the secretary.
     (((40))) (41) "Treatment records" means registration records and all other records concerning persons who are receiving or who at any time have received services for mental illness, which are maintained by the department, by regional support networks and their staffs, and by treatment facilities. Treatment records do not include notes or records maintained for personal use by a person providing treatment services for the department, regional support networks, or a treatment facility if the notes or records are not available to others.
     (((41))) (42) "Violent act" means behavior that resulted in homicide, attempted suicide, nonfatal injuries, or substantial damage to property.

Sec. 2   RCW 70.96B.050 and 2005 c 504 s 206 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(((a))) When a designated crisis responder receives information alleging that a person, as a result of a mental disorder, chemical dependency disorder, or both, presents a likelihood of serious harm or is gravely disabled, the designated crisis responder may, after investigation and evaluation of the specific facts alleged and of the reliability and credibility of any person providing information to initiate detention, if satisfied that the allegations are true and that the person will not voluntarily seek appropriate treatment, file a petition for initial detention. Before filing the petition, the designated crisis responder must personally interview the person, unless the person refuses an interview, and determine whether the person will voluntarily receive appropriate evaluation and treatment at either an evaluation and treatment facility, a detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider.
     (((b)(i)(A) Whenever it appears, by petition for initial detention, to the satisfaction of a judge of the superior court that a person presents as a result of a mental disorder, a likelihood of serious harm, or is gravely disabled, and that the person has refused or failed to accept appropriate evaluation and treatment voluntarily, the judge may issue an order requiring the person to appear within twenty-four hours after service of the order at a designated evaluation and treatment facility for not more than a seventy-two hour evaluation and treatment period; or
     (B) Whenever it appears, by petition for initial detention, to the satisfaction of a judge of the superior court, district court, or other court permitted by court rule, that a person presents as a result of a chemical dependency, a likelihood of serious harm, or is gravely disabled, and that the person has refused or failed to accept appropriate evaluation and treatment voluntarily, the judge may issue an order requiring the person to appear within twenty-four hours after service of the order at a secure detoxification facility or other certified chemical dependency provider for not more than a seventy-two hour evaluation and treatment period.
     (ii) The order issued under this subsection (1)(b) shall state the address of the evaluation and treatment facility, secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider to which the person is to report; whether the required seventy-two hour evaluation and treatment services may be delivered on an outpatient or inpatient basis; and that if the person named in the order fails to appear at the evaluation and treatment facility, secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider at or before the date and time stated in the order, the person may be involuntarily taken into custody for evaluation and treatment. The order shall also designate retained counsel or, if counsel is appointed from a list provided by the court, the name, business address, and telephone number of the attorney appointed to represent the person.
     (c))) (2)(a) An order to detain to an evaluation and treatment facility, a detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider for not more than a seventy-two hour evaluation and treatment period may be issued by a judge upon request of a designated crisis responder: (i) Whenever it appears to the satisfaction of a judge of the superior court, district court, or other court permitted by court rule, that there is probable cause to support the petition, and (ii) that the person has refused or failed to accept appropriate evaluation and treatment voluntarily.
     (b) The petition for initial detention, signed under penalty of perjury or sworn telephonic testimony, may be considered by the court in determining whether there are sufficient grounds for issuing the order.
     (c) The order shall designate retained counsel or, if counsel is appointed from a list provided by the court, the name, business address, and telephone number of the attorney appointed to represent the person.
     (3) The designated crisis responder shall then serve or cause to be served on such person, his or her guardian, and conservator, if any, a copy of the order to appear, together with a notice of rights and a petition for initial detention. After service on the person, the designated crisis responder shall file the return of service in court and provide copies of all papers in the court file to the evaluation and treatment facility or secure detoxification facility and the designated attorney. The designated crisis responder shall notify the court and the prosecuting attorney that a probable cause hearing will be held within seventy-two hours of the date and time of outpatient evaluation or admission to the evaluation and treatment facility, secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider. The person ((shall be permitted to remain in his or her home or other place of his or her choosing before the time of evaluation and shall be permitted to)) may be accompanied by one or more of his or her relatives, friends, an attorney, a personal physician, or other professional or religious advisor to the place of evaluation. An attorney accompanying the person to the place of evaluation shall be permitted to be present during the admission evaluation. Any other person accompanying the person may be present during the admission evaluation. The facility may exclude the person if his or her presence would present a safety risk, delay the proceedings, or otherwise interfere with the evaluation.
     (((d) If the person ordered to appear does appear on or before the date and time specified, the evaluation and treatment facility, secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider may admit the person as required by subsection (3) of this section or may provide treatment on an outpatient basis. If the person ordered to appear fails to appear on or before the date and time specified, the evaluation and treatment facility, secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider shall immediately notify))
     (4) The designated crisis responder ((who)) may notify a peace officer to take the person or cause the person to be taken into custody and placed in an evaluation and treatment facility, a secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider. ((Should the designated crisis responder notify a peace officer authorizing the officer to take a person into custody under this subsection, the designated crisis responder shall file with the court a copy of the authorization and a notice of detention.)) At the time the person is taken into custody there shall commence to be served on the person, his or her guardian, and conservator, if any, a copy of the original order together with a notice of detention, a notice of rights, and a petition for initial detention.
     (((2) If a designated crisis responder receives information alleging that a person, as the result of:
     (a) A mental disorder, presents an imminent likelihood of serious harm, or is in imminent danger because of being gravely disabled, after investigation and evaluation of the specific facts alleged and of the reliability and credibility of the person or persons providing the information if any, the designated crisis responder may take the person, or cause by oral or written order the person to be taken into emergency custody in an evaluation and treatment facility for not more than seventy-two hours as described in this chapter; or
     (b) Chemical dependency, presents an imminent likelihood of serious harm, or is in imminent danger because of being gravely disabled, after investigation and evaluation of the specific facts alleged and of the reliability and credibility of the person or persons providing the information if any, the designated crisis responder may take the person, or cause by oral or written order the person to be taken into emergency custody in a secure detoxification facility for not more than seventy-two hours as described in this chapter.
     (3) If the designated crisis responder petitions for detention of a person whose actions constitute a likelihood of serious harm, or who is gravely disabled, the evaluation and treatment facility, the secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider providing seventy-two hour evaluation and treatment must immediately accept on a provisional basis the petition and the person. The evaluation and treatment facility, the secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider shall then evaluate the person's condition and admit, detain, transfer, or discharge such person in accordance with this chapter. The facility shall notify in writing the court and the designated crisis responder of the date and time of the initial detention of each person involuntarily detained so that a probable cause hearing will be held no later than seventy-two hours after detention.
     (4) A peace officer may, without prior notice of the proceedings provided for in subsection (1) of this section, take or cause the person to be taken into custody and immediately delivered to an evaluation and treatment facility, secure detoxification facility, other certified chemical dependency treatment provider only pursuant to subsections (1)(d) and (2) of this section.
     (5) Nothing in this chapter limits the power of a peace officer to take a person into custody and immediately deliver the person to the emergency department of a local hospital or to a detoxification facility.))

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 70.96B RCW to read as follows:
     (1) If a designated crisis responder receives information alleging that a person, as the result of:
     (a) A mental disorder, presents an imminent likelihood of serious harm, or is in imminent danger because of being gravely disabled, after investigation and evaluation of the specific facts alleged and of the reliability and credibility of the person or persons providing the information if any, the designated crisis responder may take the person, or cause by oral or written order the person to be taken into emergency custody in an evaluation and treatment facility for not more than seventy-two hours as described in this chapter; or
     (b) Chemical dependency, presents an imminent likelihood of serious harm, or is in imminent danger because of being gravely disabled, after investigation and evaluation of the specific facts alleged and of the reliability and credibility of the person or persons providing the information if any, the designated crisis responder may take the person, or cause by oral or written order the person to be taken into emergency custody in a secure detoxification facility for not more than seventy-two hours as described in this chapter.
     (2) The evaluation and treatment facility, the secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency provider shall then evaluate the person's condition and admit, detain, transfer, or discharge such person in accordance with this chapter. The facility shall notify in writing the court and the designated crisis responder of the date and time of the initial detention of each person involuntarily detained so that a probable cause hearing will be held no later than seventy-two hours after detention.
     (3) A peace officer may take or cause the person to be taken into custody and immediately delivered to an evaluation and treatment facility, secure detoxification facility, or other certified chemical dependency treatment provider: (a) Pursuant to this section; or (b) when he or she has reasonable cause to believe that such person, as a result of a mental disorder or chemical dependency, presents an imminent likelihood of serious harm, or is in imminent danger because of being gravely disabled. An individual brought to a facility by a peace officer may be held for up to twelve hours: PROVIDED, That the individual is examined by a designated crisis responder within three hours of arrival. Within twelve hours of arrival the designated crisis responder must determine whether the individual meets detention criteria. If the individual is detained, the designated mental health professional shall file a petition for detention or supplemental petition as appropriate and commence service on the designated attorney for the detained person.
     (4) Nothing in this chapter limits the power of a peace officer to take a person into custody and immediately deliver the person to the emergency department of a local hospital or to a detoxification facility.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   Sections 1 through 3 of this act expire July 1, 2008.