BILL REQ. #:  H-4847.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/02/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to offenders with developmental disabilities or traumatic brain injuries; amending RCW 2.28.180 and 74.09.555; and adding a new section to chapter 70.48 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 2.28.180 and 2005 c 504 s 501 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Counties may establish and operate mental health courts.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "mental health court" means a court that has special calendars or dockets designed to achieve a reduction in recidivism and symptoms of mental illness among nonviolent, ((mentally ill)) felony and nonfelony offenders with mental illnesses and recidivism among nonviolent felony and nonfelony offenders who have intellectual or developmental disabilities or who have suffered a traumatic brain injury by increasing their likelihood for successful rehabilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment including drug treatment for persons with co-occurring disorders; mandatory periodic reviews, including drug testing if indicated; and the use of appropriate sanctions and other rehabilitation services.
     (3)(a) Any jurisdiction that seeks a state appropriation to fund a mental health court program must first:
     (i) Exhaust all federal funding that is available to support the operations of its mental health court and associated services; and
     (ii) Match, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, state moneys allocated for mental health court programs with local cash or in-kind resources. Moneys allocated by the state must be used to supplement, not supplant, other federal, state, and local funds for mental health court operations and associated services.
     (b) Any county that establishes a mental health court pursuant to this section shall establish minimum requirements for the participation of offenders in the program. The mental health court may adopt local requirements that are more stringent than the minimum. The minimum requirements are:
     (i) The offender would benefit from psychiatric treatment or treatment related to his or her intellectual or developmental disability or traumatic brain injury;
     (ii) The offender has not previously been convicted of a serious violent offense or sex offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030; and
     (iii) Without regard to whether proof of any of these elements is required to convict, the offender is not currently charged with or convicted of an offense:
     (A) That is a sex offense;
     (B) That is a serious violent offense;
     (C) During which the defendant used a firearm; or
     (D) During which the defendant caused substantial or great bodily harm or death to another person.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 70.48 RCW to read as follows:
     Jails shall adopt rules and policies providing that if jail staff, through screening procedures, have determined that a person in custody has or may have an intellectual or developmental disability or a traumatic brain injury, then upon transfer of the person to a department of corrections facility or other jail facility, every reasonable effort shall be made by the transferring jail staff to communicate to the receiving staff any necessary accommodation for the person as identified by the transferring jail staff.

Sec. 3   RCW 74.09.555 and 2005 c 503 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall adopt rules and policies providing that when persons with a mental disorder, an intellectual or developmental disability, or a traumatic brain injury, who were enrolled in medical assistance immediately prior to confinement, are released from confinement, their medical assistance coverage will be fully reinstated on the day of their release, subject to any expedited review of their continued eligibility for medical assistance coverage that is required under federal or state law.
     (2) The department, in collaboration with the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs, the department of corrections, and the regional support networks, shall establish procedures for coordination between department field offices, institutions for mental disease, and correctional institutions, as defined in RCW 9.94.049, that result in prompt reinstatement of eligibility and speedy eligibility determinations for persons who are likely to be eligible for medical assistance services upon release from confinement. Procedures developed under this subsection must address:
     (a) Mechanisms for receiving medical assistance services applications on behalf of confined persons in anticipation of their release from confinement;
     (b) Expeditious review of applications filed by or on behalf of confined persons and, to the extent practicable, completion of the review before the person is released;
     (c) Mechanisms for providing medical assistance services identity cards to persons eligible for medical assistance services immediately upon their release from confinement; and
     (d) Coordination with the federal social security administration, through interagency agreements or otherwise, to expedite processing of applications for federal supplemental security income or social security disability benefits, including federal acceptance of applications on behalf of confined persons.
     (3) Where medical or psychiatric examinations during a person's confinement indicate that the person is disabled, the correctional institution or institution for mental diseases shall provide the department with that information for purposes of making medical assistance eligibility and enrollment determinations prior to the person's release from confinement. The department shall, to the maximum extent permitted by federal law, use the examination in making its determination whether the person is disabled and eligible for medical assistance.
     (4) For purposes of this section, "confined" or "confinement" means incarcerated in a correctional institution, as defined in RCW 9.94.049, or admitted to an institute for mental disease, as defined in 42 C.F.R. part 435, Sec. 1009 on July 24, 2005.
     (5) For purposes of this section, "likely to be eligible" means that a person:
     (a) Was enrolled in medicaid or supplemental security income or general assistance immediately before he or she was confined and his or her enrollment was terminated during his or her confinement; or
     (b) Was enrolled in medicaid or supplemental security income or general assistance at any time during the five years before his or her confinement, and medical or psychiatric examinations during the person's confinement indicate that the person continues to be disabled and the disability is likely to last at least twelve months following release.
     (6) The economic services administration shall adopt standardized statewide screening and application practices and forms designed to facilitate the application of a confined person who is likely to be eligible for medicaid.