Bill Text: TX SB1238 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the admission, examination, and discharge of a person for mental health services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [SB1238 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB1238-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 1238 |
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relating to the admission, examination, and discharge of a person | ||
for mental health services. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 2, Family Code, is amended by | ||
adding Chapter 35A to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 35A. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION FOR INPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH | ||
SERVICES FOR MINOR CHILD | ||
Sec. 35A.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to a | ||
person whose relationship to a child would make the person eligible | ||
to consent to treatment under Section 32.001(a)(1), (2), or (3), | ||
and who has had actual care, custody, and control of the child for | ||
the six months preceding the filing of a petition under this | ||
chapter. | ||
Sec. 35A.002. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION. A person described | ||
by Section 35A.001 may seek a court order for temporary | ||
authorization to consent to voluntary inpatient mental health | ||
services for a child by filing a petition in the district court in | ||
the county in which the person resides. | ||
Sec. 35A.003. PETITION FOR TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION. A | ||
petition for temporary authorization to consent to voluntary | ||
inpatient mental health services for a child must: | ||
(1) be styled "ex parte" and be in the name of the | ||
child; | ||
(2) be verified by the petitioner; | ||
(3) state: | ||
(A) the name, date of birth, and current physical | ||
address of the child; | ||
(B) the name, date of birth, and current physical | ||
address of the petitioner; and | ||
(C) the name and, if known, the current physical | ||
and mailing addresses of the child's parents, conservators, or | ||
guardians; | ||
(4) describe the status and location of any court | ||
proceeding in this or another state with respect to the child; | ||
(5) describe the petitioner's relationship to the | ||
child; | ||
(6) provide the dates during the preceding six months | ||
that the child has resided with the petitioner; | ||
(7) contain a certificate of medical examination for | ||
mental illness prepared by a physician who has examined the child | ||
not earlier than the third day before the date the petition is filed | ||
and be accompanied by a sworn statement containing the physician's | ||
opinion, and the detailed reasons for that opinion, that the child | ||
is a person: | ||
(A) with mental illness or who demonstrates | ||
symptoms of a serious emotional disorder; and | ||
(B) who presents a risk of serious harm to self or | ||
others if not immediately restrained or hospitalized; and | ||
(8) state any reason that the petitioner is unable to | ||
obtain signed, written documentation from a parent, conservator, or | ||
guardian of the child. | ||
Sec. 35A.004. NOTICE; HEARING. (a) On receipt of the | ||
petition, the court shall set a hearing. | ||
(b) A copy of the petition and notice of the hearing shall be | ||
delivered to the parent, conservator, or guardian of the child by | ||
personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, at | ||
the last known address of the parent, conservator, or guardian. | ||
Sec. 35A.005. ORDER FOR TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION. (a) At | ||
the hearing on the petition, the court may hear evidence relating to | ||
the child's need for inpatient mental health services by the | ||
petitioner, any other matter raised in the petition, and any | ||
objection or other testimony of the child's parent, conservator, or | ||
guardian. | ||
(b) The court shall dismiss the petition for temporary | ||
authorization if an objection is made by the child's parent, | ||
conservator, or guardian. | ||
(c) The court shall grant the petition for temporary | ||
authorization only if the court finds: | ||
(1) by a preponderance of the evidence that the child | ||
does not have available a parent, conservator, guardian, or other | ||
legal representative to give consent under Section 572.001, Health | ||
and Safety Code, for voluntary inpatient mental health services; | ||
and | ||
(2) by clear and convincing evidence that the child is | ||
a person: | ||
(A) with mental illness or who demonstrates | ||
symptoms of a serious emotional disorder; and | ||
(B) who presents a risk of serious harm to self or | ||
others if not immediately restrained or hospitalized. | ||
(d) Subject to Subsection (e), the order granting temporary | ||
authorization under this chapter expires on the earliest of: | ||
(1) the date the petitioner requests that the child be | ||
discharged from the inpatient mental health facility; | ||
(2) the date a physician determines that the criteria | ||
listed in Subsection (c)(2) no longer apply to the child; or | ||
(3) subject to Subsection (e), the 10th day after the | ||
date the order for temporary authorization is issued under this | ||
section. | ||
(e) The order granting temporary authorization continues in | ||
effect until the earlier occurrence of an event described by | ||
Subsection (d)(1) or (2) if the petitioner obtains an order for | ||
temporary managing conservatorship before the order expires as | ||
provided by Subsection (d)(3). | ||
(f) A copy of an order granting temporary authorization | ||
must: | ||
(1) be filed under the cause number in any court that | ||
has rendered a conservatorship or guardian order regarding the | ||
child; and | ||
(2) be sent to the last known address of the child's | ||
parent, conservator, or guardian. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 572.001, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by amending Subsections (a), (a-1), and (c-1) and adding | ||
Subsection (a-2) to read as follows: | ||
(a) A person 16 years of age or older may request admission | ||
to an inpatient mental health facility or for outpatient mental | ||
health services by filing a request with the administrator of the | ||
facility where admission or outpatient treatment is requested. | ||
Subject to Subsection (c-1), the [ |
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conservator, or guardian of a person younger than 18 years of age | ||
may request the admission of the person to an inpatient mental | ||
health facility or for outpatient mental health services by filing | ||
a request with the administrator of the facility where admission or | ||
outpatient treatment is requested. | ||
(a-1) A person eligible to consent to treatment for the | ||
person under Section 32.001(a)(1), (2), or (3), Family Code, may | ||
request temporary authorization for the admission of the person to | ||
an inpatient mental health facility by petitioning under Chapter | ||
35A, Family Code, in the district court in the county in which the | ||
person resides for an order for temporary authorization to consent | ||
to voluntary mental health services under this section. The | ||
petitioner for temporary authorization may be represented by the | ||
county attorney or district attorney. | ||
(a-2) Except as provided by Subsection (c-1) [ |
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inpatient mental health facility may admit or provide services to a | ||
person 16 years of age or older and younger than 18 years of age if | ||
the person's parent, managing conservator, or guardian consents to | ||
the admission or services, even if the person does not consent to | ||
the admission or services. | ||
(c-1) A person younger than 18 years of age may not be | ||
involuntarily committed unless provided by this chapter, Chapter | ||
55, Family Code, [ |
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SECTION 3. Section 572.0025, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by amending Subsections (f) and (g) and adding Subsections | ||
(f-1), (f-2), and (f-3) to read as follows: | ||
(f) A prospective voluntary patient may not be formally | ||
accepted for treatment in a facility unless: | ||
(1) the facility has a physician's order admitting the | ||
prospective patient, which order may be issued orally, | ||
electronically, or in writing, signed by the physician, provided | ||
that, in the case of an oral order or an electronically transmitted | ||
unsigned order, a signed original is presented to the mental health | ||
facility within 24 hours of the initial order; the order must be | ||
from: | ||
(A) an admitting physician who has, either in | ||
person or through the use of audiovisual or other | ||
telecommunications technology, conducted a physical and | ||
psychiatric examination within: | ||
(i) 72 hours before [ |
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(ii) 24 hours after admission; or | ||
(B) an admitting physician who has consulted with | ||
a physician who has, either in person or through the use of | ||
audiovisual or other telecommunications technology, conducted an | ||
examination within: | ||
(i) 72 hours before [ |
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(ii) 24 hours after admission; and | ||
(2) the facility administrator or a person designated | ||
by the administrator has agreed to accept the prospective patient | ||
and has signed a statement to that effect. | ||
(f-1) A person who is admitted to a facility before the | ||
performance of the physical and psychiatric examination required by | ||
Subsection (f) must be discharged by the physician immediately if | ||
the physician conducting the physical and psychiatric examination | ||
determines the person does not meet the clinical standards to | ||
receive inpatient mental health services. | ||
(f-2) A facility that discharges a patient under the | ||
circumstances described by Subsection (f-1) may not bill the | ||
patient or the patient's third-party payor for the temporary | ||
admission of the patient to the inpatient mental health facility. | ||
(f-3) Section 572.001(c-2) applies to the admission of a | ||
minor in the managing conservatorship of the Department of Family | ||
and Protective Services to an inpatient mental health facility. | ||
(g) An assessment conducted as required by rules adopted | ||
under this section does not satisfy a statutory or regulatory | ||
requirement for a personal evaluation of a patient or a prospective | ||
patient by a physician [ |
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SECTION 4. Section 573.001(a), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) A peace officer, without a warrant, may take a person | ||
into custody, regardless of the age of the person, if the officer: | ||
(1) has reason to believe and does believe that: | ||
(A) the person is a person with mental illness; | ||
and | ||
(B) because of that mental illness there is a | ||
substantial risk of serious harm to the person or to others unless | ||
the person is immediately restrained; and | ||
(2) believes that there is not sufficient time to | ||
obtain a warrant before taking the person into custody. | ||
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1238 passed the Senate on | ||
April 16, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that | ||
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 23, 2019, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1238 passed the House, with | ||
amendments, on May 21, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 107, | ||
Nays 40, one present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |