HB 1599-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
01/04
HOUSE BILL 1599-FN
AN ACT establishing an emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database within the division of state police.
SPONSORS: Rep. D. Petterson, Rock 10; Rep. Millham, Belk 5; Rep. Pilliod, Belk 5; Sen. Barnes, Jr., Dist 17
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill establishes an emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database within the division of state police. The commissioner of the department of safety and the commissioner of the department of health and human services are granted rulemaking authority for the purposes of the bill.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2030
01/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT establishing an emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database within the division of state police.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Purpose and Intent. The purpose of this act is to better protect persons with certain mental illnesses and developmental disabilities by providing law enforcement officers on a restricted basis with immediate access to information that will assist them in recognizing and assisting such individuals in times of crisis in obtaining services.
2 New Paragraph; Department of Safety; Duties of Commissioner. Amend RSA 21-P:4 by inserting after paragraph XIV the following new paragraph:
XV. Have authority to establish a mental health and developmental disabilities database within the state police communications section data system in order to provide law enforcement agencies with information to help them assist persons with certain qualifying illnesses or conditions in obtaining medical, mental health, and social services.
3 New Section; Division of State Police; Emergency Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Database. Amend RSA 106-B by inserting after section 14-b the following new section:
106-B:14-c Emergency Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Database.
I. In this section:
(a) “Dementia” means the progressive deterioration of intellectual functioning or other cognitive skills including, but not limited to, aphasia, apraxia, memory, agnosia and executive functioning that leads to a significant impairment in social or occupational function and that represents a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.
(b) “Qualifying illness” means dementia, a developmental disability, an Axis I diagnosis as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, or a physical or behavioral disorder that causes disorientation or otherwise may impede an individual’s ability to interact effectively with a law enforcement officer.
II. The division, with the approval of the commissioner of safety, shall create and maintain an emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database on its computer system to provide law enforcement agencies with information to help them assist persons with a qualifying mental illness or developmental disability condition in obtaining emergency medical, mental health, or social services.
III. The department of health and human services shall update the database with information from the community mental health and developmental disabilities programs and from the New Hampshire hospital. The database shall not be accessible to any person who is not employed by the department of health and human services for purposes of adding or deleting information or a state, county or local law enforcement agency for law-enforcement purposes. The information contained in the database shall not be a public record for purposes of RSA 91-A or be available by subpoena or for employment, insurance, or any purpose not specified in this paragraph.
IV. Within 10 days of receiving a completed enrollment form as described in this section, a community mental health and disabilities program shall verify that the individual has a qualifying illness, dementia, or other qualifying condition, and that the individual or a person authorized to make medical decisions for the individual through a guardianship, power of attorney, or similar means or the parent of an individual under the age of 18 years, has given express written consent for the entry of the information into the emergency medical mental health and developmental disabilities database.
(a) The express written consent shall be witnessed by at least 2 adults, one of whom shall not be related by blood or marriage to the individual, the owner, operator, or employee of a health care facility in which the person is a patient or resident, or the individual’s primary care physician or mental health service provider or a relative of such physician or provider who witnessed the signing of the instrument by the individual or the other person authorized to make medical decisions for the individual.
(b) The state police shall destroy the enrollment form and remove the individual’s information from the database upon receipt of a completed and witnessed revocation of consent signed by the individual or a person authorized to make medical decisions for the individual, a court order or document demonstrating that the authorized person no longer has the authority to make medical decisions for the individual, the person whose enrollment was provided by a parent has now attained the age of 18 years or is emancipated by marriage, or after 3 years from entry of the information into the database.
(c) Prior to removal of the information from the emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database, the commissioner of health and human services, or designee, shall provide notice of the impending removal to the individual and the authorized person if the submission was by an authorized person.
(d) The department of health and human services shall, in collaboration with the division of state police, develop an enrollment form that allows for the collection of information to be entered into the mental health and developmental disabilities database and that clearly indicates that consent by the individual or a person authorized to make medical decisions for the individual is voluntary, revocable, and not a precondition for receiving medical care or mental health treatment or for discharge from a facility or program.
(e) The department of health and human services, in collaboration with the division of state police, shall develop a revocation of consent form that provides for the revocation of consent to include an individual’s information in the database.
V. The emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database shall contain the following information only:
(a) The individual’s name, nickname if any, date of birth, last known address and physical description including any scars, marks, or other identifying data.
(b) A description of the individual’s illness or condition including related symptoms and medication that may assist law enforcement agencies in carrying out the purposes of this section.
(c) The date when the information was entered into the database and the dates of any subsequent updates.
(d) Contact information for at least 2 persons which shall be either the individual’s primary care physician, case manager in the community mental health and developmental disabilities program, a probation officer, a family member, or another person willing to serve as an emergency contact person for the individual.
VI. The commissioner of the department of safety, in consultation with the commissioner of the department of health and human services shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to:
(a) Form and content of forms required under this section.
(b) Further information deemed appropriate for inclusion in the database.
(c) Procedures for updating the information in the database.
(d) Other matters deemed necessary to properly administer this section.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
10-2030
12/11/09
HB 1599-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing an emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database within the division of state police.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Departments of Safety and Health and Human Services state this bill will increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2011 and each fiscal year thereafter. There is no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue or county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Safety (DOS) states this bill establishes an emergency mental health and developmental disabilities database within the Division of State Police. The Department states the establishment and maintenance of the database established in the bill will increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount. The Department will incur costs for the purchase of a server, forms development and distribution, and training required for the mental health and law enforcement communities. Although this bill does not establish positions or contain an appropriation, the Department also estimates they would need to hire a Secretary (Labor Grade 11), and estimates the fiscal impact on state expenditures as follows –
FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014
Salary $25,584 $26,539 $27,514 $28,645
Benefits 19,707 21,250 22,923 24,769
$45,291 $47,789 $50,437 $53,414
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) states the cost of developing and the enrollment and revocation forms, and the cost of drafting and adopting administrative rules, can be absorbed by existing personnel within DHHS. However, the ongoing process of updating the information requires the hiring of a part-time staff person to coordinate with the ten mental health centers, ten area agencies, NH Hospital and DOS. DHHS further states that approximately 20,000 persons meeting the definition of “qualifying illness” are served by the mental health system and area agencies. DHHS cannot determine how many individuals would sign enrollment forms. Also, the cost would increase to contracted providers in order to compensate them for presenting the forms to the individuals, explaining the purpose, obtaining
LBAO
10-2030
12/11/09
consent, verifying that the illness is qualifying and providing updated information on a continuing basis. Although this bill does not establish positions or contain an appropriation, the Department estimates the cost to hire a part-time Data Control Clerk II (Labor Grade 10) is as follows –
FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014
Salary $6,568 $6,568 $6,568 $6,568
Benefits 502 502 502 502
Telephone 384 384 384 384
Supplies 400 400 400 400
Computer 900 0 0 0
Software 400 0 0 0
$9,154 $7,854 $7,854 $7,854