2023 Minnesota Statutes › Chapters 241 - 244 — Corrections › Chapter 244 — Criminal Sentences, Release › Section 244.054 — Discharge Plans; Mentally Ill Offenders.

244.054 DISCHARGE PLANS; MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS.
Subdivision 1.
Offer to develop plan.
The commissioner of human services, in collaboration with the commissioner of corrections, shall offer to develop a discharge plan for community-based services for every offender with serious and persistent mental illness, as defined in section 245.462, subdivision 20, paragraph (c), who is being released from a correctional facility. If an offender is being released pursuant to section 244.05, the offender may choose to have the discharge plan made one of the conditions of the offender's supervised release and shall follow the conditions to the extent that services are available and offered to the offender.
Subd. 2.
Content of plan.
If an offender chooses to have a discharge plan developed, the commissioner of human services shall develop and implement a discharge plan, which must include at least the following:
(1) at least 90 days before the offender is due to be discharged, the commissioner of human services shall designate an agent of the Department of Human Services with mental health training to serve as the primary person responsible for carrying out discharge planning activities;
(2) at least 75 days before the offender is due to be discharged, the offender's designated agent shall:
(i) obtain informed consent and releases of information from the offender that are needed for transition services;
(ii) contact the county human services department in the community where the offender expects to reside following discharge, and inform the department of the offender's impending discharge and the planned date of the offender's return to the community; determine whether the county or a designated contracted provider will provide case management services to the offender; refer the offender to the case management services provider; and confirm that the case management services provider will have opened the offender's case prior to the offender's discharge; and
(iii) refer the offender to appropriate staff in the county human services department in the community where the offender expects to reside following discharge, for enrollment of the offender if eligible in medical assistance, using special procedures established by process and Department of Human Services bulletin;
(3) at least 2-1/2 months before discharge, the offender's designated agent shall secure timely appointments for the offender with a psychiatrist no later than 30 days following discharge, and with other program staff at a community mental health provider that is able to serve former offenders with serious and persistent mental illness;
(4) at least 30 days before discharge, the offender's designated agent shall convene a predischarge assessment and planning meeting of key staff from the programs in which the offender has participated while in the correctional facility, the offender, the supervising agent, and the mental health case management services provider assigned to the offender. At the meeting, attendees shall provide background information and continuing care recommendations for the offender, including information on the offender's risk for relapse; current medications, including dosage and frequency; therapy and behavioral goals; diagnostic and assessment information, including results of a substance use disorder evaluation; confirmation of appointments with a psychiatrist and other program staff in the community; a relapse prevention plan; continuing care needs; needs for housing, employment, and finance support and assistance; and recommendations for successful community integration, including substance use disorder treatment or support if substance use disorder is a risk factor. Immediately following this meeting, the offender's designated agent shall summarize this background information and continuing care recommendations in a written report;
(5) immediately following the predischarge assessment and planning meeting, the provider of mental health case management services who will serve the offender following discharge shall offer to make arrangements and referrals for housing, financial support, benefits assistance, employment counseling, and other services required in sections 245.461 to 245.486;
(6) at least ten days before the offender's first scheduled postdischarge appointment with a mental health provider, the offender's designated agent shall transfer the following records to the offender's case management services provider and psychiatrist: the predischarge assessment and planning report, medical records, and pharmacy records. These records may be transferred only if the offender provides informed consent for their release;
(7) upon discharge, the offender's designated agent shall ensure that the offender leaves the correctional facility with at least a ten-day supply of all necessary medications; and
(8) upon discharge, the prescribing authority at the offender's correctional facility shall telephone in prescriptions for all necessary medications to a pharmacy in the community where the offender plans to reside. The prescriptions must provide at least a 30-day supply of all necessary medications, and must be able to be refilled once for one additional 30-day supply.
History:
1Sp2001 c 9 art 9 s 4; 2002 c 220 art 6 s 9; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 113; 2016 c 158 art 2 s 43; 2022 c 98 art 4 s 51