2023 New York Laws › MHY - Mental Hygiene › Title B - Mental Health Act › Article 9 - Hospitalization of Persons With a Mental Illness › 9.51 - Residential Treatment Facilities for Children and Youth; Admissions.

§ 9.51 Residential   treatment   facilities   for  children  and  youth;
admissions.
(a) The director of a residential treatment facility for children  and
youth,  as  defined  by  section  1.03 of this chapter, may receive as a
patient a person under the  age  of  twenty-one  in  need  of  care  and
treatment  in  such  a  facility who has been determined appropriate for
such care and treatment in accordance with standards and priorities  for
admission  established  by  the office in regulations in accordance with
federal regulations.
(b) Persons admitted as  in-patients  to  hospitals  operated  by  the
office  of mental health upon the application of the commissioner of the
office of children and family services pursuant to section five  hundred
nine  of  the executive law or 353.4 of the family court act who are not
subject to a restrictive placement pursuant  to  section  353.5  of  the
family  court act, may, if appropriate, and subject to the provisions of
subdivision (d)  of  this  section,  be  transferred  to  a  residential
treatment  facility  for  children  and  youth.  The commissioner of the
office of children and family services shall be  notified  of  any  such
transfer.  When  appropriate,  the director of the residential treatment
facility may arrange the return of  a  patient  so  transferred  to  the
hospital  or  the  transfer  of  a  patient  to  another hospital or, in
accordance with subdivision four of section five  hundred  nine  of  the
executive  law  to the commissioner of the office of children and family
services.
(c) The commissioner shall consult with the executive director of  the
council  on  children  and  families  regarding  the establishment of an
advisory board. The advisory board shall include, as deemed  appropriate
by  the  commissioner  and  the  executive  director  of  the council on
children and families, representatives of the members of the council  on
children  and families as specified in section four hundred eighty-three
of the social services  law,  local  agency  representatives  under  the
jurisdiction of a member agency of the council on children and families,
family  representatives with lived experience with residential treatment
facility  services,  medical  directors   from   residential   treatment
facilities,  and representatives from hospitals with pediatric inpatient
psychiatric beds, that is not operated by the  state  office  of  mental
health.  Members  of  the  advisory board shall be representative of the
racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity of the state. Such board  shall
have  the  right  to visit residential treatment facilities for children
and youth and shall have the right to review clinical records and  shall
be  bound  by  the confidentiality requirements of section 33.13 of this
chapter. The  advisory  board  shall  issue  an  annual  report  on  the
disposition  of  applications  for  admission  to  residential treatment
facilities. Such report shall include, but not be limited to: the number
of children that applied to each  residential  treatment  facility,  the
number  of children admitted to each residential treatment facility, the
number of children transferred from a hospital operated by the office of
mental health and subsequently  transferred  to  another  hospital,  the
average  length  of  stay  for  residents  at each residential treatment
facility, the number of children served at  each  residential  treatment
facility, and the number of involuntary placements and/or transfers from
office  of  mental health operated inpatient facilities which occur each
calendar year. Such annual report shall  be  posted  on  the  office  of
mental  health's  website  and submitted to the governor, the speaker of
the assembly and the temporary president of the senate  by  March  first
for the previous calendar year.
(d)  Applications  for  admission  or  transfer  of an individual to a
residential treatment facility for children and youth must document that

there has been an evaluation of  the  needs  of  the  individual  and  a
determination  of  the  individual's need for treatment in a residential
treatment facility for children and youth  and  the  appropriateness  of
such  treatment.  In  the  case  of  individuals  who  are applicants or
recipients of medical assistance pursuant to  title  eleven  of  article
five  of  the social services law, such determination shall also include
certification of need for residential  treatment  facility  services  in
accordance  with  this  section.  Where  certification  is  required, an
individual will be certified for admission if:
(1)  Available  ambulatory  care  resources  and   other   residential
placements do not meet the treatment needs of the individual;
(2)   Proper  treatment  of  the  individual's  psychiatric  condition
requires  in-patient  care  and  treatment  under  the  direction  of  a
physician; and
(3)  Care  and  treatment  in  a  residential  treatment  facility for
children  and  youth  can  reasonably  be  expected   to   improve   the
individual's  condition  or  prevent further regression so that services
will no longer be needed, provided that a poor prognosis  shall  not  in
itself constitute grounds for a denial of certification if treatment can
be  expected  to  effect  a  change in prognosis. Decisions to recommend
admission or priority admission shall occur  in  consultation  with  the
residential  treatment  facility  and  be  based  on  a determination of
appropriateness including consideration of  facility  staffing,  patient
mix  and  acuity and the impact on the safety of other residents. In the
event the office evaluates a child who is the subject  of  a  proceeding
currently  pending  in  the  family  court,  the office shall report its
decision to the family court. Prior to  admission  and  no  sooner  than
fourteen  days  after admission, the office or its designee may evaluate
the medical necessity and quality of services for each Medicaid  member.
If  the  office  or  its  designee determines that residential treatment
services are no longer appropriate, the determination of the  office  or
its  designee  shall  be reported to the facility and the person, or the
person's legally authorized representative. Such determination shall not
be effective retroactively.
No residential treatment facility for children and youth shall admit a
person who has not been determined appropriate  and  where  appropriate,
certified  for  such  admission.  Residential treatment facilities shall
admit individuals who have been designated as priority admissions by the
office or commissioner's designee.
(e) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law,  no  government
agency  shall  make  payments  pursuant to title nineteen of the federal
social security act or articles five and six of the social services  law
to  a  residential treatment facility for children and youth for service
to a person whose need for care and treatment in such a facility was not
certified pursuant to this section.
(f) No person shall be admitted to a  residential  treatment  facility
for  children  and  youth  who  has  a  mental  illness which presents a
likelihood of serious harm to others; "likelihood of serious harm" shall
mean a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as  manifested
by recent homicidal or other violent behavior by which others are placed
in reasonable fear of serious physical harm.
(g)  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law,  the  office  or
commissioner's designee shall be entitled  to  review  clinical  records
maintained  by  any  person  or entity which pertain to an individual on
whose behalf an application is  made  for  admission  to  a  residential
treatment facility for children and youth. Any clinical records received
by  the  office or commissioner's designee shall be kept confidential in
accordance with the provisions of section 33.13 of this chapter.
Confidentiality of clinical records of treatment  of  a  person  in  a
residential   treatment   facility  for  children  and  youth  shall  be
maintained as required in section 33.13 of this chapter. That portion of
the clinical record maintained by a residential treatment  facility  for
children and youth operated by an authorized agency specifically related
to medical care and treatment shall not be considered part of the record
required  to be maintained by such authorized agency pursuant to section
three hundred seventy-two of the social services law and  shall  not  be
discoverable  in  a proceeding under section three hundred fifty-eight-a
of the social services law or article ten-A  of  the  family  court  act
except upon order of the family court; provided, however, that all other
information  required  by a local social services district or the office
of children and family services for purposes of sections  three  hundred
fifty-eight-a, four hundred nine-e and four hundred nine-f of the social
services  law  and  article  ten-A  of  the  family  court  act shall be
furnished on request, and the confidentiality of such information  shall
be safeguarded as provided in section four hundred sixty-e of the social
services law.