2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VIII - Mental Health (§§ 4001-6151 — 6184) › Chapter 201A - Mental Health Code of 2000 (§§ 6152 — 6166g) › Subchapter VIII - Mental Health Care System for Minors (§§ 6159 — 6159y) › § 6159e - Initial evaluation of minors institutionalized

(1) Any minor who, voluntarily or involuntarily, begins to receive mental healthcare services at an emergency room shall receive the following services, among others, within twenty-four (24) hours:
(a) Medical record.
(b) A physical examination.
(c) Laboratory tests, when necessary to rule out physiological or organic conditions as part of a differential diagnosis.
(d) A psychiatric evaluation conducted by a psychiatric or in default thereof, by a physician, after consulting a psychiatrist by telephone; in the latter case, the psychiatrist shall have twenty-four (24) hours to enter in the clinical record his/her decision and to fill out the corresponding certification for the court, in cases of involuntary placement.
(e) A psychological evaluation, when clinically indicated.
(f) An initial social evaluation, when clinically indicated.
(g) A psychiatric diagnosis in its five (5) axes as per the DSM-IV-TR, or pursuant to the manual in effect.
(h) An initial treatment plan.
(i) [A] final destination, that is, after the minor has been stabilized, the referral to the corresponding level of care befitting the diagnosis and the severity of the clinical picture that the minor presents at the time; if the minor cannot be stabilized, then hospitalization shall be in order.
(2) Provided, That all minors hospitalized voluntarily or involuntarily in a psychiatric hospital or in psychiatric quarters or wards at general hospitals, or in psychiatric addictive or addictive medicine quarters or wards at general hospitals for minors, shall receive the following services within twenty-four (24) hours:
(1) A medical record;
(2) a physical examination;
(3) laboratory tests;
(4) a psychiatric evaluation conducted by a child and adolescent psychiatrist, as may correspond;
(5) a psychological evaluation conducted by a psychologist, when clinically indicated;
(6) a psychological screening conducted by a psychologist, when clinically indicated;
(7) a substance screening conducted by a professional counselor, when clinically indicated to rule out or assess substance and alcohol abuse and/or dependency, and
(8) a psychiatric diagnosis in its five (5) axes as per the DSM-IV-TR or pursuant to the clinical manual in effect at the time.
(3) The results of the evaluations, analyses, and tests shall be used to establish the individualized treatment plan, and depending on the clinical response, to establish the discharge plan which accords the minor the greatest autonomy. This plan shall be devised in writing within the first twenty-four (24) hours following the minor’s admission into the hospital, and the same shall be reviewed weekly by the interdisciplinary team until the person is discharged from the hospital. If the minor is hospitalized over the weekend or on a legal holiday, the twenty-four (24) hour shall begin to lapse as of the next workday.
History —Oct. 2, 2000, No. 408, § 8.06; Aug. 6, 2008, No. 183, § 41.