New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 22 - JUDICIARY › Subtitle B - Courts › Chapter IV - Supreme Court › Subchapter B - Second Judicial Department › Article 1 - Appellate Division › Subarticle B - Special Rules › Part 694 - Mental Hygiene Legal Service › Section 694.2 - Duties of the director

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28,
						  July 10, 2024
(a) With regard to patients in
						  facilities governed by the Mental Hygiene Law:
(1) The director shall inform each
						  patient of his or her rights to a judicial hearing, to a review pursuant to
						  Mental Hygiene Law, sections 9.35 and 15.35, to an appeal and to be represented
						  by the service or by privately retained counsel.
(2) In every case in which a
						  hearing is requested or ordered or in which an application or petition is made
						  to the court with regard to a patient which may or may not require a hearing,
						  the director shall investigate the patient's case, examine the patient's
						  records, interview the patient and also, in the discretion of the director,
						  interview other persons having information relevant to the patient's case. If
						  the patient has counsel the court may request the director to perform any
						  services on behalf of the patient within the scope of and consistent with the
						  service's statutory duties.
(3) The director shall examine the
						  patient's facility records as often as the director deems necessary.
(4) The court may request the
						  director to render or undertake any assistance or service on behalf of a
						  patient consistent with the service's statutory duties.
(5) When a hearing has not
						  been demanded, if the director determines that the case of a patient should be
						  heard by the court, or be reviewed by a court or court and jury, the director
						  may, in his or her discretion, demand a hearing on behalf of such patient or
						  may request that the case of the patient be reviewed by the court, or court and
						  jury, in accordance with the power granted to the service in the Mental Hygiene
						  Law.
(6)
(i) The director shall
						  ascertain that the notices to be given to patients and other persons required
						  under the Mental Hygiene Law have been duly served and posted and that there
						  has been compliance with the procedures required by the Mental Hygiene Law for
						  the hospitalization, transfer, retention and release of patients.
(ii) The director shall
						  ascertain that all requirements of law as to patients' admissions, treatment
						  and discharge affecting patients' rights have been complied with.
(7) The director
						  shall review the status of every person who has been an informal patient or a
						  voluntary patient for a period of 12 consecutive months and shall ascertain
						  that there has been compliance with the Mental Hygiene Law. If the director
						  finds that the patient is willing and suitable for continued hospitalization in
						  such status he or she shall so certify in the patient's record. If the director
						  finds that the patient is unwilling or unsuitable for continued hospitalization
						  in such status he or she shall take whatever action he or she deems necessary
						  in accordance with the Mental Hygiene Law.