New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 7 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION › Chapter VI - Special Housing Units › Part 319 - MENTAL ILLNESS › Section 319.3 - Admissions and Placement

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Except
				as set forth in clause (5) of subparagraph (b) of this subpart, the department,
				in consultation with mental health clinicians, shall divert or remove
				incarcerated individuals with serious mental illness, as defined in Correction
				Law section 137, from segregated confinement or confinement in a residential
				rehabilitation unit or step-down unit, where such confinement could potentially
				be for a period in excess of 30-days, to a residential mental health treatment
				unit. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to prevent the disciplinary
				process from proceeding in accordance with department rules and regulations for
				disciplinary hearings.
(b)
(1) Upon placement of an incarcerated
				individual into segregated confinement, or a residential rehabilitation unit,
				or step-down unit at a level one or level two facility, a suicide prevention
				screening instrument shall be administered by staff from the department or the
				office of mental health who has been trained for that purpose. If such a
				screening instrument reveals that the incarcerated individual is at risk of
				suicide, a mental health clinician shall be consulted, and appropriate safety
				precautions shall be taken. Additionally, within one business day of the
				placement of such an incarcerated individual into segregated confinement at a
				level one or level two facility, the incarcerated individual shall be assessed
				by a mental health clinician.
(2)
				Upon placement of an incarcerated individual into segregated confinement, or a
				residential rehabilitation unit, or step-down unit at a level three or level
				four facility, a suicide prevention screening instrument shall be administered
				by staff from the department or the office of mental health who has been
				trained for that purpose. If such a screening instrument reveals that the
				incarcerated individual is at risk of suicide, a mental health clinician shall
				be consulted, and appropriate safety precautions shall be taken. All
				incarcerated individuals placed in segregated confinement or a residential
				rehabilitation unit, or step-down unit at a level three or level four facility
				shall be assessed by a mental health clinician, within seven days of such
				placement into segregated confinement.
(3) At the initial assessment, if the mental
				health clinician finds that an incarcerated individual suffers from a serious
				mental illness, that person shall be diverted or removed from segregated
				confinement, or a residential rehabilitation unit, or step-down unit and a
				recommendation shall be made whether exceptional circumstances, as described in
				clause (5) of this subparagraph, exist. In a facility with a joint case
				management committee, such recommendation shall be made by such committee. In a
				facility without a joint case management committee, the recommendation shall be
				made jointly by a committee consisting of the facility's highest-ranking mental
				health clinician, the deputy superintendent for security, and the deputy
				superintendent for program services, or their equivalents. Any such
				recommendation shall be reviewed by the joint central office review committee.
				The administrative process described in this clause shall be completed within
				seven days of the initial assessment, and if the result of such process is that
				the incarcerated individual should be removed from segregated confinement, or a
				residential rehabilitation unit, or step-down unit, such removal shall occur as
				soon as practicable, but in no event more than seventy-two hours from the
				completion of the administrative process. Except in exceptional circumstances,
				nothing in this section shall permit the placement of an incarcerated
				individual with serious mental illness into segregated confinement at any time,
				even for the purposes of assessment. For purposes of this clause, exceptional
				circumstances shall mean the occurrence of an act of serious misconduct by the
				incarcerated individual with serious mental illness, and, in the judgment of
				the superintendent, or, if unavailable, the highest ranking security individual
				at the facility when the serious misconduct occurred, that there exists an
				immediate threat to the health and well-being of the incarcerated individual,
				one or more other incarcerated individuals or staff, such that the incarcerated
				individual cannot be safely housed in any other immediately available housing
				unit at the facility. Upon a finding of exceptional circumstances, the
				incarcerated individual may be housed in segregated confinement for a period
				not to exceed 48 hours. As soon as possible during such temporary placement of
				the incarcerated individual in segregated confinement, however, an assessment
				shall be made by a staff member from the office of mental health, as well as by
				a facility health services practitioner, to ascertain the current condition of
				the incarcerated individual in segregated confinement. If either individual
				determines that such temporary placement in segregated confinement poses a
				significant risk of harm to the incarcerated individual, then the
				superintendent, or highest-ranking security official, at the facility, shall
				arrange for the immediate removal of such individual and transfer to a
				different facility where the individual can be safely housed in a setting that
				is not segregated confinement.
(4)
				If an incarcerated individual with a serious mental illness is not diverted or
				removed to a residential mental health treatment unit, such incarcerated
				individual shall be diverted to a residential rehabilitation unit or step-down
				unit and reassessed by a mental health clinician within 14-days of the initial
				assessment and at least once every 14-days thereafter. After each such
				additional assessment, a recommendation as to whether such incarcerated
				individual should be removed from a residential rehabilitation unit or
				step-down unit shall be made and reviewed according to the process set forth in
				clause (3) of this subpart.
(5) A
				recommendation or determination whether to remove an incarcerated individual
				from a residential rehabilitation unit or step-down unit shall take into
				account the assessing mental health clinicians' opinions as to the incarcerated
				individual's mental condition and treatment needs, and shall also take into
				account any safety and security concerns that would be posed by the
				incarcerated individual's removal, even if additional restrictions were placed
				on the incarcerated individual's access to treatment, property, services or
				privileges in a residential mental health treatment unit. A recommendation or
				determination shall direct the incarcerated individual's removal from a
				residential rehabilitation unit or step-down unit except in the following
				exceptional circumstances:
(1) when the
				reviewer finds that removal would pose a substantial risk to the safety of the
				incarcerated individual or other persons, or a substantial threat to the
				security of the facility, even if additional restrictions were placed on the
				incarcerated individual's access to treatment, property, services or privileges
				in a residential mental health treatment unit; or
(2) when the assessing mental health
				clinician determines that such placement is in the incarcerated individual's
				best interests based on his or her mental condition and that removing such
				incarcerated individual to a residential mental health treatment unit would be
				detrimental to his or her mental condition. Any determination not to remove an
				incarcerated individual with serious mental illness from a residential
				rehabilitation unit or step-down unit shall be documented in writing and
				include the reasons for the determination.