New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 7 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPERVISION › Chapter VI - Special Housing Units › Part 315 - Residential Rehabilitation Units › Section 315.2 - Admissions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Upon placement of an incarcerated individual
				into a residential rehabilitation unit, they shall be assessed as follows:
(1) 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 a residential rehabilitation unit at a level
				one or level two facility, the incarcerated individual shall be assessed by a mental
				health clinician.
(2) 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 a residential rehabilitation 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, as defined in Correction Law Section 137(6)(e), that person shall be
				diverted or removed from segregated confinement or a residential rehabilitation unit
				and a recommendation shall be made whether exceptional circumstances exist, as
				described in paragraph (5) of this subdivision.
(i) 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.
(ii) 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, such removal shall occur as soon as practicable,
				but in no event more than seventy-two hours from the completion of the
				administrative process.
(iii) Nothing in
				this section shall permit the placement of an incarcerated person with serious
				mental illness into segregated confinement at any time, even for the purposes of
				assessment.
(4) If an
				incarcerated individual with 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 and reassessed by a mental health
				clinician within fourteen days of the initial assessment and at least once every
				fourteen days thereafter. After each such additional assessment, a recommendation as
				to whether such incarcerated individual should be removed from residential
				rehabilitation unit shall be made and reviewed according to the process set forth in
				paragraph (3) of this subdivision.
(5) A
				recommendation or determination whether to remove an incarcerated individual from a
				residential rehabilitation unit shall take into account the assessing mental health
				clinician's 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 segregated confinement or a residential rehabilitation unit except in the
				following exceptional circumstances:
(i) 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
(ii)
				when the assessing mental health clinician determines that such placement is in the
				incarcerated individual's best interests based on their mental condition and that
				removing such incarcerated individual to a residential mental health treatment unit
				would be detrimental to their mental condition. Any determination not to remove an
				incarcerated individual with serious mental illness from a residential
				rehabilitation unit shall be documented in writing and include the reasons for the
				determination.
(6)
				Incarcerated individuals with serious mental illness who are not diverted or removed
				from a residential rehabilitation unit shall be offered a heightened level of mental
				health care, involving a minimum of three hours daily of out-of-cell therapeutic
				treatment and programming. This heightened level of care shall not be offered only
				in the following circumstances:
(i) The heightened
				level of care shall not apply when an incarcerated individual with serious mental
				illness does not, in the reasonable judgment of a mental health clinician, require
				the heightened level of care. Such determination shall be documented with a written
				statement of the basis of such determination and shall be reviewed by the Central
				New York Psychiatric Center clinical director or their designee. Such a
				determination is subject to change should the incarcerated individual's clinical
				status change. Such determination shall be reviewed and documented by a mental
				health clinician every thirty days, and in consultation with the Central New York
				Psychiatric Center clinical director or their designee not less than every ninety
				days.
(ii) The heightened level of care
				shall not apply in exceptional circumstances when providing such care would create
				an unacceptable risk to the safety and security of incarcerated individuals or
				staff. Such determination shall be documented by security personnel together with
				the basis of such determination and shall be reviewed by the facility
				superintendent, in consultation with a mental health clinician, not less than every
				seven days for as long as the incarcerated individual remains in a residential
				rehabilitation unit. The facility shall attempt to resolve such exceptional
				circumstances so that the heightened level of care may be provided. If such
				exceptional circumstances remain unresolved for thirty days, the matter shall be
				referred to the joint central office review committee for review.
(7) All incarcerated individuals in a
				residential rehabilitation unit in a level one or level two facility who are not
				assessed with a serious mental illness at the initial assessment shall be offered at
				least one interview with a mental health clinician within seven days of their
				initial mental health assessment unless the mental health clinician at the most
				recent interview recommends an earlier interview or assessment. All incarcerated
				individuals in a residential rehabilitation unit in a level three or level four
				facility who are not assessed with a serious mental illness at the initial
				assessment shall be offered at least one interview with a mental health clinician
				within thirty days of their initial mental health assessment, and additional
				interviews at least every ninety days thereafter, unless the mental health clinician
				at the most recent interview recommends an earlier interview or
				assessment.