May 7, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Miller, Kathleen Law, Amos, Meisner, Simpson, Leland, Robert Jones, Vagnozzi, Jackson, Young, Byrnes, Rick Jones, Green, Polidori, Gonzales, Garfield, Wenke, Meadows, Alma Smith and Clack and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.
A bill to amend 1974 PA 258, entitled
"Mental health code,"
by amending sections 755, 780, 784, and 786 (MCL 330.1755,
330.1780, 330.1784, and 330.1786), as added by 1995 PA 290.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 755. (1) Each community mental health services program
and each licensed hospital shall establish an office of recipient
rights subordinate only to the executive director or hospital
director.
(2) Each community mental health services program and each
licensed hospital shall ensure all of the following:
(a) Education and training in recipient rights policies and
procedures are provided to its recipient rights advisory committee
and its recipient rights appeals committee.
(b) The process for funding the office of recipient rights
includes a review of the funding by the recipient rights advisory
committee.
(c) The office of recipient rights will be protected from
pressures that could interfere with the impartial, even-handed, and
thorough performance of its duties.
(d) The office of recipient rights will have unimpeded access
to all of the following:
(i) All programs and services operated by or under contract
with the community mental health services program or licensed
hospital.
(ii) All staff employed by or under contract with the community
mental health services program or licensed hospital.
(iii) All evidence necessary to conduct a thorough investigation
or to fulfill its monitoring function.
(e) Staff of the office of recipient rights receive training
each year in recipient rights protection.
(f) Each contract between the community mental health services
program or licensed hospital and a provider requires both of the
following:
(i) That the provider and his or her employees receive
recipient rights training.
(ii) That recipients will be protected from rights violations
while they are receiving services under the contract.
(3) Each community mental health services program and each
licensed hospital shall endeavor to ensure all of the following:
(a) Complainants, staff of the office of recipient rights, and
any
staff acting on behalf of a recipient will shall be
protected
from harassment or retaliation, including disciplinary action,
resulting
from recipient rights activities and that appropriate
disciplinary
action will shall be taken if there is against any
staff member who has been found on the basis of available evidence
of
to have engaged in harassment or retaliation.
(b) Appropriate remedial action is taken to resolve violations
of rights and notify the complainants of substantiated violations
in a manner that does not violate employee rights.
(c) The executive director or hospital director shall not
participate in recipient rights investigations or determinations.
(4) The executive director or hospital director shall select a
director of the office of recipient rights who has the education,
training, and experience to fulfill the responsibilities of the
office. The executive director shall not select, replace, or
dismiss the director of the office of recipient rights without
first consulting the recipient rights advisory committee. The
director of the office of recipient rights shall have no direct
clinical service responsibility.
(5) Each office of recipient rights established under this
section shall do all of the following:
(a) Provide or coordinate the protection of recipient rights
for all directly operated or contracted services.
(b) Ensure that recipients, parents of minor recipients, and
guardians or other legal representatives have access to summaries
of the rights guaranteed by this chapter and chapter 7a and are
notified of those rights in an understandable manner, both at the
time services are initiated and periodically during the time
services are provided to the recipient.
(c) Ensure that the telephone number and address of the office
of recipient rights and the names of rights officers are
conspicuously posted in all service sites.
(d) Maintain a record system for all reports of apparent or
suspected rights violations received within the community mental
health services program system or the licensed hospital system,
including a mechanism for logging in all complaints and a mechanism
for secure storage of all investigative documents and evidence.
(e) Ensure that each service site is visited with the
frequency necessary for protection of rights but in no case less
than annually.
(f) Ensure that all individuals employed by the community
mental health services program, contract agency, or licensed
hospital receive training related to recipient rights protection
before or within 30 days after being employed.
(g) Review the recipient rights policies and the rights system
of each provider of mental health services under contract with the
community mental health services program or licensed hospital to
ensure that the rights protection system of each provider is in
compliance with this act and is of a uniformly high standard.
(h) Serve as consultant to the executive director or hospital
director and to staff of the community mental health services
program or licensed hospital in matters related to recipient
rights.
(i) Ensure that all reports of apparent or suspected
violations of rights within the community mental health services
program system or licensed hospital system are investigated in
accordance with section 778 and that those reports that do not
warrant investigation are recorded in accordance with subdivision
(d).
(j) Semiannually provide summary complaint data consistent
with the annual report required in subsection (6), together with a
summary of remedial action taken on substantiated complaints by
category, to the department and to the recipient rights advisory
committee of the community mental health services program or
licensed hospital.
(6) The executive director or hospital director shall submit
to the board of the community mental health services program or the
governing board of the licensed hospital and the department an
annual report prepared by the office of recipient rights on the
current status of recipient rights in the community mental health
services program system or licensed hospital system and a review of
the operations of the office of recipient rights. The report shall
be submitted not later than December 30 of each year for the
preceding fiscal year or period specified in contract. The annual
report shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(a) Summary data by category regarding the rights of
recipients receiving services from the community mental health
services program or licensed hospital including complaints
received, the number of reports filed, and the number of reports
investigated by provider.
(b) The number of substantiated rights violations by category
and provider.
(c) The remedial actions taken on substantiated rights
violations by category and provider.
(d) Training received by staff of the office of recipient
rights.
(e) Training provided by the office of recipient rights to
contract providers.
(f) Desired outcomes established for the office of recipient
rights and progress toward these outcomes.
(g) Recommendations to the community mental health services
program board or licensed hospital governing board.
Sec. 780. (1) If it has been determined through investigation
that a right has been violated, the respondent shall take
appropriate remedial action that meets all of the following
requirements:
(a) Accepts recommendations of the office that are not in
conflict with the rights of an employee.
(b) (a)
Corrects or provides a remedy Provides
alternative
correction of or remediation for the rights violations if the
recommendations of the office are in conflict with the rights of an
employee.
(c) (b)
Is implemented in a timely manner.
(d) (c)
Attempts to prevent a recurrence of
the rights
violation.
(2) The action shall be documented and made part of the record
maintained by the office.
Sec. 784. (1) Not later than 45 days after receipt of the
summary report under section 782, the complainant may file a
written appeal with the appeals committee with jurisdiction over
the office of recipient rights that issued the summary report.
(2) An appeal under subsection (1) shall be based on 1 of the
following grounds:
(a) The investigative findings of the office are not
consistent with the facts or with law, rules, policies, or
guidelines.
(b) The action taken or plan of action proposed by the
respondent does not provide an adequate remedy.
(c) An investigation was not initiated or completed on a
timely basis.
(d) Additional or new information pertinent to the case has
arisen, including, but not limited to, allegations from a
complainant, his or her representative, staff of the office, or the
office's recipient rights advisory committee that an executive
director or hospital director, or other nonrecipient rights staff
acting on behalf of the executive director or hospital director,
participated in an investigation or determination of the office.
(3) The office shall advise the complainant that there are
advocacy organizations available to assist the complainant in
preparing the written appeal and shall offer to refer the
complainant to those organizations. In the absence of assistance
from an advocacy organization, the office shall assist the
complainant in meeting the procedural requirements of a written
appeal. The office shall also inform the complainant of the option
of mediation under section 786.
(4) Within 5 business days after receipt of the written
appeal, members of the appeals committee shall review the appeal to
determine whether it meets the criteria set forth in subsection
(2). If the appeal is denied because the criteria in subsection (2)
were not met, the complainant shall be notified in writing. If the
appeal is accepted, written notice shall be provided to the
complainant and a copy of the appeal shall be provided to the
respondent and the responsible mental health agency.
(5) Within 30 days after receipt of a written appeal, the
appeals committee shall meet and review the facts as stated in all
complaint investigation documents and any pertinent additional or
new information and shall do 1 of the following:
(a) Uphold the investigative findings and any recommendations
of the office and, if relevant, the action taken or plan of action
proposed by the respondent.
(b)
Return the investigation to the office and request that it
be
reopened or reinvestigated. Revise
the investigative findings of
the office and make any recommendations considered necessary to
supplement the revised findings. If the recommendations call for
remedial action by a respondent, the provisions of section 780
shall apply to the remedial action.
(c) Uphold the investigative findings of the office but
recommend that the respondent take additional or different action
to remedy the violation.
(d) If the responsible mental health agency is a community
mental
health services program or a licensed hospital, recommend
that
the board of the community mental health services program or
the
governing board of the licensed hospital request an external
investigation by the state office of recipient rights.
(6) The appeals committee shall document its decision in
writing. Within 10 working days after reaching its decision, it
shall provide copies of the decision to the respondent, appellant,
recipient if different than the appellant, the recipient's guardian
if a guardian has been appointed, the responsible mental health
agency, and the office.
Sec. 786. (1) Within 45 days after receiving written notice of
the decision of an appeals committee under section 784(5), the
appellant
may file a written appeal with the department recipient
rights
appeals committee. The appeal shall be
based on the record
established
in the previous appeal, and on the allegation that the
investigative
findings of the local office of recipient rights are
not
consistent with the facts or with law, rules, policies, or
guidelines
same grounds established for
appeals under section
784(2).
(2) Upon receipt of an appeal under subsection (1), the
department shall give written notice of receipt of the appeal to
the appellant, respondent, local office of recipient rights holding
the record of the complaint, and the responsible mental health
agency. The respondent, local office of recipient rights holding
the record of the complaint, and the responsible mental health
agency shall ensure that the department has access to all necessary
documentation and other evidence cited in the complaint.
(3) The department shall review the record based
on the
allegation
described in subsection (1). The department shall not
consider
additional evidence or information that was not available
during
the appeal under section 784, although the department may
return
the matter to the board or the governing body of the
licensed
hospital requesting an additional investigation.
(3) (4)
Within 30 days after receiving the
appeal, the
department
recipient rights appeals
committee shall review the
appeal and do 1 of the following:
(a) Affirm the decision of the local appeals committee.
(b)
Return the matter to the board or the governing body of
the
licensed hospital with instruction for additional investigation
and
consideration. Overturn the
decision of the local appeals
committee and make any recommendations considered necessary to
supplement the reversal of the initial decision. If the
recommendations call for remedial action by a respondent, the
provisions of section 780 shall apply to the remedial action.
(4) (5)
The department state recipient rights appeals
committee shall provide copies of its action to the respondent,
appellant, recipient if different than the appellant, the
recipient's guardian if a guardian has been appointed, the board of
the community mental health services program or the governing body
of the licensed hospital, and the local office of recipient rights
holding the record of the initial appeal.