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HF 752

as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 01:41am

KEY: stricken = removed, old language.
underscored = added, new language.

Current Version - as introduced

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A bill for an act
relating to human services; establishing the adult mental health fatality review
team; providing criminal penalties for disclosure of certain data; requiring
reports; appropriating money.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin ADULT MENTAL HEALTH FATALITY REVIEW TEAM.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Pilot project authorized; purpose. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of human
services shall work with Hennepin County to establish a mental health fatality review
team and resource panel, as a 30-month pilot project in Hennepin County to review adult
mental health fatalities that have occurred in Hennepin County during or after contact with
law enforcement, courts, or corrections systems.
new text end

new text begin (b) The purpose of the resource panel is to make recommendations to the state and to
county agencies for improving the mental health, criminal justice, health care, and social
service systems, including modifications in statute, rule, policy, and procedure.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commissioner shall work with Hennepin County to establish procedures for
conducting local reviews and may require that all professionals with knowledge of a
mental health fatality case participate in the review. In this section, "professional" means
a person licensed to perform or a person performing a specific service in the systems
that respond to individuals with a mental illness. Professional includes law enforcement
personnel, social service agency attorneys, educators, and social service, health care,
and mental health care providers.
new text end

new text begin (d) The purpose of the review team is to analyze adult mental health-related
fatalities, review public policies and procedures, and try to prevent future fatalities.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Definition of mental health fatality. new text end

new text begin "Mental health fatality" means the
unexpected death of a person with a diagnosed mental illness where mental illness was a
significant contributing factor in the death.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Selection of cases for review. new text end

new text begin Cases for review must be selected by
Hennepin County.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Membership. new text end

new text begin (a) Hennepin County shall convene an appropriate mental
health fatality review team to review the selected cases. The review team members shall
include a core panel with representatives of the following disciplines: psychiatry, medical
examiner, community hospital, county human services, attorney, law enforcement, public
health nursing, chemical health, and mental health advocacy. These members shall
attend all meetings.
new text end

new text begin (b) A second group of individuals comprises the resource panel, which includes
representatives from emergency medicine, developmental disabilities, adult mental health,
suicide prevention, professionals from communities of color or immigrant communities,
corrections, and other fields. Members of this group are invited to attend meetings for
which their program or clinical expertise is needed in specific reviews. Other disciplines
will be identified as needed by the committee.
new text end

new text begin (c) Resource panel membership is based on legal requirements and the need for
specific clinical and program reviewer expertise. Each of the core and resource positions
is appointed by Hennepin County to serve for a period of one year, subject to renewal.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Disclosure of records. new text end

new text begin (a) Notwithstanding the data's classification in the
possession of any agency, data shall be disclosed to the mental health fatality review team
as necessary to carry out the purpose of the team, but data shall retain its data classification
and will under no circumstances be disclosed to anyone not a part of the review. No data
used or findings arrived at shall be used in a court proceeding. Findings must only be used
to recommend institutional reforms to prevent future fatalities.
new text end

new text begin (b) Cases must be selected for review only after they are closed to any further
legal activity, including opportunities for appeal. The commissioner has access to not
public data under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 13, maintained by state agencies, statewide
systems, or political subdivisions that are related to the death or circumstances surrounding
the response of professionals to the person in question with a mental illness.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commissioner shall also have access to records of private hospitals as
necessary to carry out the duties prescribed by this section. Access to data under this
paragraph is limited to police investigative data; autopsy records and coroner or medical
examiner investigative data; hospital, public health, or other medical records of the person
with a mental illness; hospital and other medical records of the person's parent that relate to
prenatal care; and records created by social service agencies that provided services to the
person or family within three years preceding the person's death. A state agency, statewide
system, or political subdivision shall provide the data upon request of the commissioner.
new text end

new text begin (d) Not public data may be shared with members of the mental health fatality review
team in connection with an individual case. Notwithstanding the data's classification
in the possession of any other agency, data acquired by a mental health fatality review
team in the exercise of its duties is protected nonpublic or confidential data as defined in
Minnesota Statutes, section 13.02, and may be disclosed only as necessary to carry out the
purposes of the review panel. It is a misdemeanor to disclose such information. The data
is not subject to subpoena or discovery. The commissioner may disclose conclusions of
the review team, but shall not disclose data that was classified as confidential or private
data on decedents, under Minnesota Statutes, section 13.10, or private, confidential, or
protected nonpublic data in the disseminating agency, except that the commissioner may
disclose local social service agency data as provided in Minnesota Statutes, section
626.556, subdivision 11d, on individual cases involving a fatality or near fatality of a
person served by the local social service agency prior to the date of death.
new text end

new text begin (e) A person attending a mental health fatality review team meeting shall not disclose
what transpired at the meeting, except to carry out the purposes of the mortality review
panel. The proceedings and records of the mortality review panel are protected nonpublic
data, as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 13.02, subdivision 13, and are not subject to
discovery or introduction into evidence in a civil or criminal action against a professional,
the state, or a county agency arising out of the matters the panel is reviewing. Information,
documents, and records otherwise available from other sources are not immune from
discovery or use in a civil or criminal action solely because they were presented during
proceedings of the review panel. A person who presented information before the review
team or who is a member of the team shall not be prevented from testifying about matters
within the person's knowledge. However, in a civil or criminal proceeding, a person shall
not be questioned about the person's presentation of information to the review team or
opinions formed by the person as a result of the review team meetings.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Immunity. new text end

new text begin Members of the mental health fatality review team, when
acting within the scope of their duties, are immune from civil and criminal liability.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Evaluation and report. new text end

new text begin (a) The ombudsman for mental health shall
develop, by December 31, 2010, a system for evaluating the effectiveness of this pilot
project and shall focus on identifiable goals and outcomes. An evaluation must contain
data components as well as input from individuals involved in the review process.
new text end

new text begin (b) The mental health fatality review team shall convene by July 1, 2010, and shall
issue two annual reports to the legislature during the pilot project, one on or before
December 31, 2010, and one on or before December 31, 2011. The reports shall be
developed collaboratively with the ombudsman for mental health and must consist of the
written aggregate recommendations of the review team without reference to specific
cases. The December 31, 2011, report must include recommendations for legislation. The
reports must be made available upon request. Reports must be distributed to the governor,
attorney general, Supreme Court, county board, and the district court.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $20,000 is appropriated for the biennium beginning July 1, 2009, from the general
fund to the commissioner of human services to be transferred to Hennepin County to
conduct case identification, payment for records that are requested, and administrative
expenses needed to establish and operate the adult mental health fatality review team
pilot under section 1.
new text end