HF 2754

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; providing for discharge 
  1.3             plans for offenders with serious and persistent mental 
  1.4             illness who are released from county jails or county 
  1.5             regional jails; appropriating money; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 244.054; proposing 
  1.7             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 641. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 244.054, is 
  1.10  amended to read: 
  1.11     244.054 [DISCHARGE PLANS; PHOTO IDENTIFICATION; OFFENDERS 
  1.12  WITH SERIOUS AND PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS.] 
  1.13     Subdivision 1.  [OFFER TO DEVELOP PLAN.] The commissioner 
  1.14  of human services, in collaboration with the commissioner of 
  1.15  corrections, shall offer to develop a discharge plan for 
  1.16  community-based services for every offender with serious and 
  1.17  persistent mental illness, as defined in section 245.462, 
  1.18  subdivision 20, paragraph (c), who (1) is being released from a 
  1.19  correctional facility, or (2) has been incarcerated for more 
  1.20  than three months and is being released from a county jail under 
  1.21  section 641.01 or a county regional jail under section 641.261.  
  1.22  If an offender is being released pursuant to section 244.05, the 
  1.23  commissioner may offer the offender may choose the option to 
  1.24  have the discharge plan made one of the conditions of the 
  1.25  offender's supervised release and shall follow the conditions to 
  1.26  the extent that services are available and offered to the 
  2.1   offender. 
  2.2      Subd. 2.  [CONTENT OF PLAN.] If an offender chooses to have 
  2.3   a discharge plan developed, the commissioner of human services 
  2.4   shall develop and implement a discharge plan, which must include 
  2.5   at least the following: 
  2.6      (1) at least 90 days before the offender is due to be 
  2.7   discharged, the commissioner of human services shall designate 
  2.8   an agent of the Department of Human Services with mental health 
  2.9   training to serve as the primary person responsible for carrying 
  2.10  out discharge planning activities; 
  2.11     (2) at least 75 days before the offender is due to be 
  2.12  discharged, the offender's designated agent shall: 
  2.13     (i) obtain informed consent and releases of information 
  2.14  from the offender that are needed for transition services; 
  2.15     (ii) contact the county human services department in the 
  2.16  community where the offender expects to reside following 
  2.17  discharge, and inform the department of the offender's impending 
  2.18  discharge and the planned date of the offender's return to the 
  2.19  community; determine whether the county or a designated 
  2.20  contracted provider will provide case management services to the 
  2.21  offender; refer the offender to the case management services 
  2.22  provider; and confirm that the case management services provider 
  2.23  will have opened the offender's case prior to the offender's 
  2.24  discharge; and 
  2.25     (iii) refer the offender to appropriate staff in the county 
  2.26  human services department in the community where the offender 
  2.27  expects to reside following discharge, for enrollment of the 
  2.28  offender, if eligible, in medical assistance or general 
  2.29  assistance medical care, using special procedures established by 
  2.30  process and Department of Human Services bulletin; 
  2.31     (3) at least 2-1/2 months 75 days before discharge, the 
  2.32  offender's designated agent shall secure timely appointments for 
  2.33  the offender with a psychiatrist no later than 30 days following 
  2.34  discharge, and with other program staff at a community mental 
  2.35  health provider that is able to serve former offenders with 
  2.36  serious and persistent mental illness; 
  3.1      (4) at least 30 days before discharge, the offender's 
  3.2   designated agent shall convene a predischarge assessment and 
  3.3   planning meeting of key staff from the programs in which the 
  3.4   offender has participated while in the correctional facility, 
  3.5   county jail, or county regional jail, the offender, the 
  3.6   supervising agent, and the mental health case management 
  3.7   services provider assigned to the offender.  At the meeting, 
  3.8   attendees shall provide background information and continuing 
  3.9   care recommendations for the offender, including information on 
  3.10  the offender's risk for relapse; current medications, including 
  3.11  dosage and frequency; therapy and behavioral goals; diagnostic 
  3.12  and assessment information, including results of a chemical 
  3.13  dependency evaluation; confirmation of appointments with a 
  3.14  psychiatrist and other program staff in the community; a relapse 
  3.15  prevention plan; continuing care needs; needs for housing, 
  3.16  employment, and finance support and assistance; and 
  3.17  recommendations for successful community integration, including 
  3.18  chemical dependency treatment or support if chemical dependency 
  3.19  is a risk factor.  Immediately following this meeting, the 
  3.20  offender's designated agent shall summarize this background 
  3.21  information and continuing care recommendations in a written 
  3.22  report; 
  3.23     (5) immediately following the predischarge assessment and 
  3.24  planning meeting, the provider of mental health case management 
  3.25  services who will serve the offender following discharge shall 
  3.26  offer to make arrangements and referrals for housing, financial 
  3.27  support, benefits assistance, employment counseling, and other 
  3.28  services required in sections 245.461 to 245.486; 
  3.29     (6) at least ten days before the offender's first scheduled 
  3.30  postdischarge appointment with a mental health provider, the 
  3.31  offender's designated agent shall transfer the following records 
  3.32  to the offender's case management services provider and 
  3.33  psychiatrist:  the predischarge assessment and planning report, 
  3.34  medical records, and pharmacy records.  These records may be 
  3.35  transferred only if the offender provides informed consent for 
  3.36  their release; 
  4.1      (7) upon discharge, the offender's designated agent shall 
  4.2   ensure that the offender leaves the correctional facility, 
  4.3   county jail, or county regional jail with at least a ten-day 
  4.4   supply of all necessary medications; and 
  4.5      (8) upon discharge, the prescribing authority at the 
  4.6   offender's correctional facility, county jail, or county 
  4.7   regional jail shall telephone in prescriptions for all necessary 
  4.8   medications to a pharmacy in the community where the offender 
  4.9   plans to reside.  The prescriptions must provide at least a 
  4.10  30-day supply of all necessary medications, and must be able to 
  4.11  be refilled once for one additional 30-day supply. 
  4.12     Subd. 3.  [PHOTO IDENTIFICATION.] State correctional 
  4.13  facilities, county jails, and county regional jails shall 
  4.14  arrange for offenders with serious and persistent mental illness 
  4.15  to have photo identification when they are released from 
  4.16  incarceration.  Correctional facilities, county jails, and 
  4.17  county regional jails will ensure that offenders who lack photo 
  4.18  identification are issued a photo identification card before or 
  4.19  immediately upon release.  The photo identification card must 
  4.20  not disclose the offender's incarceration or criminal record.  
  4.21  The photo identification card must list an address other than 
  4.22  the address of a correctional facility, county jail, or county 
  4.23  regional jail. 
  4.24     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective January 1, 2005.
  4.25     Sec. 2.  [641.155] [DISCHARGE PLANS; OFFENDERS WITH SERIOUS 
  4.26  AND PERSISTENT MENTAL ILLNESS.] 
  4.27     Pursuant to section 244.054, the commissioner of human 
  4.28  services, in collaboration with the commissioner of corrections, 
  4.29  shall offer to develop a discharge plan for community-based 
  4.30  services for every offender with serious and persistent mental 
  4.31  illness, as defined in section 245.462, subdivision 20, 
  4.32  paragraph (c), who has been incarcerated for more than three 
  4.33  months and is being released from a county jail or a county 
  4.34  regional jail under this chapter. 
  4.35     [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section is effective January 1, 2005.
  4.36     Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  5.1      $....... is appropriated to the commissioner of human 
  5.2   services for fiscal year 2005 for the purpose of providing 
  5.3   discharge plans under Minnesota Statutes, section 244.054, to 
  5.4   offenders with serious and persistent mental illness who are 
  5.5   released from county jails or county regional jails.  This 
  5.6   appropriation is in addition to any other appropriations to 
  5.7   provide discharge plans under Minnesota Statutes, section 
  5.8   244.054.