HF 4090

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to mental health; creating a mental health fatality review team;
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 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 review team is to:
new text end

new text begin (1) make recommendations to the state and county agencies for improving the
mental health, criminal justice, health care, and social services systems, including any
modifications in statute, rule, policy, and procedure; and
new text end

new text begin (2) analyze adult mental health-related fatalities, review public policies and
procedures, and try to prevent future fatalities.
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.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Definitions. new text end

new text begin (a) "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 (b) "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 and
includes law enforcement personnel; social service agency attorneys; educators; and social
service, health care, and mental health care providers.
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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 must
attend all meetings.
new text end

new text begin (b) A second group of individuals shall comprise the resource panel, which must
include 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 may be identified as needed by the committee. Panel membership is based on
legal requirements and the need for specific clinical or 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.
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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 must 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 must not, under any circumstances, be disclosed to anyone not a part of the review.
No data used or findings arrived at may be used in a court proceeding. Findings may 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 nonpublic 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) Nonpublic 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 the data for unnecessary
purposes. The data is not subject to subpoena or discovery. The commissioner may
disclose conclusions of the review panel, 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 review
panel. The proceedings and records of the 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
panel or who is a member of the panel 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 panel or
opinions formed by the person as a result of the review 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, 2008, a system for evaluating the effectiveness of this pilot
project and shall focus on identifiable goals and outcomes. The 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 its first meeting by July
1, 2009, and shall issue two annual reports to the legislature under Minnesota Statutes,
section 3.195, during the pilot project, one on or before December 31, 2009, and one
on or before December 31, 2010. The reports must 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, 2010, 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.
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Sec. 2. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
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new text begin $20,000 in fiscal year 2009 is appropriated from the general fund to Hennepin County
to conduct case identification, payment for records that are requested, and administrative
expenses needed to establish and operate the mental health fatality review team pilot.
new text end