2006 Minnesota Statutes

244.054 DISCHARGE PLANS; OFFENDERS WITH SERIOUS AND PERSISTENT
MENTAL ILLNESS.
    Subdivision 1. Offer to develop plan. The commissioner of human services, in collaboration
with the commissioner of corrections, shall offer to develop a discharge plan for community-based
services for every offender with serious and persistent mental illness, as defined in section
245.462, subdivision 20, paragraph (c), who is being released from a correctional facility. If
an offender is being released pursuant to section 244.05, the offender may choose to have the
discharge plan made one of the conditions of the offender's supervised release and shall follow the
conditions to the extent that services are available and offered to the offender.
    Subd. 2. Content of plan. If an offender chooses to have a discharge plan developed, the
commissioner of human services shall develop and implement a discharge plan, which must
include at least the following:
(1) at least 90 days before the offender is due to be discharged, the commissioner of human
services shall designate an agent of the Department of Human Services with mental health
training to serve as the primary person responsible for carrying out discharge planning activities;
(2) at least 75 days before the offender is due to be discharged, the offender's designated
agent shall:
(i) obtain informed consent and releases of information from the offender that are needed
for transition services;
(ii) contact the county human services department in the community where the offender
expects to reside following discharge, and inform the department of the offender's impending
discharge and the planned date of the offender's return to the community; determine whether
the county or a designated contracted provider will provide case management services to the
offender; refer the offender to the case management services provider; and confirm that the
case management services provider will have opened the offender's case prior to the offender's
discharge; and
(iii) refer the offender to appropriate staff in the county human services department in
the community where the offender expects to reside following discharge, for enrollment of
the offender if eligible in medical assistance or general assistance medical care, using special
procedures established by process and Department of Human Services bulletin;
(3) at least 2-1/2 months before discharge, the offender's designated agent shall secure timely
appointments for the offender with a psychiatrist no later than 30 days following discharge, and
with other program staff at a community mental health provider that is able to serve former
offenders with serious and persistent mental illness;
(4) at least 30 days before discharge, the offender's designated agent shall convene a
predischarge assessment and planning meeting of key staff from the programs in which the
offender has participated while in the correctional facility, the offender, the supervising agent,
and the mental health case management services provider assigned to the offender. At the
meeting, attendees shall provide background information and continuing care recommendations
for the offender, including information on the offender's risk for relapse; current medications,
including dosage and frequency; therapy and behavioral goals; diagnostic and assessment
information, including results of a chemical dependency evaluation; confirmation of appointments
with a psychiatrist and other program staff in the community; a relapse prevention plan;
continuing care needs; needs for housing, employment, and finance support and assistance;
and recommendations for successful community integration, including chemical dependency
treatment or support if chemical dependency is a risk factor. Immediately following this meeting,
the offender's designated agent shall summarize this background information and continuing care
recommendations in a written report;
(5) immediately following the predischarge assessment and planning meeting, the provider
of mental health case management services who will serve the offender following discharge shall
offer to make arrangements and referrals for housing, financial support, benefits assistance,
employment counseling, and other services required in sections 245.461 to 245.486;
(6) at least ten days before the offender's first scheduled postdischarge appointment with
a mental health provider, the offender's designated agent shall transfer the following records to
the offender's case management services provider and psychiatrist: the predischarge assessment
and planning report, medical records, and pharmacy records. These records may be transferred
only if the offender provides informed consent for their release;
(7) upon discharge, the offender's designated agent shall ensure that the offender leaves the
correctional facility with at least a ten-day supply of all necessary medications; and
(8) upon discharge, the prescribing authority at the offender's correctional facility shall
telephone in prescriptions for all necessary medications to a pharmacy in the community where
the offender plans to reside. The prescriptions must provide at least a 30-day supply of all
necessary medications, and must be able to be refilled once for one additional 30-day supply.
History: 1Sp2001 c 9 art 9 s 4; 2002 c 220 art 6 s 9; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 113