2019 Virginia General Assembly
Legislative Highlights
February 11, 2019
As the last day of the 2019 session draws closer, committees continue to try to complete all their work. We expect most committees will conclude their work this week. We are monitoring bills and are available to educate policy makers about the impact of the various proposals. Here are some bills relating to mental health that we are following:
Here are some mental health bills we are watching:
HB 1933 (Hope) concerns the process for forced mental health treatment of a jail inmate over the objection of the inmate. At our request, the bill now includes a requirement to defer to an advanced directive or substitute decision maker first. The bill was approved by the House and by the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.
HB 1942 (Bell) does a number of things, including requiring the Board of Corrections to develop regulations allowing community services boards to share information with corrections, and to create a process for forensic discharge from jails. This bill is a recommendation of the SJ 47 workgroup (the “Deeds Commission”). The bill was approved by the House and by the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, but then sent to Senate Finance.
HB 2017 (Peace) removes the requirement that an individual must first live in an Assisted Living Facility for a year before qualifying for a permanent supportive housing auxiliary grant. The original bill also increased from 60 to 120 the number of auxiliary grants that can be used in supportive housing. The House reduced the number of slots back to 60. The bill was approved by the House and by the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.
SB 1286 (Barker) also removes the requirement that an individual must first live in an Assisted Living Facility for a year before qualifying for a permanent supportive housing auxiliary grant. The bill also increases from 60 to 120 the number of auxiliary grants that can be used in permanent supportive housing. The Senate version retains the number of slots as 120. The bill was approved by the Senate and now goes to the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions.
SB 1598 (Dunnavant) requires the Board of Corrections to develop minimum standards of mental health care and medical care in jails and local correction facilities. The bill is a recommendation of the Joint Commission on Health Care. It was approved by the Senate and will be heard by the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions.
SB 1644 (Boysko) directs the Department of Behavioral Health to convene a workgroup to improve information sharing regarding jail inmates. The bill was approved by the Senate and is now assigned to the House Committee on Rules, subcommittee #1.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.