At dLCV, we work 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. At the legislature, we join with mental health consumer advocacy groups to understand how various proposals might work in real life.
Here’s the status of some of the bills impacting the lives of people with mental illness:
Senator Dunnavant had proposed through SB 569, the creation of a mobile application for cell phone users to be able to report confidential “tips” on someone experiencing a mental health crisis. SB 569 would have required the development of a “mental health mobile application” for use with crisis intervention services, among other things. The proposal carried a price tag of more than 5 million dollars for the crisis application portion alone. The Senate did not include any funding for the proposal in their budget amendments, so the bill was “continued” to 2021. Mental health advocates had deep concerns about this proposal, so dLCV will be alert to any activity on this proposal during the coming year.
Death Penalty
Two of the three bills that would have eliminated the possibility of the death penalty in cases of serious mental illness have been concluded unsuccessfully. HB 280 (Hope) and HB 1386 (Leftwich) did not survive crossover. Only Favola’s Senate bill, SB 116, remains. It has been assigned to the House Courts of Justice committee, but is not yet on any meeting agenda.
Psychiatric Bed Registry
HB 1453 (Hope) and SB 739 (Deeds) originally sought to establish additional information that should be collected for the Acute Psychiatric Bed Registry. Both bills were modified to require the Department of Behavioral Health to study the registry. The Registry was created in 2014, in an effort to make private mental health beds more available to those in need of hospitalization. dLCV believes that the registry is not effective, in its current form, to achieve its intended purpose. Both bills have been approved by both houses.
Capacity Determinations
HB 362 (Rasoul) allows physician assistants to make a determination that an individual lacks decision making capacity. Approved by both the House and by the Senate.
Mental Health First Aid
HB 74 (Kory) requires schools to develop Mental Health First Aid or similar training programs. Approved by the House and now assigned to the Senate Committee on Education and Health. It will be heard by the committee on Thursday, February 27th.
SB 619 (Deeds) requires that Mental Health First Aid be included in teacher licensing. Approved by the Senate, by the House Committee on Education, and by the House Committee on Appropriations. As amended, the bill now matches HB 74, above.
No Longer Active
HB 331 (Hope) would have made it clear that a specific diagnosis is not enough, by itself, for a determination of incapacity. Delegate Hope brought the bill on behalf of advocate for the elderly in Northern Virginia. Although the bill was approved by the House, it was defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some Senate Committee members felt that the bill was unnecessary, others felt that a diagnosis alone should be enough to justify a finding of incapacity.
HB 918 (Convirs-Fowler) allows for additional time to execute an emergency custody order if the delay was due to the need to seek medical attention. Left in Health, Welfare and Institutions (dead).
HB 1351 (Watts) expands the categories of medical professionals who can evaluate for a Temporary Detention Order. Continued to 2021 in Health, Welfare and Institutions.
The disAbility Law Center of Virginia is available to educate policymakers about the impact of their decisions on the lives of people with disabilities. If you know of proposed legislation that you think we should know about, please let us know. Contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.