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1999 SESSION

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HB 2414 Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, etc.

Introduced by: Jay W. DeBoer | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS PASSED: (all summaries)

Persons with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or mental illness. Revises the internal and external human rights systems for such persons. The bill prohibits employees of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation or Substance Abuse Services (Department) or a community services board (CSB), CSB contractor; or a licensed public or private provider from serving as an authorized representative for a consumer being treated in any public or private program or facility; makes program licensure pursuant to Chapter 8 (§ 37.1-179 et seq.) of Title 37.1 contingent upon satisfactory human rights performance as determined by a human rights review performed by the Department; and authorizes the Department Commissioner to sanction public or private programs operated, licensed or funded by the Department for noncompliance with the human rights regulations. Sanctions include a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation per day and, for up to a year, a prohibition on new admissions or a reduction of licensed capacity. The State Board shall promulgate regulations for the Commissioner to use in determining the imposition of administrative sanctions as appropriate and prescribe procedures to provide the public with access to data about the operations and performance of state facilities and licensed or funded public or private community programs reviewed or investigated by state or local human rights committees and advocates or against which complaints have been filed by advocates. Under the provisions of this bill, one-third of the appointments made by the State Board to the state or local human rights committees shall be consumers and family members of consumers, with at least two active consumers on each committee. Remaining appointments shall include lawyers, health care providers and persons with knowledge or training in the mental health, mental retardation or substance abuse fields. Current employees of Department, CSBs, BHAs or local government departments with a policy-advisory CSB or any program licensed by the Department are prohibited from serving as a member of the state human rights committee. Current employees of Department, CSBs, BHAs or local government departments with a policy-advisory CSB or any program licensed by Department that serves an oversight function for the employing program are prohibited from serving as a member of the local human rights committee. The Department for Rights of Virginians with Disabilities is removed from the executive branch and becomes an independent state agency called the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy. The bill creates a governing board for the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy consisting of 11 members who are appointed by the Governor, the General Assembly and the Council on Human Rights for staggered terms. This board shall hire the agency director, who, in turn, shall retain legal counsel. The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy is given the authority to access facilities and programs and protect the confidentiality of records. The Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy will monitor the Office of Human Rights within the Department, the Department of Rehabilitative Services, and any other state or local government departments or agencies, contractors of those departments or agencies, and other entities or persons providing services to persons with disabilities or who may be represented by the Office, and make the reports available to the public. Finally, the bill establishes within the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy an ombudsman program. HB 2414, as introduced, was identical to SB 1224. At the close of the 1999 session, SB 1224 was significantly amended by the Conference Committee and the two bills had inconsistent provisions. The Governor, therefore, vetoed HB 2414 and offered amendments to SB 1224.


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