SENATE, No. 495

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED JANUARY 22, 1996

 

 

By Senator BENNETT

 

 

An Act concerning the operations of State psychiatric hospitals and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. As used in this act:

    "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Human Services.

    "Facility" means a State psychiatric hospital listed in R.S.30:1-7.

 

    2. a. The commissioner shall not implement a decision to temporarily remove all patients residing in a facility, permanently remove all patients residing in a facility and close the facility, or reduce the number of patients residing in a facility below two thirds of the capacity of the facility, unless the commissioner has complied with the procedures set forth in this act.

    b. If the commissioner seeks to close or reduce the number of patients residing in a facility, he shall conduct at least three public hearings in the northern, central and southern regions of the State to provide an opportunity for the public to submit testimony on the proposed closing or reduction. At least 30 days shall be required to elapse between the date of each hearing. A notice of the public hearings shall be published in at least two newspapers generally circulated in the region in which each hearing is to be held. The notice shall be published at least twice on two different days no later than one week, but no sooner than three weeks, before the date of each hearing. The commissioner shall select a publicly convenient location for the hearing and shall give all persons the opportunity to testify in person or to submit written testimony. The commissioner shall compile a report of the testimony received at the hearings for submission to the Governor and the Legislature.

    c. The commissioner shall have an independent public or private agency or organization prepare a report on the impact of the proposed closing or reduction of a facility. This report shall be prepared after the public hearings required in subsection b. of this section have been completed. The report shall include an evaluation of the reasons for the closing or reduction, its impact on the patients, its effect on the persons employed at the facility, and its impact on the community in which the facility is located and the communities in which the patients will be placed. The report shall also include a section of evaluation and comment on the testimony received during the public hearings.

    d. In addition, the commissioner shall have an independent public or private agency or organization prepare a report on the impact of patients who were previously discharged from facilities during the two-year period preceding a decision by the commissioner to close or reduce a facility. This report shall also be prepared after the public hearings required in subsection b. of this section have been completed. The agency or organization shall solicit information, by municipality, from community mental health agencies, case managers and other community mental health personnel regarding the number of former patients of a facility discharged to the municipality; the ability of mental health, medical, residential and support services to provide access to needed services for those patients within 30 days of their discharge from a facility; the number of former patients receiving inadequate services; the rate of readmission to a facility among these persons; and the incidence of correctional detention or incarceration among these persons. The report shall also include data from community mental health agencies concerning their ability to provide needed services to patients discharged from a facility, including the number of patients served by the agency, the types of services provided, and the municipalities to which these services are provided. In addition, the agency or organization preparing the report shall receive from communities that have been impacted by the presence of patients discharged from a facility, information about the nature and extent of that impact.

    e. The commissioner shall submit the reports prepared pursuant to subsections b., c. and d. of this section to the Governor and to each member of the Legislature for review.

    f. The closing or reduction of a facility may commence on the first day of the third full month after the Governor and the Legislature receive the three reports.

 

    3. Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this act, a decision by the commissioner to close a facility shall take effect upon the enactment into law of legislation which amends R.S.30:1-7 to delete that facility from the list of facilities contained therein.

 

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    The purpose of this bill is to require the Commissioner of Human Services to provide public notice and obtain public input through a minimum of three public hearings Statewide before implementing a decision to close or significantly reduce the number of patients residing in a State psychiatric hospital. The commissioner is also required to have an independent public or private agency or organization prepare a report evaluating the impact of patients who were previously discharged from facilities during the two-year period preceding a decision by the commissioner to close or reduce a facility.

    The bill requires the independent public or private agency or organization that prepares the report evaluating the closing or reduction to solicit information, by municipality, from community mental health agencies, case managers and other community mental health personnel regarding: the number of former patients of a facility discharged to the municipality; the ability of mental health, medical, residential and support services to provide access to needed services for those patients within 30 days of their discharge from a facility; the number of former patients receiving inadequate services; the rate of readmission to a facility among these persons; and the incidence of correctional detention or incarceration among these persons. The report shall also include data from community mental health agencies concerning their ability to provide needed services to patients discharged from a facility, including the number of patients served by the agency, the types of services provided, and the municipalities to which these services are provided. The agency or organization preparing the report shall receive from communities that have been impacted by the presence of patients discharged from a facility, information about the nature and extent of that impact.

    The bill also provides that the commissioner may not close a facility without an amendment to R.S.30:1-7, the statute which lists these specific institutions, which deletes the facility from that list.

 

 

 

Requires public hearings and study prior to closing of State psychiatric hospital.