Montana Code 53-21-107. Abuse and neglect of persons admitted to mental health facility prohibited — reporting — investigations
53-21-107. Abuse and neglect of persons admitted to mental health facility prohibited — reporting — investigations. (1) Any form of abuse or neglect of a person admitted to a mental health facility is prohibited.
Terms Used In Montana Code 53-21-107
- Abuse: means any willful, negligent, or reckless mental, physical, sexual, or verbal mistreatment or maltreatment or misappropriation of personal property of any person receiving treatment in a mental health facility that insults the psychosocial, physical, or sexual integrity of any person receiving treatment in a mental health facility. See Montana Code 53-21-102
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Department: means the department of public health and human services provided for in 2-15-2201. See Montana Code 53-21-102
- facility: means the state hospital, the Montana mental health nursing care center, or a hospital, a behavioral health inpatient facility, a mental health center, a residential treatment facility, or a residential treatment center licensed or certified by the department that provides treatment to children or adults with a mental disorder. See Montana Code 53-21-102
- Neglect: means failure to provide for the biological and psychosocial needs of any person receiving treatment in a mental health facility, failure to report abuse, or failure to exercise supervisory responsibilities to protect patients from abuse and neglect. See Montana Code 53-21-102
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
- Professional person: means :
(a)a medical doctor;
(b)an advanced practice registered nurse, as provided for in 37-8-202, with a clinical specialty in psychiatric mental health nursing;
(c)a licensed psychologist;
(d)a physician assistant licensed under Title 37, chapter 20, with a clinical specialty in psychiatric mental health; or
(e)a person who has been certified, as provided for in 53-21-106, by the department. See Montana Code 53-21-102
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- State hospital: means the Montana state hospital. See Montana Code 53-21-102
- Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203
(2)Each mental health facility shall publish policies and procedures that define the facility’s guidelines for detecting, reporting, investigating, determining the validity, and resolving allegations of abuse or neglect.
(3)Each allegation of abuse or neglect must be reported as follows:
(a)Any employee of the mental health facility with knowledge of the allegation shall immediately report the allegation to the professional person in charge of the facility.
(b)The professional person in charge of the mental health facility shall report the allegation by the end of the next business day, in writing, to the board.
(c)When the allegation of abuse or neglect may constitute a criminal act, the professional person in charge of the mental health facility shall immediately report the allegation to the appropriate law enforcement authority.
(4)Each mental health facility shall provide a mechanism for reporting allegations of abuse or neglect that in no way deters or discourages an individual from reporting the allegations.
(5)Investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect must be initiated by the professional person in charge of the facility as soon as possible after the initial report of the incident, but not later than by the end of the next business day. Initiation of each investigation may not be delayed in any way that adversely affects the efficacy of the investigation. However, the investigation must be initiated immediately when there is a report of an alleged criminal act.
(6)The investigation of each allegation of abuse or neglect must be concluded within the minimum period of time necessary to gather the information relative to each allegation and to come to a conclusion following the initial report of the allegation.
(7)Each mental health facility shall document the following in writing regarding each allegation of abuse or neglect:
(a)details of each allegation of abuse or neglect, including the names of any facility staff against whom the allegation is made;
(b)a description of the rationale for conducting the investigation with either in-house or outside personnel;
(c)details of the process of the investigation of each allegation of abuse or neglect;
(d)details of the conclusions of the investigation; and
(e)details of corrective action taken.
(8)Mental health facilities shall provide a copy of the written report described in subsections (7)(a) through (7)(e) within 5 working days of the completion of each investigation to the director of the department and to the board.
(9)(a) For each allegation of abuse or neglect involving the Montana state hospital, the director of the department shall report the following information to the state protection and advocacy program for individuals with mental illness authorized under 42 U.S.C. § 10805(b)(2) to investigate reports of abuse and neglect:
(i)within 5 working days of the incident, the details of the reported allegation; and
(ii)within 5 working days of the completion of the investigation into the report, the written record created pursuant to subsection (7).
(b)The director may not redact any information provided pursuant to this subsection (9).