Virginia Code 16.1-340.4: Involuntary commitment; preadmission screening report.
The juvenile and domestic relations district court shall require a preadmission screening report from the community services board that serves the area where the minor resides or, if impractical, where the minor is located. The report shall be prepared by an employee or designee of the community services board. The report shall be admitted as evidence of the facts stated therein and shall state (i) whether the minor has mental illness and whether, because of mental illness, the minor (a) presents a serious danger to himself or others to the extent that severe or irremediable injury is likely to result, as evidenced by recent acts or threats, or (b) is experiencing a serious deterioration of his ability to care for himself in a developmentally age-appropriate manner, as evidenced by delusionary thinking or by a significant impairment of functioning in hydration, nutrition, self-protection, or self-control; (ii) whether the minor is in need of compulsory treatment for a mental illness and is reasonably likely to benefit from the proposed treatment; (iii) whether inpatient treatment is the least restrictive alternative that meets the minor’s needs; and (iv) the recommendations for the minor’s placement, care, and treatment including, where appropriate, recommendations for mandatory outpatient treatment. The board shall provide the preadmission screening report to the court prior to the hearing, and the report shall be admitted into evidence and made part of the record of the case.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 16.1-340.4
- Employee: means an employee of the local community services board who is skilled in the assessment and treatment of mental illness and has completed a certification program approved by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. See Virginia Code 16.1-336
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Inpatient treatment: means placement for observation, diagnosis, or treatment of mental illness in a psychiatric hospital or in any other type of mental health facility determined by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to be substantially similar to a psychiatric hospital with respect to restrictions on freedom and therapeutic intrusiveness. See Virginia Code 16.1-336
- Least restrictive alternative: means the treatment and conditions of treatment which, separately and in combination, are no more intrusive or restrictive of freedom than reasonably necessary to achieve a substantial therapeutic benefit or to protect the minor or others from physical injury. See Virginia Code 16.1-336
- Mental illness: means a substantial disorder of the minor's cognitive, volitional, or emotional processes that demonstrably and significantly impairs judgment or capacity to recognize reality or to control behavior. See Virginia Code 16.1-336
- Minor: means a person less than 18 years of age. See Virginia Code 16.1-336
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Treatment: means any planned intervention intended to improve a minor's functioning in those areas which show impairment as a result of mental illness. See Virginia Code 16.1-336