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.
We work closely 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: We are closely following a number of other bills relating to mental health issues, including:
Death Penalty
HB 280 (Hope), HB 1386 (Leftwich) and SB 116 (Favola) would have eliminated the possibility of the death penalty in cases of serious mental illness. Only the Senate bill remains active; both House bills were “left” in House Courts of Justice committee, meaning they were not acted on before the cross-over deadline. SB 116 will be heard by the House Courts of Justice committee, the same one that did not act on the House companion bills.
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.
Emergency Custody, Temporary Detention, and Capacity Determinations
HB 362 (Rasoul) allows physicians assistants to make a determination that an individual lacks decision making capacity. Approved by the House and by the Senate Committee on Education and Health.
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.
Mental Health First Aid
HB 74 (Kory) requires schools to develop Mental Health First Aid or similar training programs. Approved by the House.
SB 619 (Deeds) requires that Mental Health First Aid be included in teacher licensing. Approved by the Senate.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is 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.