HB659: Investigation of death; studying cases when person dies while receiving services from licensed prog.


VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY -- CHAPTER
An Act to direct the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish a work group to study and make recommendations regarding the cases in which the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall conduct an investigation of the death of a person who dies while receiving services from a program licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
[H 659]
Approved

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) shall establish a work group, which shall include the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services, the Commissioner of Social Services, the State Registrar of Vital Records, and the Chief Medical Examiner, or their designees, and representatives of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, providers of behavioral health services licensed by the Department, law-enforcement agencies, emergency medical services providers, community stakeholders such as social workers, community mental health providers, and case managers, and other appropriate agency staff and other stakeholders, to study and make recommendations regarding appropriate investigations, including recommendations regarding when autopsies may be appropriate, of the deaths of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are residents of the Commonwealth and who die while receiving services from a program licensed by the Department. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2022.


HOUSE BILL NO. 659
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions
on January 25, 2022)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Hope)
A BILL to direct the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish a work group to study and make recommendations regarding the cases in which the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall conduct an investigation of the death of a person who dies while receiving services from a program licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) shall establish a work group, which shall include the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services, the Commissioner of Social Services, the State Registrar of Vital Records, and the Chief Medical Examiner, or their designees, and representatives of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards, providers of behavioral health services licensed by the Department, law-enforcement agencies, emergency medical services providers, community stakeholders such as social workers, community mental health providers, and case managers, and other appropriate agency staff and other stakeholders, to study and make recommendations regarding appropriate investigations, including recommendations regarding when autopsies may be appropriate, of the deaths of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are residents of the Commonwealth and who die while receiving services from a program licensed by the Department. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2022.

HOUSE BILL NO. 659

Offered January 12, 2022
Prefiled January 11, 2022
A BILL to direct the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to establish a work group to study and make recommendations regarding the cases in which the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall conduct an investigation of the death of a person who dies while receiving services from a program licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
Patron-- Hope

Committee Referral Pending

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department) shall establish a work group, which shall include representatives of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the disAbilty Law Center of Virginia, providers of behavioral health services licensed by the Department, and other appropriate stakeholders, to study and make recommendations regarding the cases in which the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall conduct an investigation of the death, including an autopsy, of a person who dies while receiving services from a program licensed by the Department. The work group shall report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2022.