78R1530 SMJ-D

By:  Corte                                                        H.B. No. 21 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to admission to and discharge from facilities for 
voluntary inpatient mental health services for persons younger than 
18 years of age.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Sections 572.001(a), (c), and (d), Health and 
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A person 18 [16] years of age or older or a person 
younger than 18 [16] years of age who is or has been married may 
request admission to an inpatient mental health facility by filing 
a request with the administrator of the facility to which admission 
is requested.  The parent, managing conservator, or guardian of a 
person younger than 18 [16] years of age who is not and has not been 
married may request the admission of the person to an inpatient 
mental health facility by filing a request with the administrator 
of the facility to which admission is requested.
	(c)  A person or agency appointed as the guardian or a 
managing conservator of a person [minor] younger than 18 [16] years 
of age and acting as an employee or agent of the state or a political 
subdivision of the state may request admission of the person 
younger than 18 years of age [minor] only with the person's
[minor's] consent.
	(d)  The administrator of an inpatient mental health 
facility may admit a person [minor] who is 18 [16] years of age or 
older or a person younger than 18 [16] years of age who is or has 
been married to an inpatient mental health facility as a voluntary 
patient without the consent of the parent, managing conservator, or 
guardian.
	SECTION 2.   Section 572.002, Health and Safety Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 572.002.  ADMISSION.  The facility administrator or 
the administrator's authorized, qualified designee may admit a 
person for whom a proper request for voluntary inpatient services 
is filed if the administrator or the designee determines:
		(1)  from a preliminary examination that the person has 
symptoms of mental illness and will benefit from the inpatient 
services;
		(2)  that the person has been informed of the person's 
rights as a voluntary patient; and
		(3)  that the admission was voluntarily agreed to:                            
			(A)  by the person, if the person is:                                        
				(i)  18 [16] years of age or older; or              
				(ii)  younger than 18 [16] years of age and 
is or has been married; or
			(B)  by the person's parent, managing 
conservator, or guardian, if the person is younger than 18 [16] 
years of age and is not and has not been married.
	SECTION 3.   Section 572.004, Health and Safety Code, is 
amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
	(i)  On receipt of a written request for discharge from a 
patient admitted under Section 572.002(3)(B), a facility shall 
consult with the patient's parent, managing conservator, or 
guardian regarding the discharge.  If the parent, managing 
conservator, or guardian objects in writing to the patient's 
discharge, the facility shall continue treatment of the patient as 
a voluntary patient.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.