Full Text of SB0459 100th General Assembly
SB0459sam001 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Kwame Raoul Filed: 5/3/2018
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 459
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 459 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title; references to Act.
| 5 | | (a) Short title. This Act may be cited as the Mental Health | 6 | | Emergency Services Response Equity Act.
| 7 | | (b) References to Act. This Act may be referred to as the | 8 | | Stephon Edward Watts Act.
| 9 | | Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds that in | 10 | | order to promote and protect the health, safety, and welfare of | 11 | | the public, it is necessary and in the public interest to | 12 | | provide emergency response, with or without medical | 13 | | transportation, to individuals requiring mental health or | 14 | | behavioral health services in a manner that is substantially | 15 | | equivalent to the response provided to individuals who require | 16 | | emergency physical health care. An individual who requires an |
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| 1 | | emergency response to address his or her mental or behavioral | 2 | | health care needs should have the choice of accessing providers | 3 | | trained to address mental or behavioral health crises. Whether | 4 | | an individual experiencing a health crisis receives an | 5 | | appropriate emergency response should not depend on the type of | 6 | | crises the individual experiences. Further, an individual | 7 | | requesting an emergency medical response because of a mental or | 8 | | behavioral health issue is not best served when care or | 9 | | transportation is provided by law enforcement officers. | 10 | | Emergency response and transportation by law enforcement | 11 | | officers contributes to the stigma associated with mental and | 12 | | behavioral health crises, and frequently results in | 13 | | individuals being physically harmed, needlessly incarcerated, | 14 | | or needlessly hospitalized. Moreover, law enforcement officers | 15 | | should not be routinely removed from their duties to provide | 16 | | medical care and transportation. | 17 | | Section 10. Applicability; home rule. This Act applies to | 18 | | every unit of local government that provides emergency medical | 19 | | response or transportation for individuals with physical | 20 | | medical needs. A home rule unit may not respond to or provide | 21 | | services for a mental or behavioral health crisis or create a | 22 | | transportation plan or other regulation relating to the | 23 | | provision of mental health services in a manner inconsistent | 24 | | with this Act. This Act is a limitation under subsection (i) of | 25 | | Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the |
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| 1 | | concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions | 2 | | exercised by the State. | 3 | | Section 15. Definitions. As used in this Act:
| 4 | | "Crisis" means an emergent circumstance caused by a health | 5 | | condition, regardless of whether it is perceived as physical, | 6 | | mental, or behavioral in nature, for which an individual may | 7 | | require prompt care, support, or assessment at the individual's | 8 | | location. | 9 | | "Mental or behavioral health" means a health condition | 10 | | involving changes in thinking, emotion, or behavior and that | 11 | | the medical community treats as distinct from physical health | 12 | | care. | 13 | | "Physical health" means a health condition that the medical | 14 | | community treats as distinct from mental or behavioral health | 15 | | care. | 16 | | Section 17. Scope. This Act does not limit an individual's | 17 | | right to control his or her own medical care. No provision of | 18 | | this Act shall be interpreted in such a way as to limit an | 19 | | individual's right to choose his or her preferred course of | 20 | | care or to reject care. No provision of this Act shall be | 21 | | interpreted to promote the use of restraints when providing | 22 | | mental or behavioral health care. | 23 | | Section 20. Emergency mental or behavioral health crisis |
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| 1 | | response. Every unit of local government that provides | 2 | | emergency medical services for individuals with physical | 3 | | health needs must also provide appropriate emergency response | 4 | | services to individuals experiencing a mental or behavioral | 5 | | health crisis. This response includes, but is not limited to, | 6 | | the following: | 7 | | (1) Where practicable, the unit of local government | 8 | | must provide an emergency response for mental or behavioral | 9 | | health care when notified that an individual is | 10 | | experiencing a crisis. | 11 | | (2) The individuals dispatched to provide emergency | 12 | | response services or transportation for an individual | 13 | | experiencing a mental or behavioral health crisis must have | 14 | | adequate training in addressing the needs of individuals | 15 | | experiencing mental or behavioral health crises, including | 16 | | training in de-escalation techniques, knowledge of | 17 | | community services and supports, and respect for | 18 | | individuals' dignity and autonomy. Individuals providing | 19 | | these services must do so consistently with best practices, | 20 | | including the use of de-escalation techniques where | 21 | | appropriate. They must ensure that an individual | 22 | | experiencing a mental or behavioral health crisis is | 23 | | diverted from hospitalization or incarceration whenever | 24 | | possible and linked with available appropriate community | 25 | | services.
| 26 | | (3) An emergency response may include on-site care |
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| 1 | | where the individual is located if it does not override the | 2 | | care decisions of the individual receiving care. Providing | 3 | | care in the community, through methods like mobile crisis | 4 | | units, is encouraged. If effective care is provided on site | 5 | | and if it is consistent with the care decisions of the | 6 | | individual receiving the care, further transportation to | 7 | | other medical providers is not required. | 8 | | (4) When transportation is provided, subject to the | 9 | | care decisions of the individual receiving care, | 10 | | transportation shall, where practicable, be to the most | 11 | | integrated and least restrictive setting appropriate in | 12 | | the community, such as to the individual's home or chosen | 13 | | location, community crisis respite centers, clinic | 14 | | settings, or the offices of particular medical care | 15 | | providers with existing treatment relationships to the | 16 | | individual seeking care. | 17 | | Section 25. Prohibition of use of law enforcement for | 18 | | emergency response or transportation. In a unit of local | 19 | | government that provides a system for emergency response for | 20 | | individuals with physical health needs that are distinct from | 21 | | the unit's law enforcement personnel, law enforcement shall not | 22 | | be used to provide emergency response for an individual when | 23 | | the individual only requires on-site emergency mental or | 24 | | behavioral health care, transportation to access health care, | 25 | | or travel between health care providers, except where no |
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| 1 | | alternative is available. Transportation shall instead be | 2 | | provided pursuant to Section 20 of this Act. | 3 | | Section 30. Equivalent law enforcement response. | 4 | | (a) Unless an individual perceived as requiring mental or | 5 | | behavioral health care or requesting mental or behavioral | 6 | | health care is involved in a suspected violation of criminal | 7 | | laws of this State, law enforcement shall respond to an | 8 | | individual requiring mental or behavioral health care in a | 9 | | manner that is equivalent to their response to an individual | 10 | | requiring physical health care. | 11 | | (b) Standing on its own or in combination with each other, | 12 | | neither the fact that an individual is experiencing a mental or | 13 | | behavioral health crisis nor that an individual has a mental | 14 | | health or other disability diagnosis is sufficient to justify | 15 | | an assessment of threat to public safety to support a law | 16 | | enforcement response to a request for emergency response or | 17 | | medical transportation. | 18 | | (c) If, based on their assessment of the threat to public | 19 | | safety, law enforcement would not accompany medical | 20 | | transportation responding to a physical medical emergency, law | 21 | | enforcement may not accompany emergency response or medical | 22 | | transportation personnel responding to a mental or behavioral | 23 | | health medical emergency that presents an equivalent level of | 24 | | threat to public safety. | 25 | | (d) If law enforcement would typically dispatch medical |
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| 1 | | response personnel or transportation when they encounter an | 2 | | individual with a physical health crisis, law enforcement shall | 3 | | similarly dispatch mental or behavioral health personnel or | 4 | | medical transportation when they encounter an individual in a | 5 | | mental or behavioral health crisis. | 6 | | (e) Without regard to an assessment of threat to public | 7 | | safety, law enforcement may station personnel so that they may | 8 | | rapidly respond to requests for assistance from emergency | 9 | | response or medical transportation staff if law enforcement | 10 | | does not interfere with the provision of emergency response or | 11 | | transportation services. | 12 | | Section 35. Transportation plan.
| 13 | | (a) To address the care of individuals who appear to be in | 14 | | mental or behavioral health crisis who are involved in | 15 | | nonviolent misdemeanors, a committee shall be established in | 16 | | each Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Region to develop a plan | 17 | | to coordinate the provision of mental health services where | 18 | | appropriate and to divert the individuals from the criminal | 19 | | justice system wherever possible. The plan shall be developed | 20 | | with the goal of providing the most appropriate mental health | 21 | | care allowable without significant interference with law | 22 | | enforcement activities and to avoid further criminal justice | 23 | | involvement. To the greatest extent practicable, the plan shall | 24 | | seek to first provide community-based mental or behavioral | 25 | | health services before addressing law enforcement objectives. |
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| 1 | | (b) The plan required by this Section shall be created by a | 2 | | committee consisting of representatives of the Region's EMS | 3 | | Medical Directors Committee, formed under the Emergency | 4 | | Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act, or other similar committee | 5 | | serving the medical needs of the region; representatives of law | 6 | | enforcement officials with jurisdiction in the Emergency | 7 | | Medical Services (EMS) Region, and advocates from the mental | 8 | | health, intellectual disability, and developmental disability | 9 | | communities. The majority of advocates on this committee must | 10 | | either be individuals with a lived experience of a condition | 11 | | commonly regarded as a mental health or behavioral health | 12 | | condition, developmental disability, or intellectual | 13 | | disability or be from organizations primarily composed of such | 14 | | individuals. Subject to the oversight of the Illinois | 15 | | Department of Public Health, a Region's EMS Medical Directors | 16 | | Committee is responsible for selecting the transportation plan | 17 | | committee members and convening meetings of the transportation | 18 | | plan committee. | 19 | | (c) The plan shall be completed within 6 months after the | 20 | | effective date of this Act and the plan shall be reviewed on a | 21 | | biannual basis. At the request of any member of the committee | 22 | | or the Illinois Department of Public Health, the committee | 23 | | shall reconvene outside the biannual review meeting or | 24 | | meetings. | 25 | | Section 900. The Emergency Telephone System Act is amended |
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| 1 | | by changing Section 4 as follows:
| 2 | | (50 ILCS 750/4) (from Ch. 134, par. 34)
| 3 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2020)
| 4 | | Sec. 4.
(a) Every system shall include police, | 5 | | firefighting, and emergency medical and
ambulance services, | 6 | | and may include other emergency services. The system may | 7 | | incorporate private
ambulance service. In those areas in which | 8 | | a public safety agency of the State
provides such emergency | 9 | | services, the system shall include such public safety agencies. | 10 | | Every system shall dispatch emergency response services for | 11 | | individuals requiring mental or behavioral health care in | 12 | | compliance with the requirements of the Mental Health Emergency | 13 | | Services Response Equity Act. | 14 | | (b) Every 9-1-1 Authority shall maintain records of the | 15 | | numbers of calls received, the type of service the caller | 16 | | requested, and the type of service dispatched in response to | 17 | | each call. For emergency medical and ambulance services, the | 18 | | records shall indicate whether physical, mental, or behavioral | 19 | | health response or transportation was requested and what type | 20 | | of response or transportation was dispatched. Broken down | 21 | | geographically by police district, every 9-1-1 Authority shall | 22 | | create aggregated, non-individualized monthly reports | 23 | | detailing the 9-1-1 Authority's activities as provided in this | 24 | | subsection, including the frequency of dispatch of each type of | 25 | | service. These reports shall be available both to the |
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| 1 | | Administrator and 9-1-1 Authority for the purpose of conducting | 2 | | an annual analysis of service gaps and to the public upon | 3 | | request.
| 4 | | (Source: P.A. 99-6, eff. 1-1-16; 100-20, eff. 7-1-17.)".
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