§ 53-21-107 — Abuse And Neglect Of Persons Admitted To Mental Health Facility Prohibited -- Reporting -- Investigations

53-21-107 . Abuse and neglect of persons admitted to mental health facility prohibited -- reporting -- investigations. (1) Any form of abuse or neglect of a person admitted to a mental health facility is prohibited.
(2) Each mental health facility shall publish policies and procedures that define the facility's guidelines for detecting, reporting, investigating, determining the validity, and resolving allegations of abuse or neglect.
(3) Each allegation of abuse or neglect must be reported as follows:
(a) Any employee of the mental health facility with knowledge of the allegation shall immediately report the allegation to the professional person in charge of the facility.
(b) The professional person in charge of the mental health facility shall report the allegation by the end of the next business day, in writing, to the board.
(c) When the allegation of abuse or neglect may constitute a criminal act, the professional person in charge of the mental health facility shall immediately report the allegation to the appropriate law enforcement authority.
(4) Each mental health facility shall provide a mechanism for reporting allegations of abuse or neglect that in no way deters or discourages an individual from reporting the allegations.
(5) Investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect must be initiated by the professional person in charge of the facility as soon as possible after the initial report of the incident, but not later than by the end of the next business day. Initiation of each investigation may not be delayed in any way that adversely affects the efficacy of the investigation. However, the investigation must be initiated immediately when there is a report of an alleged criminal act.
(6) The investigation of each allegation of abuse or neglect must be concluded within the minimum period of time necessary to gather the information relative to each allegation and to come to a conclusion following the initial report of the allegation.
(7) Each mental health facility shall document the following in writing regarding each allegation of abuse or neglect:
(a) details of each allegation of abuse or neglect, including the names of any facility staff against whom the allegation is made;
(b) a description of the rationale for conducting the investigation with either in-house or outside personnel;
(c) details of the process of the investigation of each allegation of abuse or neglect;
(d) details of the conclusions of the investigation; and
(e) details of corrective action taken.
(8) Mental health facilities shall provide a copy of the written report described in subsections (7)(a) through (7)(e) within 5 working days of the completion of each investigation to the director of the department and to the board.
(9) (a) For each allegation of abuse or neglect involving the Montana state hospital, the director of the department shall report the following information to the state protection and advocacy program for individuals with mental illness authorized under 42 U.S.C. 10805(b)(2) to investigate reports of abuse and neglect:
(i) within 5 working days of the incident, the details of the reported allegation; and
(ii) within 5 working days of the completion of the investigation into the report, the written record created pursuant to subsection (7).
(b) The director may not redact any information provided pursuant to this subsection (9).

Legislative History

En. Sec. 4, Ch. 344, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 776, L. 2023.