§ 27A-15-5 — Criteria for admission of minor.

Subject to the provisions of this chapter, a minor may be immediately admitted to an inpatient psychiatric facility by the minor's parent, or such parent - initiated continued inpatient treatment continued if the following criteria are met: (1) The minor is an individual with a serious emotional disturbance as defined in § 27A-15-1.1 ; (2) The minor displays one or more of the following conditions: (a) Exhibits seriously impaired contact with reality and severely impaired social, academic, and self - care functioning, whose thinking is frequently confused, whose behavior may be grossly inappropriate and bizarre, and whose emotional reactions are frequently inappropriate at the situation; (b) Manifests long - term behavior problems or suicidal behavior; or (c) Suffers from severe anxiety, depression, irrational fears and concerns whose symptoms may be exhibited as serious eating and sleeping disturbances, extreme sadness of suicidal proportion, maladaptive dependence on parents, or avoidance of nonfamilial social contact; (3) The minor needs and is likely to benefit from inpatient treatment at the facility; (4) The facility has determined that: (a) Reasonable efforts have been made to provide for the mental health treatment needs of the minor through the provision of less restrictive treatment alternatives to inpatient treatment; (b) Such alternatives have failed to meet the treatment needs of the minor; or (c) The condition of the minor is such that less restrictive treatment alternatives are unlikely to meet the mental health treatment or diagnostic needs of the minor; and (5) The parent has exercised an informed consent to inpatient treatment of the minor.

Legislative History

SL 1991, ch 220, § 295; SL 1994, ch 255, § 3.