(a)The Commissioner shall ensure that all reasonable and appropriate measures consistent with public safety are made to transport or escort a person subject to this chapter to and from any hospital, secure residential recovery facility, or psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner in any manner that:
(1)prevents physical and psychological trauma;
(2)respects the privacy of the individual; and
(3)represents the least restrictive means necessary for the safety of the patient.
(b)The Commissioner shall have the authority to designate the professionals or law enforcement officers who may authorize the method of transport of patients under the Commissioner’s care and custody.
(c)When a professional or law enforcement officer designated
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(a) The Commissioner shall ensure that all reasonable and appropriate measures consistent with public safety are made to transport or escort a person subject to this chapter to and from any hospital, secure residential recovery facility, or psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner in any manner that:
(1) prevents physical and psychological trauma;
(2) respects the privacy of the individual; and
(3) represents the least restrictive means necessary for the safety of the patient.
(b) The Commissioner shall have the authority to designate the professionals or law enforcement officers who may authorize the method of transport of patients under the Commissioner’s care and custody.
(c) When a professional or law enforcement officer designated pursuant to subsection (b) of this section decides an individual is in need of secure transport with mechanical restraints, the reasons for such determination shall be documented in writing.
(d) It is the policy of the State of Vermont that mechanical restraints are not routinely used on persons subject to this chapter unless circumstances dictate that such methods are necessary. A law enforcement vehicle shall have soft restraints available for use as a first option, and mechanical restraints shall not be used as a substitute for soft restraints if the soft restraints are otherwise deemed adequate for safety. (Added 2003, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 141e; amended 2005, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2007, No. 15, § 14; 2011, No. 79 (Adj. Sess.), § 24, eff. April 4, 2012; 2023, No. 25, § 2, eff. July 1, 2023; 2023, No. 137 (Adj. Sess.), § 9b, eff. July 1, 2024.)