Act No. 119
(S.205)
Health; human services; organ donation; Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act; adult protective services; mental health; forensic examinations
This act makes numerous changes to Vermont's laws on anatomical gifts. It also requires an evaluation, if funding becomes available, of Vermont's adult protective services, creates a detailed process for individuals undergoing a forensic examination, and establishes a work group to examine issues regarding forensic examinations.
Anatomical Gifts
The act expands the list of persons who may make an anatomical gift and the methods for making such a gift. It clarifies the processes for amending, revoking, or refusing to make an anatomical gift and specifies the preclusive effect of a gift, amendment, or revocation on the actions that others may take. The act identifies the purposes for which anatomical gifts may be made and details the process for assigning gifts to appropriate recipient organizations upon the donor's death. It specifies the rights and duties of procurement organizations and others upon the death of a potential donor and provides immunity for individuals relying in good faith on a document of gift in a donor registry, a signed statement by a donor in an advance directive, or a donor card. The act requires the department of health to ensure that a donor registry is developed and maintained, authorizes the commissioner of motor vehicles to enter into a data-use agreement with an organ procurement organiz ation to transmit to the organization information identifying people who authorize a document of gift when getting or renewing a driver's license in order to create the donor registry, and requires the department of motor vehicles to report to the general assembly by January 15, 2011, on its implementation of the data-use agreement. The act requires the state's chief medical examiner to cooperate with procurement organizations to maximize opportunities to recover anatomical gifts, except when the chief medical examiner believes such cooperation would be inconsistent with death investigation procedures or would adversely affect a death investigation. And the act specifies that a donor's intent to make an anatomical gift after death must be honored and directs health care providers and procurement organizations to act in accordance with the donor's decision and to take steps to effect the gift.
Adult protective services evaluation
If an interested party identifies sources of funding for an evaluation of the adult protective services provided by the department of disabilities, aging, and independent living (DAIL) and prepares the documents necessary to obtain the funds, the act requires the agency of human services to cooperate with the interested party to take the steps needed to secure the funds. If the agency receives federal funds for the purposes of protecting vulnerable adults, the act requires those funds to be used to conduct the evaluation, up to the full cost of the evaluation. The act requires the agency to update the committees of jurisdiction by March 15 of each year regarding the status of efforts to secure funding and issuance of a request for proposals to conduct the evaluation.
If funding is secured, the act directs the agency of human services to issue a request for proposals to conduct an independent evaluation of the adult protective services provided by DAIL's division of licensing and protection. The act details the areas on which the evaluation must focus, including the effectiveness of services provided, the division's responsiveness to complaints, the adequacy of training for staff, and the ability of vulnerable adults to access adult protective services. The act requires the entity conducting the evaluation to report its findings and recommendations to the committees of jurisdiction upon completion of the evaluation but no later than January 15, 2015.
Forensic examinations
The act details several possible outcomes for an individual required by a court to undergo an inpatient examination at the Vermont State Hospital or a designated hospital. It addresses the next steps if a Vermont State Hospital or designated hospital psychiatrist finds prior to admitting the individual to the hospital that a defendant is not in need of inpatient hospitalization, and it addresses what happens if the psychiatrist finds the defendant does need inpatient hospitalization. In all cases, the act requires a defendant to be returned to court for further appearance within two business days after the commissioner notifies the court that the examination has been completed unless the defendant's terms of release allow the individual to be released from custody.
The act creates a work group to address issues relating to forensic examinations of mental health patients and defendants. It requires the commissioner of mental health to report to the committees of jurisdiction by January 31, 2012, with recommendations on disposition of defendants found at or after the time of admission not to meet the standards for hospitalization; any statutory revisions needed to enable designated hospitals to accept referrals of defendants for inpatient forensic examinations; means to enable forensic examinations to occur during a voluntary inpatient hospitalization; appropriate discharge plan requirements; and the capacities that may be required to address the treatment needs of persons who were previously served with secure, subacute care at the Vermont State Hospital following a forensic evaluation. The act also allows the work group to discuss relationships between programs within the continuum of care in the department of mental health for the purp oses of providing input to the agency of human services. And the act requires the department of mental health to collect data on the outcomes of patients referred for inpatient examinations at the Vermont State Hospital and designated hospitals between July 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011, and to report such information to the committees of jurisdiction by January 31, 2012.
Date Signed by the Governor: May 24, 2010
Effective Date: July 1, 2010