Sec. 310.3. Procedure of the special housing unit case management committee

(a) The committee shall meet at least once every two weeks. A minimum of four committee members to include staff representation from OMH and department shall be present at each meeting. At least one of the committee members present at each meeting shall be an OMH clinician.

(b) The agenda for each meeting shall include an initial review of the status of any inmate newly assigned to SHU at the facility following a superintendent's hearing in which the inmate's mental state or intellectual capacity was deemed to be at issue, a review of the status of any SHU inmate based upon a recent request to the committee from OMH or department staff, and a review of the status of SHU inmates on the OMH mental health caseload.

(c) During the review of an inmate's status:

(1) security staff will present the inmate's disciplinary and criminal history, including an assessment of the inmate's propensity for acts of violence and security risk;

(2) OMH clinical staff will present the inmate's mental health diagnoses, including behaviors and treatment needs associated with such a diagnoses, psychiatric medications, including the purpose of the medication, side effects and medication compliance, acts of self-harm and psychiatric history, including psychiatric hospitalizations, during and prior to the inmate's current assignment to the SHU; and

(3) guidance staff, if on the committee, will present the inmate's programming history and general custodial adjustment during and prior to the inmate's current assignment to the SHU. If no guidance staff are on the committee, other participating staff will present this information.

(d) After reviewing the inmate's status, the committee may do one or more of the following:

(1) recommend to the superintendent the temporary or permanent restoration of one or more privileges, the suspension or reduction of confinement time, or a housing reassignment; and

(2) recommend to the OMH unit chief that the inmate's psychiatric medications be reevaluated or that the inmate be examined by two physicians employed by OMH for possible commitment to the Central New York Psychiatric Center.

Note:

Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to, in any way, limit the ability of department staff to, at any time, refer an inmate to OMH for evaluation and appropriate mental health care and treatment or for OMH to, at any time, evaluate an inmate and provide appropriate mental health care in the absence of such a referral.

(e) The review of a SHU inmate's status by the special housing unit case management committee and any recommendations to the superintendent or OMH unit chief shall be reflected in the inmate's guidance folder.