PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed Action:
This is a consensus rule making to amend Part 585 of Title 14 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Mental Hygiene Law, sections 7.09, 31.03 and 31.04
Subject:
Family Care Homes.
Purpose:
To correct an error in current regulation and provide clearer direction in another section of the regulation.
Text of proposed rule:
1. Paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 585.9 of Title 14 NYCRR is amended to read as follows:
(2) To be appropriate for admission to a Family care home, an individual shall:
(i) have a principal psychiatric disorder (not organic);
(ii) not be immediately dangerous to self or others; [and]
(iii) not be in need of skilled nursing care as indicated on a Patient Review Instrument (PRI); and
(iv) [not] be [enrolled in the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program established pursuant to Section 9.60 of the Mental Hygiene Law] willing and able to self administer medication.
2. Subdivision (i) of paragraph (7) of subdivision (d) of Section 585.5 of Title 14 NYCRR is amended to read as follows:
(i) Functioning night lights equivalent to at least the illumination of a 1 1/2 [watts minimum] watt incandescent light bulb shall be utilized in all hallways and bathrooms adjacent to sleeping areas.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Joyce Donohue, NYS Office of Mental Health, 44 Holland Avenue, Albany, NY 12229, (518) 474-1331, email: cocbjdd@omh.state.ny.us
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Same as above.
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Consensus Rule Making Determination
This rulemaking is filed as a Consensus rule on the grounds that its purpose is to make technical corrections to an existing rule, and no person is likely to object to the amendment as written. 14 NYCRR Part 585 was recently promulgated to repeal and replace 14 NYCRR Part 87. The new regulation updated the significantly outdated standards set forth in Part 87, and was intended to codify current practices and expectations of family care homes.
After promulgation of the updated standards, an error was discovered in Section 585.9(b)(2), which sets forth standards for an appropriate admission to a family care home. The current practice and expectation has been that a person appropriate for such an admission must be able to demonstrate that he or she is compliant with medication. Because an Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) order is generally pursued when a person is not compliant with his/her medication, the drafter erroneously "shorthanded" this standard to preclude admission to an individual who is enrolled in AOT. However, currently, enrollment in AOT does not necessarily preclude an individual from admission to a family care home. Although enrollment in AOT may create a presumption that a person is not compliant with his/her medication, that presumption can be overcome, depending on the individual circumstances. Therefore, the current language reflects a misunderstanding of the concept, is not an accurate reflection of current practice and, in fact, unintentionally narrows this standard. The revised language accurately codifies current practice and preserves the standard that an individual appropriate for admission to a family care home must be medication compliant. Correction of this technical error is not expected to raise an objection by any person.
The other technical amendment that is included in this rulemaking concerns Section 585.5(d)(7)(i). Current language requires functioning night lights of a minimum of 1 ½ watts be utilized in hallways and bathrooms adjacent to sleeping areas. This specificity of a 1 ½ watt minimum inadvertently prohibits providers from using newer light-emitting diode (LED) night lights which operate on a much lower wattage yet provide the same amount of illumination. As this restriction was never the intent, the regulation has been modified to clarify that functioning night lights must be equivalent to at least the illumination of a 1 ½ watt incandescent light bulb. This clarification is not expected to raise any objection by any person.
Statutory Authority:
Section 7.09 of the Mental Hygiene Law grants the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health the authority and responsibility to adopt regulations that are necessary and proper to implement matters under his/her jurisdiction.
Sections 31.03 and 31.04 of the Mental Hygiene Law authorize the Commissioner of Mental Health to set standards of quality and adequacy of facilities, equipment, personnel, services, records and programs for the rendition of services, including family care homes, for persons diagnosed with mental illness, pursuant to an operating certificate.
Job Impact Statement
A Job Impact statement is not being submitted with this notice because it is evident from the subject matter of the amendments that they will have no impact on jobs and employment opportunities.
