PRINTER'S NO. 1369
No. 1147 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY FUMO, TARTAGLIONE, KITCHEN, SCHWARTZ, WILLIAMS,
SALVATORE AND HUGHES, OCTOBER 6, 1997
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, OCTOBER 6, 1997
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 9, 1976 (P.L.817, No.143), entitled "An
2 act relating to mental health procedures; providing for the
3 treatment and rights of mentally disabled persons, for
4 voluntary and involuntary examination and treatment and for
5 determinations affecting those charged with crime or under
6 sentence," providing for discharges of chronically mentally
7 ill persons.
8 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
9 hereby enacts as follows:
10 Section 1. The act of July 9, 1976 (P.L.817, No.143), known
11 as the Mental Health Procedures Act, is amended by adding a
12 section to read:
13 Section 307. Discharges of Chronically Mentally Ill
14 Persons.--(a) Persons who are chronically mentally ill as
15 defined by subsection (b) shall not be discharged until such
16 time as the local authorities have developed or agreed to a
17 discharge plan for the chronically ill person.
18 (b) For purposes of this section, a chronically mentally ill
19 person is one who:
20 (1) was committed pursuant to this article; and
1 (2) has been institutionalized for the previous 24 months or
2 36 out of the previous 60 months.
3 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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