N.Y. Correction Law § 401-a: Oversight responsibilities of the justice center for the protection of people with special needs

§ 401-a. Oversight responsibilities of the justice center for the

protection of people with special needs. 1. The justice center for the

protection of people with special needs shall be responsible for

monitoring the quality of mental health care provided to incarcerated

individuals pursuant to article twenty of the executive law. The justice

center shall have direct and immediate access to all areas where state

prisoners are housed, and to clinical and department records relating to

incarcerated individuals' clinical conditions. The justice center shall

maintain the confidentiality of all patient-specific information.

2. The justice center shall monitor the quality of care in residential

mental health treatment programs and shall ensure compliance with

paragraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision six of section one hundred

thirty-seven of this chapter and section four hundred one of this

article. The justice center may recommend to the department and the

office of mental health that incarcerated individuals in segregated

confinement pursuant to subdivision six of section one hundred

thirty-seven of this chapter be evaluated for placement in a residential

mental health treatment unit. It may also recommend ways to further the

goal of diverting and removing incarcerated individuals with serious

mental illness from segregated confinement to residential mental health

treatment units. The justice center shall include in its annual report

to the governor and the legislature pursuant to section five hundred

sixty of the executive law, a description of the state's progress in

complying with this article, which shall be publicly available.

3. The justice center shall appoint an advisory committee on

psychiatric correctional care ("committee"), which shall be composed of

independent mental health experts and mental health advocates, and may

include family members of former incarcerated individuals with serious

mental illness. Such committee shall advise the justice center on its

oversight responsibilities pursuant to this section. The committee may

also make recommendations to the justice center regarding improvements

to prison-based mental health care. Nothing in this subdivision shall be

deemed to authorize members of the committee to have access to a

correctional or mental hygiene facility or any part of such a facility.

Provided, however, newly appointed members of the advisory committee

shall be provided with a tour of a segregated confinement unit and a

residential mental health treatment unit, as selected by the

commissioner. Any such tour shall be arranged on a date and at a time

selected by the commissioner and upon such terms and conditions as are

within the sole discretion of the commissioner.

4. The justice center shall assess the department's compliance with

the provisions of sections two, one hundred thirty-seven, and one

hundred thirty-eight of this chapter relating to segregated confinement

and residential rehabilitation units and shall issue a public report, no

less than annually, with recommendations to the department and

legislature, regarding all aspects of segregated confinement and

residential rehabilitation units in state correctional facilities

including but not limited to policies and practices concerning: (a)

placement of persons in segregated confinement and residential

rehabilitation units; (b) special populations; (c) length of time spent

in such units; (d) hearings and procedures; (e) programs, treatment and

conditions of confinement in such units; and (f) assessments and

rehabilitation plans, procedures and discharge determinations.