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JONATHAN’S LAW SIGNED
Statute Provides Parents Greater Access to Childrens' Incident Reports

Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced the signing of “Jonathan’s Law,” which will provide parents and guardians better access to records and reports of incidents and abuse allegations involving their children in residential mental hygiene facilities.

Jonathan’s Law is named in honor of Jonathan Carey, a 13-year-old autistic boy who recently died while in the care of a state-run residential facility. Jonathan’s family has long championed this legislation after being refused full access to records and information related to his care and treatment.

Jonathan’s Law makes several important changes to state law. In particular, the new law will:

• Require residential hygiene facilities to provide parents and guardians with telephone notification within 24 hours of incidents affecting the health and safety of their children;
• Require such facilities to provide parents and guardians with a redacted incident report upon request; Require facility directors to meet with parents and guardians to discuss reported incidents;
• Require facility directors to provide parents and guardians with written reports of actions taken in response to the incidents; and
• Grant parents and guardians full access to records and documents pertaining to allegations and investigations into patient abuse or mistreatment, with redaction of patient and staff names.

In addition, a Task Force on Mental Hygiene Records will be established to examine existing laws regarding records access concerning individuals receiving care in facilities licensed or operated by the Office of Mental Health and the Office of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities (OMRDD). The task force will be comprised of representatives from state agencies, private providers, parents, advocates and others.

The bill will also increase penalties to $1,000 per day or a maximum of $15,000 per violation for facilities licensed by OMRDD that fail to comply with applicable rules and regulations.

When signing the bill, Governor Spitzer noted several improvements that could be made to the law, and called upon the Legislature to enact those changes as soon as possible. These changes include: (1) adopting the current Mental Hygiene Law standard that protects information from release if such disclosure could “cause substantial and identifiable harm to the patient;”(2) creating a mechanism for parents and guardians to appeal denials of access to information; and (3) ensuring that the new law does not conflict with existing provision governing the reporting of child abuse.

“It is critical that parents and guardians of children housed in state facilities for the treatment of developmental disabilities and mental illness have access to records related to abuse allegations and other incidents,” said Governor Spitzer. "This bill allows them to better monitor the care their children receive."