71.05.700 - Home visit by designated mental health professional or crisis intervention worker -- Accompaniment by second trained individual. - Washington Statutes

Home visit by designated mental health professional or crisis intervention worker — Accompaniment by second trained individual.

No designated mental health professional or crisis intervention worker shall be required to respond to a private home or other private location to stabilize or treat a person in crisis, or to evaluate a person for potential detention under the state's involuntary treatment act, unless a second trained individual, determined by the clinical team supervisor, on-call supervisor, or individual professional acting alone based on a risk assessment for potential violence, accompanies them. The second individual may be a law enforcement officer, a mental health professional, a mental health paraprofessional who has received training under RCW 71.05.715, or other first responder, such as fire or ambulance personnel. No retaliation may be taken against a worker who, following consultation with the clinical team, refuses to go on a home visit alone.

[2007 c 360 § 2.]

Notes: Findings -- 2007 c 360: "The legislature finds that designated mental health professionals go out into the community to evaluate people for potential detention under the state's involuntary treatment act. Also, designated mental health professionals and other mental health workers do crisis intervention work intended to stabilize a person in crisis and provide immediate treatment and intervention in communities throughout Washington state. In many cases, the presence of a second trained individual on outreach to a person's private home or other private location will enhance safety for consumers, families, and mental health professionals and will advance the legislature's interest in quality mental health care services." [2007 c 360 § 1.]

Short title -- 2007 c 360: "This act may be known and cited as the Marty Smith law." [2007 c 360 § 7.]