33.07 - Care and custody of the personal property of persons receiving services.

§ 33.07 * Care and custody of the personal property of persons receiving              services.    * NB Effective until June 30, 2014    * Care and custody of the personal property of patients.    * NB Effective June 30, 2014    (a) A patient's right to retain his personal belongings upon admission  to  a  facility  shall  be  respected.  The  director,  subject  to  the  regulations of the commissioner,  may  take  temporary  custody  of  the  patient's  personal  property  upon  the person of the patient. Personal  property which is retained for the patient's protection  shall  be  used  for  the  support  and  benefit  of  the  patient  if  deemed desirable.  Otherwise, it is to be conserved  for  his  benefit.  If  a  patient  is  transferred  to  another  facility,  his  personal  belongings  shall be  transferred with him. Gifts received by a patient in a facility shall be  handled in the same manner.    (b) The director of a department facility shall have the power to take  temporary and immediate custody of the personal property  of  a  patient  which  is  in  the  possession  of  other  persons upon giving a receipt  therefor to the person having possession thereof.    (c) Any interest on money received and held for a patient shall be the  property of the individual patient and shall not accrue for the  general  welfare of all patients in a facility.    * (e) A mental hygiene facility director who is a representative payee  for   a   person   pursuant   to  designation  by  the  social  security  administration or  other  federal  agency  and  who  assumes  management  responsibility  over  the  funds  of such person, including benefits for  which there is a state share, shall maintain such funds in  a  fiduciary  capacity  to  the person; provided that the application of such funds to  the cost of care and treatment of such  person  shall  not,  in  and  of  itself,  be  a  violation  of such fiduciary obligation if such director  acts in accordance with federal law and regulations.  The  commissioners  of   mental  health,  developmental  disabilities,  and  alcoholism  and  substance abuse services  shall  promulgate  regulations  regarding  the  management  and  protection  of such funds in collaboration with persons  receiving  services,  advocacy  groups  representing  persons  receiving  services and families of such persons, and mental hygiene legal service.  Such  regulations  shall  include,  but  not  be  limited to, the use of  Medicaid exception trusts, including special  needs  trusts  or  similar  devices,  notice requirements to qualified persons as defined by section  33.16 of this article regarding the intent of the facility  director  to  apply  to  be  the  person's  representative  payee, and the appropriate  establishment and maintenance of a discharge account for future needs.    In the event that a director of a department facility receives a  lump  sum  retroactive  payment  of  a federal or state benefit on behalf of a  person in the  director's  capacity  as  representative  payee  and  the  receipt  of  such  funds  would, in combination with other funds held on  behalf of  such  person,  make  the  person  ineligible  for  government  benefits,  such  director shall, to the extent permissible by law, apply  the funds in excess of the appropriate eligibility level to the person's  personal needs or seek to place such  excess  funds  into  a  qualifying  Medicaid  exception  trust,  including a special needs trust, or similar  device; provided, however, that, for purposes of this section, the  term  "lump  sum  retroactive  payment"  shall  not  apply to any payment that  exceeds the expected monthly recurring amount where such excess  is  due  to a delay in processing an application, changing a representative payee  or  similar  administrative delay. The director of a department facility  shall ensure that the  treatment  team  meet  with,  and  determine  the  current and future personal needs of, the person receiving services. Forpurposes  of  this  section, a treatment team is one that is responsible  for the following, including but not limited to,  clinical  assessments,  treatment  plan  development,  any  necessary  discharge  planning,  and  personal expenditure planning.    * NB Effective until June 30, 2014    * (e)  A mental hygiene facility which is a representative payee for a  patient pursuant to designation by the social security administration or  which assumes management responsibility over the  funds  of  a  patient,  shall  maintain  such  funds in a fiduciary capacity to the patient. The  commissioners of mental  health  and  developmental  disabilities  shall  develop standards regarding the management of patient funds.    * NB Effective June 30, 2014    * (f)  The  commissioners  of  mental  health,  mental retardation and  developmental disabilities, and alcoholism and substance abuse  services  shall post on the offices' respective websites, in a prominent location,  the   applicable  standards,  regulations  and/or  policies  established  pursuant to this section.    * NB Repealed June 30, 2014    * (g) Upon request by a person receiving services  from  a  department  facility,  his or her guardian, qualified persons, as defined by section  33.16 of this article, or other legally authorized  representative,  the  director  of such facility shall, on a quarterly basis, make a statement  of deposits and disbursements from the personal account  of  the  person  receiving services available for review.    * NB Repealed June 30, 2014    * (h) The office of mental health and the office of mental retardation  and  developmental  disabilities  and mental hygiene legal service shall  collaboratively review, at least annually, the management of funds which  a department facility director receives as a representative payee or  of  funds  received pursuant to section 29.23 of this title. In such review,  the office of mental health and the office  of  mental  retardation  and  developmental  disabilities  shall  make available final federal reviews  regarding facility directors' handling of  federal  benefits  and  other  related documents to aid the proper conduct of such review.    * NB Repealed June 30, 2014    * (i) The office of mental health and the office of mental retardation  and  developmental  disabilities shall, by the fifteenth day of December  of each year, commencing on December  fifteenth,  two  thousand  eleven,  submit  and  publish  on its official website, a report to the governor,  speaker of the assembly, temporary president of the senate, chair of the  assembly committee on  mental  health,  and  the  chair  of  the  senate  committee  on mental health, detailing how persons' federal benefits are  being utilized.    * NB Repealed June 30, 2014