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Effective: 6/29/2020

25.4 Mental Health Hospitalization

Legal Authority

Introduction

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Any person may bring a petition for involuntary hospitalization in district court.  While Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) staff have no statutorily mandated role in the filing of a petition for involuntary hospitalization, the SSW may file a petition in compliance with KRS Chapter 202A or KRS Chapter 202B if an adult refuses to obtain treatment, no other person is available and willing to provide assistance and file a petition, and all other resources are unavailable.​​​

Practice Guidance

  • The criteria for involuntary hospitalization of persons who have mental illness are:
    • The adult is mentally ill;
    • The adult is a danger or threat of danger to self or others as a result of the mental illness;
    • The adult can reasonably benefit from treatment; and
    • Hospitalization is the least restrictive intervention.
 
  • The criteria for involuntary hospitalization of persons who are mentally developmentally disabled are:
    • The adult is an individual with an intellectual disability;
    • The adult presents a danger, or threat of danger to self or others;
    • The least restrictive alternative mode of treatment presently available requires placement in an intermediate care or intellectual and developmental disabilities facility (ICF/IDD); and
    • May reasonably benefit from treatment in the hospital or ICF/IDD residential treatment center.
 
  • The SSW must consider the provisions of L.C. & E.W. v Olmstead when considering assistance concerning involuntary hospitalization. 
  • Olmstead requires all staff who work with institutionalized persons or those at risk of institutionalization to:
    • Consider the way services are delivered to an individual;
    • Ensure that service delivery promotes the individual’s independence and self-determination; and
    • Reconsider policies that promote institutional placements rather than more integrated service settings.


Procedure

​When filing a petition for involuntary hospitalization the SSW:

  1. Conducts a safety and risk review with an FSOS and SRA or designee to obtain approval to file the petition;
  2. Files the petition in the county of employment as a “Representative of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services;” and
  3. Seeks assistance from law enforcement when the protective service situation indicates an immediate danger to the SSW, the adult or others.

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Documents

Revisions