24 U.S.C. § 225 : US Code - Section 225: Findings and purposes

Search 24 U.S.C. § 225 : US Code - Section 225: Findings and purposes

(a) The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Governmentally administered mental health services in the
District of Columbia are currently provided through two separate
public entities, the federally administered Saint Elizabeths
Hospital and the Mental Health Services Administration of the
District of Columbia Department of Human Resources.
(2) The District of Columbia has a continuing responsibility to
provide mental health services to its residents.
(3) The Federal Government, through its operation of a national
mental health program at Saint Elizabeths Hospital, has for over
100 years assisted the District of Columbia in carrying out that
responsibility.
(4) Since its establishment by Congress in 1855, Saint
Elizabeths Hospital has developed into a respected national
mental health hospital and study, training, and treatment center,
providing a range of quality mental health and related services,
including -
(i) acute and chronic inpatient psychiatric care;
(ii) outpatient psychiatric and substance abuse clinical and
related services;
(iii) Federal court system forensic psychiatry referral,
evaluation, and patient treatment services for prisoners, and
for individuals awaiting trial or requiring post-trial or post-
sentence psychiatric evaluation;
(iv) patient care and related services for designated classes
of individuals entitled to mental health benefits under Federal
law, such as certain members and employees of the United States
Armed Forces and the Foreign Service, and residents of American
overseas dependencies;
(v) District of Columbia court system forensic psychiatry
referral, evaluation, and patient treatment services for
prisoners, and for individuals awaiting trial or requiring post-
trial or postsentence psychiatric evaluation;
(vi) programs for special populations such as the mentally
ill deaf;
(vii) support for basic and applied clinical psychiatric
research and related patient services conducted by the National
Institute of Mental Health and other institutions; and
(viii) professional and paraprofessional training in the
major mental health disciplines.
(5) The continuation of the range of services currently
provided by federally administered Saint Elizabeths Hospital must
be assured, as these services are integrally related to -
(i) the availability of adequate mental health services to
District of Columbia residents, nonresidents who require mental
health services while in the District of Columbia, individuals
entitled to mental health services under Federal law, and
individuals referred by both Federal and local court systems;
and
(ii) the Nation's capacity to increase our knowledge and
understanding about mental illness and to facilitate and
continue the development and broad availability of sound and
modern methods and approaches for the treatment of mental
illness.
(6) The assumption of all or selected functions, programs, and
resources of Saint Elizabeths Hospital from the Federal
Government by the District of Columbia, and the integration of
those functions, resources, and programs into a comprehensive
mental health care system administered solely by the District of
Columbia, will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the
services currently provided through those two separate entities
by shifting the primary focus of care to an integrated community-
based system.
(7) Such assumption of all or selected functions, programs, and
resources of Saint Elizabeths Hospital by the District of
Columbia would further the principle of home rule for the
District of Columbia.
(b) It is the intent of Congress that -
(1) the District of Columbia have in operation no later than
October 1, 1993, an integrated coordinated mental health system
in the District which provides -
(A) high quality, cost-effective, and community-based
programs and facilities;
(B) a continuum of inpatient and outpatient mental health
care, residential treatment, and support services through an
appropriate balance of public and private resources; and
(C) assurances that patient rights and medical needs are
protected;
(2) the comprehensive District mental health care system be in
full compliance with the Federal court consent decree in Dixon v.
Heckler;
(3) the District and Federal Governments bear equitable shares
of the costs of a transition from the present system to a
comprehensive District mental health system;
(4) the transition to a comprehensive District mental health
system provided for by this subchapter be carried out with
maximum consideration for the interests of employees of the
Hospital and provide a right-of-first-refusal to such employees
for employment at comparable levels in positions created under
the system implementation plan;
(5) the Federal Government have the responsibility for the
retraining of Hospital employees to prepare such employees for
the requirements of employment in a comprehensive District mental
health system;
(6) the Federal Government continue high quality mental health
research, training, and demonstration programs at Saint
Elizabeths Hospital;
(7) the District government establish and maintain
accreditation and licensing standards for all services provided
in District mental health facilities which assure quality care
consistent with appropriate Federal regulations and comparable
with standards of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Hospitals; and
(8) the comprehensive mental health system plan include a
component for direct services for the homeless mentally ill.