New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 14 - DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE
Chapter XIII - Office of Mental Health
Part 524 - Incident Management Programs
Section 524.2 - Legal base

(a) Section 7.07 of the Mental Hygiene Law gives the Office of Mental Health the responsibility for seeing that persons with mental illness are provided with care and treatment, that such care, treatment and rehabilitation is of high quality and effectiveness, and that the personal and civil rights of persons receiving care, treatment, and rehabilitation are adequately protected.

(b) Section 7.09 of the Mental Hygiene Law grants the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health the power and responsibility to adopt regulations that are necessary and proper to implement matters under his or her jurisdiction and to set standards of quality care.

(c) Subdivision (b) of Section 7.21 of the Mental Hygiene Law requires directors of facilities operated by the Office of Mental Health to investigate, or cause to be investigated, every reportable incident in accordance with Article 11 of the Social Services Law, and to require allegations of abuse and neglect and significant incidents to be reported to the Vulnerable Persons' Central Register. Directors of facilities must also notify the Vulnerable Persons' Central Register if it appears that a crime may have been committed and such Register shall notify law enforcement as appropriate. Pursuant to this Section, the Vulnerable Persons' Central Register must notify the Board of Visitors and the Mental Hygiene Legal Service of every complaint of abuse or neglect and the results of all related investigations.

(d) Section 29.29 of the Mental Hygiene Law requires the establishment of uniform standards and procedures for the compilation and analysis of incident reports in facilities operated by the Office of Mental Health.

(e) Section 31.11 of the Mental Hygiene Law requires programs licensed by the Office of Mental Health to notify the district attorney or other law enforcement official and the Commissioner or his or her authorized representative if it appears that a crime may have been committed against a patient.

(f) Section 31.16 of the Mental Hygiene Law provides that the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health may impose a fine upon a finding that the holder of an operating certificate has failed to comply with the provisions of any applicable statute, rule, or regulation.

(g) Section 33.23 of the Mental Hygiene Law requires 24-hour telephone notification of qualified persons, as defined in Section 33.16 of such law, of certain incidents that occur at facilities.

(h) Section 33.25 of the Mental Hygiene Law requires the release of records and documents pertaining to allegations and investigations of abuse or neglect to qualified persons, as defined in Section 33.16 of the Mental Hygiene Law, upon their request.

(i) Section 556 of the Executive Law provides the Justice Center the authority to make recommendations of preventive and remedial actions to the Office of Mental Health in response to investigations of allegations of abuse or neglect involving patients.

(j) Section 557 of the Executive Law requires that directors of State-operated facilities and directors of licensed programs report deaths of individuals in their care and any allegations of abuse or neglect to the Justice Center.

(k) Article 6, title 6 of the Social Services Law requires the reporting of suspected abuse or neglect by a caretaker in a foster family care, day care, or family setting of persons under 18 years of age to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment.

(l) Section 490 of the Social Services Law requires the Office of Mental Health to promulgate regulations governing the development of incident management programs; such regulations must be approved by the Justice Center as consistent with its standards and guidelines.

(m) Sections 491 and 492 of the Social Services Law require the reporting of allegations of abuse and neglect and significant incidents to the Vulnerable Persons' Central Register.