SUICIDE PREVENTION-THERAPY

Creates the Suicide Prevention Act. Provides that for a person 18 years of age or older who is receiving or has received mental health services for an attempted suicide, the person's therapist shall identify a family member or other person who shall consult with the therapist every 30 days following a suicide attempt for the period of one year. Provides that the period may be extended by the therapist based on need. Provides that the therapist shall be responsible for consulting with the designated person about the progress of the person who is receiving mental health services toward restoration of mental health. Provides that except as otherwise prohibited by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, a therapist is not criminally or civilly liable for disclosing the recipient's therapy or for discussing the progress of the recipient toward mental health to a person designated under the Act. Defines various terms. Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act to make conforming changes. House Committee Amendment No. 2 Replaces everything after the enacting clause. Reinserts the provisions of the introduced bill, except provides that for a person 12 years of age or older who is receiving or has received mental health services for an attempted suicide, the person's therapist may share mental health information with family members, friends, or others involved in the recipient's care, if the recipient agrees or does not object, and the information is relevant to the family member, friend, or caregiver's involvement with the recipient's healthcare or the payment for that care (rather than for a person 18 years of age or older who is receiving or has received mental health services for an attempted suicide, the person's therapist shall identify a family member or other person who shall consult with the therapist every 30 days following a suicide attempt for the period of one year that may be extended by the therapist based on need and that the therapist shall be responsible for consulting with the designated person about the progress of the person who is receiving mental health services toward restoration of mental health). Provides that the therapist must: (1) ask the recipient's permission to share relevant information with family members, friends, or other caregivers; (2) tell the recipient he or she plans to discuss the information, (3) give the recipient an opportunity to agree or object; or may infer from the circumstances, using professional judgment, that the recipient does not object, and (4) determine that the sharing of relevant information is in the recipient's best interest. Provides that the family, friends, or caregivers may consult with the therapist every 30 days following a suicide attempt for the period of one year. Provides that the period may be extended by the therapist based on need. Provides that the therapist shall be responsible for consulting with the designated person about the progress of the person who is receiving mental health services toward restoration of mental health. In the amendatory provisions of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act, provides that the person designated by a therapist under the Suicide Prevention Act to be consulted on the progress of a recipient of mental health services who has attempted suicide may be consulted only to the extent the information is necessary for the family member, friend, or caregiver's involvement with the recipient's health care or the payment for that care and consistent with the therapist's professional judgment that the consultation is in the recipient's best interest.