Description and Designation

Description and Designation A. Designated Mental Health Holding Facilities are facilities utilized to hold people who have been involuntarily civilly committed and are awaiting transportation and admission to a treatment facility. Designated Mental Health Holding Facilities provide housing, maintenance, and medical treatment to people. The facilities must be comprehensive and available to triage and make appropriate clinical dispositions, including the capability to access inpatient services or less restrictive alternatives, as needed, as determined by medical staff. The holding facility can be a county facility or a facility with which the county contracts. B. DMH-certified Crisis Stabilization Units are sometimes used to hold people awaiting admission to a treatment facility, and counties sometimes designate hospitals certified by the Mississippi State Department of Health and/or which are Joint Commission accredited as holding facilities. 1. CMHCs, in conjunction with the counties in their catchment area must work with counties to notify the DMH Division of Certification of their counties’ utilization of hospitals for this purpose. 2. DMH requires notification of any such hospital’s designation for this purpose, including documentation pertaining to the hospital’s licensure/accreditation status. 3. Hospitals utilized as holding facilities are exempt from the remaining rules outlined in this chapter. C. If a county uses a facility (other than a DMH-certified Crisis Stabilization Unit or an eligible hospital) as a holding facility, then the facility must be certified by DMH as a Designated Mental Health Holding Facility. D. To be certified by DMH as a “Designated Mental Health Holding Facility,” a facility must apply to DMH for this designation and meet the rules and requirements established for Designated Mental Health Holding Facilities, as outlined in this chapter. Jails or correctional facilities may not be used to hold people who are merely awaiting transportation and admission to treatment and are not otherwise engaged in the criminal justice system, unless the CMHC has explored and exhausted the availability of other appropriate facilities, such as the crisis stabilization unit, the local hospital, and any DMH- certified location; the chancellor specifically authorizes it; and the person is actively violent. Under these circumstances, no person may remain in a jail for longer than twenty- four (24) hours unless the CMHC requests an additional twenty-four (24) hours from the chancellor. E. If a county holds people awaiting transportation and admission to treatment in a jail or a correctional facility, then it must be certified by DMH as a Designated Mental Health Holding Facility. If the jail or correctional facility is certified by DMH as a Designated Mental Health Holding Facility, then the provisions of 35.1.D do not apply. F. Designated Mental Health Holding Facilities, other than appropriately licensed hospitals, will be reviewed by DMH on a schedule as determined by DMH, but no less than biennially, to monitor for compliance with the Designated Mental Health Holding Facility rules and requirements.