Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center
2017 Disability Legislative Update
June 9, 2017
BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW
AB20 VR/BSB/IL: Revises provisions relating to services to assist persons with disabilities in obtaining employment. Assembly Bill 20 revises the provision of certain employment services delivered by the Bureau of Services to Persons Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired and the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation in the Rehabilitation Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR). The measure defines the term “competitive integrated employment” in accordance with existing federal law and amends related definitions and terms.
AB31 Disability Rights: Revises provisions relating to the Specialist for the Rights of Elderly Persons and the Community Advocate for Elder Rights. Assembly Bill 31 revises the name of the Specialist for the Rights of Elderly Persons to the Attorney for the Rights of Older Persons and Persons with a Physical Disability, an Intellectual Disability or a Related Condition. The measure expands the scope of the powers and duties of the Attorney to include: (1) services to older persons, persons with a physical disability, persons with an intellectual disability, and persons with a related condition; and (2) acting as the State legal assistance developer for the purposes of satisfying certain requirements of federal law. The measure further expands the authority of the Community Advocate for Elder Rights within the Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department of Health and Human Services by authorizing him or her to provide assistance to persons who are less than 60 years of age and do not reside in facilities for long-term care.
AB46: Revises provisions governing services provided to persons with mental illness and other disabilities. Assembly Bill 46 makes various changes related to “community-based living arrangement services.” Specifically, it defines this term to mean flexible, individualized services provided in the home to persons with mental illness or related conditions and designed to assist such persons in maximizing independence. In order to provide community-based living arrangement services, A.B. 46 requires a person, government, or governmental agency to obtain a certificate from DPBH. The State Board of Health must adopt regulations governing such services, including quality care standards, requirements for certificate issuance and renewal, associated fees, and the rights of consumers. Upon receipt of a complaint, DPBH may conduct an investigation of a provider, its personnel, operations, policies, and procedures, and may enjoin any person, government, or governmental agency from providing services without first obtaining a certificate or after a certificate has been revoked or suspended.
AB64 Education: Revises requirements for receipt of a standard high school diploma for pupils with disabilities. Assembly Bill 64 provides that a pupil with a disability who does not satisfy the requirements prescribed by the State Board of Education to receive a standard high school diploma may receive a standard diploma if the pupil satisfies the requirements of his or her individualized education program (IEP) and if his or her IEP team determines that the pupil demonstrates proficiency in the standards of content and performance established by the Council to Establish Academic Standards for Public Schools.
AB105 Mental Health: Assembly Bill 105 makes changes to continuing education required or encouraged to be taken by certain health care providers related to suicide prevention and awareness. The bill requires these providers to obtain at least three hours of continuing education concerning suicide assessment, treatment, and management every two years. It also removes a provision that allows certain providers to substitute courses in ethics to meet the requirement.
AB108: Provides for the periodic review of Medicaid reimbursement rates. Assembly Bill 108 requires the Division of Health Care Financing and Policy (DHCFP) of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to review the adequacy of Medicaid reimbursement rates every four years. If DHCFP finds that the rate of reimbursement for a service or item does not accurately reflect the actual cost of providing the service or item, this bill requires DHCFP to calculate the rate of reimbursement that accurately reflects the actual cost of providing the service or item and recommend that rate to the Director of DHHS for possible inclusion in the State Plan for Medicaid.
AB141Health Care: Revises the organizational structure and purposes of the Office of Minority Health. Expands the definition of “minority group” for purposes of provisions relating to the Office to include persons with disabilities
AB150: Revises provisions governing private professional guardians. Assembly Bill 150 changes the regulation of private professional guardians, including revising the qualifications needed for a person to serve as a private professional guardian. Each entity that serves as such must employ a private professional guardian who is certified by the Center for Guardianship Certification. Certain persons working for a private professional guardian must submit fingerprints to the Division of Financial Institutions every five years. The bill also removes a prohibition against a court allowing a private professional guardian to proceed using summary administration. In effect, this revision allows a court to authorize a private professional guardian to administer estates under $10,000 and, with court approval, to dispense with annual accountings and certain other proceedings.
AB180: Enacts the Juvenile Justice Bill of Rights. Assembly Bill 180 enacts the Juvenile Justice Bill of Rights. The measure sets forth certain rights of a child who is detained in a detention facility and requires the facility to inform the child of those rights. Reasonable restrictions on the rights of a child may be imposed, however, if necessary to preserve order, security, or safety. A child who believes his or her rights have been violated is authorized to raise and redress a grievance, and each detention facility must establish policies to ensure that a child who is detained has timely access to clinically appropriate psychotropic medication.
AB181: Revises provisions governing the restoration of civil rights for ex-felons. Assembly Bill 181 revises provisions governing the restoration of civil rights to resident offenders in this state. A probationer, parolee, or person who has completed his or her sentence and was released from prison, with certain exceptions, is immediately restored his or her right to serve as a juror in a civil case and to vote after discharge from probation, discharge from parole, or release from prison unless the person was previously convicted of a category A felony or certain category B felonies, in which case the person’s right to vote is restored two years after discharge from probation, discharge from parole, or release from prison. The bill also allows for the restoration of the civil rights of a probationer or a parolee who receives a dishonorable discharge.
AB192: Revises provisions governing the temporary limited appointment of persons with disabilities by state agencies. Assembly Bill 192 requires, with limited exceptions, appointing authorities for positions in the State service to make temporary limited appointments of certified persons with disabilities to positions not to exceed 700 hours. The bill further requires each appointing authority to ensure that at least one person on the staff of the appointing authority satisfies certain training requirements related to: (1) making a temporary limited appointment of a certified person with a disability; and (2) training concerning the unique challenges a person with a disability faces in the workplace.
AB224: Revises provisions relating to persons with disabilities. Replaces the term “related conditions” with the term “developmental disability” for certain purposes. Prohibits jobs and day training programs from paying less than federal minimum wage on certain contracts that employ persons with disabilities under age 25.
AB234: Revises provisions governing motor carriers (Transportation). Requires certain motor carriers of passengers that provide paratransit services to certain persons with disabilities to ensure that each vehicle used for such services is equipped with first-aid equipment and that the drivers of such vehicles receive training in first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The bill requires that the company that employs the drivers is responsible for their training, will pay for the training, and will compensate the drivers for time spent in training. Effective 1/1/2020
AB253: Revises provisions relating to adjudications of mental health. Revises provisions governing the examination and evaluation by a physician or licensed; requires the court to transmit an order for involuntary admission to a law enforcement agency under certain circumstances; establishes a procedure for certain hospitals and mental health facilities to request a copy of a court order for involuntary admission.
AB288: Revises provisions relating to the protection of older persons and vulnerable persons. Revises provisions relating to immunity from civil or criminal liability for certain acts; increases the maximum term of imprisonment for a person who commits certain acts against an older person or a vulnerable person that result in substantial bodily or mental harm to or the death of the person; revising the penalties for committing certain acts against an older person or a vulnerable person or conspiring to commit certain acts against an older person or a vulnerable person; establishes provisions relating to certain arbitration clauses included in contracts used by facilities for long-term care
AB304: Revises provisions relating to autism. Revises certain provisions relating to eligibility for services provided or coordinated by the Autism Treatment Assistance Program within the Aging and Disabilities Services Division of the Department of Health and Human Services, and redefines the term “autism spectrum disorder” for certain purposes. Authorizes Nevada’s Early Intervention Services to bill private insurance companies for applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy provided by the early intervention agency.
AB366: Creates the Northern, Washoe, Rural, and Southern Behavioral Health Regions, each consisting of certain cities and counties in this State. Creates a regional behavioral health policy board for each of the four regions. Establishes the membership of each policy board to consist of 12 persons, including: 11 members appointed by the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services; and 1 member who represents the criminal justice system appointed by the Governor. Each policy board is required to: (1) advise the Department, the Division of Public and Behavioral Health, and the Commission on Behavioral Health on certain regional behavioral health issues; (2) promote improvements in the delivery of behavioral health services in the behavioral health region; and (3) coordinate and exchange information with the Department, Division, and Commission regarding behavioral health services in their respective behavioral health region. The report currently submitted by the Commission annually to the Governor and biennially to the Legislature is revised to include: (1) recommendations from each policy board; (2) the epidemiologic profiles of substance use and abuse, problem gambling, and suicide; (3) relevant behavioral health prevalence data for each behavioral health region; and (4) the health priorities set for each behavioral health region.
AB377: Revises provisions relating to the competency of a defendant in a criminal case. Prohibits a prosecuting attorney from seeking an indictment while competency proceedings are pending except with leave of the court, and prohibits a prosecuting attorney from refiling charges against a defendant who has been found incompetent except with leave of the court.
AB440: Revises provisions governing involuntary commitment proceedings. Authorizes a proceeding for the involuntary court-ordered admission of a criminal defendant to a program of community-based or outpatient services to be commenced by the district court or by motion of the defendant or the district attorney under certain circumstances, requires the court to dismiss the charges against the defendant if the defendant successfully completes such a program to the satisfaction of the court, requires certain judges to hear proceedings for involuntary court-ordered admission, requires a district court to request an evaluation of a person alleged to be a person with mental illness by an evaluation team, and revises requirements concerning courses of instruction for certain judges.
AB473: Temporarily provides for the continued inclusion of certain drugs on the list of preferred prescription drugs to be used for the Medicaid program. Delays the prospective expiration of certain provisions governing antipsychotic, anticonvulsant, and antidiabetic medications prescription drugs to be used for the Medicaid program.
AB483: Revises provisions governing the Program to Encourage and Facilitate Purchases by Agencies of Commodities and Services from Organizations. Transfers the administration of the Program to Encourage and Facilitate Purchases by Agencies of Commodities and Services from Organizations from the Rehabilitation Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation to the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration.
AB514: Authorizes the Division of Parole and Probation of the Department of Public Safety to provide money for transitional housing for indigent prisoners released on parole under certain circumstances. Under existing law, a prisoner who is eligible for parole may not be released from prison until the Division of Parole and Probation of the Department of Public Safety approves the prisoner’s proposed plan for placement upon release. Assembly Bill 514 authorizes the Division, if resources are available, to pay all or a portion of the cost of an indigent prisoner’s transitional housing if the prisoner’s proposed placement plan indicates that the prisoner will reside in transitional housing upon his or her release. On Governor’s Desk
SB27: Revises the definition of the term “mental illness” for purposes of provisions relating to criminal procedure, mental health and intellectual disabilities. Revises the definition of “mental illness” to mean a clinically significant disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, memory, or behavior that seriously limits the capacity of a person to function in the primary aspects of daily living, including, without limitation, personal relations, living arrangements, employment, and recreation. The term does not include other mental disorders that result in diminished capacity, including, without limitation, epilepsy, intellectual disability, dementia, delirium, brief periods of intoxication caused by alcohol or drugs, or dependence upon or addiction to alcohol or drugs.
SB50: Provides for advance directives governing the provision of psychiatric care. SB 50 authorizes a person who is of sound mind and at least 18 years of age or an emancipated minor to execute an advance directive for psychiatric care to direct any provider of health care on how he or she wishes psychiatric care to be provided if incapable of making or communicating decisions concerning such care. The bill also authorizes a person to designate another person to make decisions for him or her if incapable of making such decisions.