Title 10 — Health and Safety

(a) If the time for appeal of his or her most recent assisted treatment order or renewal has expired, a patient may request a review of his or her assisted treatment status by the treating psychiatrist or qualified mental health professional. (b) The psychiatrist or qualified men…

(a) Notice of the status review hearing shall be mailed at least seven (7) calendar days in advance to the patient; the patient’s legal guardian or conservator, if known; the patient’s counsel, if known; an adult member of the patient’s household, if known; and anyone recognized …

I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) is practiced in forty-five (45) states as an extension of inpatient treatment, while allowing the qualified patient with a treatable mental illness or condition to receive court ordered treatment on an outpatien…

---------- ARTICLE 2 DEFINITIONS

The process for renewing an assisted treatment order is the same as for the application for an original assisted treatment order by petition, except that notice of the renewal hearing, as provided in § 82A504, shall also be sent to anyone recognized as a party at the initial assi…

(a) The first renewal for an assisted outpatient treatment period may last up to one hundred eighty (180) days and subsequent renewals up to three hundred sixty (360) days thereafter. (b) A subsequent renewal for an assisted outpatient treatment period may last up to three hundre…

Period. (a) A patient in assisted outpatient treatment may be discharged on the signature of both the treating medical professional and the medical director of the facility. (b) A patient under an assisted treatment order who is on outpatient status may be discharged on the signa…

Notice of discharge from an assisted treatment order shall be mailed at least seventy-two (72) hours before the planned discharge to (a) the petitioner; (b) the patient’s legal guardian or conservator, if known; (c) the patient’s counsel, if known; (d) an adult member of the pati…

(a) Any patient placed on assisted outpatient treatment must be given a treatment plan at the time of discharge from inpatient care and placement on an assisted outpatient treatment program for a period anticipated being greater than seventy-two (72) hours. (b) An outpatient trea…

A hearing before the court to determine the appropriateness of the discharge of a patient prior to the expiration of his or her assisted treatment period may be demanded as a matter of right by (a) the petitioner; (b) the patient’s legal guardian or conservator, if known; (c) an …

Officers. (a) At the request of the treating physician, or at the discretion of any law enforcement officer with the power of arrest, any person generally designated to do so by the government of Guam may bring to a designated facility for evaluation any person on assisted outpat…

(a) Any psychiatrist, other physician, or qualified mental health professional as designated pursuant to § 82101(g) of Chapter 82, who has been generally designated to do so by the government of Guam or GBHWC may initiate emergency treatment/observation based on a good faith beli…

COL622016 Protesting individuals may only be transported by law enforcement officers with the power of arrest, the Guam Fire Department, or others who have been designated to perform this function by the government of Guam.

A psychiatrist or other physician shall evaluate an individual in emergency treatment/observation within twenty-four (24) hours of the individual’s placement in a designated psychiatric facility.

An individual shall be released from emergency treatment/observation unless the psychiatrist or other physician who performs the evaluation determines that the individual is either a danger to himself, herself or others or is gravely disabled.

(a) If the examining psychiatrist or other physician who performs the evaluation determines, in his or her clinical opinion, that the individual is a danger to himself, herself or to others or is gravely disabled, he or she must file, or cause to be filed by another psychiatrist …

The certificate shall be in writing, executed under oath, and shall include the following information: (a) the name and address, if known, of the respondent; (b) the name and address, if known, of the respondent’s spouse, legal counsel, conservator or guardian, and next-of-kin; (…

It shall be a crime to knowingly file, or cause to be filed, a certificate that contains a false material statement or information.

After the filing of the certificate, the court shall: (a) schedule a hearing on the certificate that will occur no more than seventy-two (72) hours, not including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, after the initial examination; and (b) designate counsel for the respondent no less …

(a) The court shall notify (1) the certifying psychiatrist or other physician, (2) respondent, and (3) the respondent’s legal guardian or conservator, if known, of the scheduled hearing on the certificate at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance. COL622016 (b) The court must al…

(a) Absent the exercise of other applicable provisions of this Act, the period of emergency treatment/observation may last no more than seventy- two (72) hours after the initial examination, not including Saturdays, Sundays or holidays. (b) Anyone who is determined by the examini…

During the emergency treatment/observation period, treatment may be administered if the person is, in the clinical opinion of a treating professional, a danger to himself, herself or others, or is gravely disabled. ---------- ARTICLE 14 ACCOUNTABILITY

In addition to other limitations on liability set out elsewhere in this Chapter or applicable law, persons providing care to patients placed in assisted treatment pursuant to this Chapter shall only be liable for harm subsequently caused by or to individuals who are discharged fr…

All patients placed in assisted treatment pursuant to this Chapter have the following rights: (a) the right to appointed counsel at the initial assisted treatment hearing, reviews of status, subsequent renewal hearings of orders for assisted treatment, and appeals of these procee…

As used in this Chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: (a) Assisted treatment means the provision of treatment, in accordance with this Act, to individuals who are either dangerous or incapable of making informed medical decisions because of the effects of severe mental …

A person in need of psychiatric care should be admitted into treatment voluntarily whenever possible.

COL622016 A voluntary patient may seek discharge at any time. Unless properly invoking the provisions of this Act allowing for their retention, the psychiatric treatment facility must release voluntary patients who request to be discharged within forty-eight (48) hours, not inclu…

(a) A person may be ordered to receive assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) if the court finds that such person: (1) is eighteen (18) years of age or older; and (2) is suffering from mental illness; and (3) is an inpatient client or a client transitioning out of Mental Health Cour…

The court may, for good cause, order a continuance of up to forty-eight (48) hours or, if this period ends on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, to the end of the next day on which the court is open. The continuance shall extend COL622016 the emergency treatment/observation period or…

For those currently admitted to an inpatient facility operated by the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, or its designee, assisted treatment hearings shall be held at the court.

The hearing shall be open to anyone unless the respondent requests that it be closed, at which point only parties and their counsels, witnesses, members and staff of the GBHWC, and court personnel may be present. However, the court may approve a motion of an individual to attend …

(a) For a hearing on a certificate, a treating professional who has examined the respondent since he or she was placed under emergency treatment/observation shall testify. (b) For a hearing on a petition, the testimony of a treating professional who has examined the respondent mo…

The court may review any information it finds relevant, material, and reliable, even if normally excluded under rules of evidence.

No transcript is required to be kept of hearings before the court.

(a) A family member may file a motion for participation in the hearing. (b) The court may approve the preliminary motion of such an individual to participate in the hearing upon a showing that the person has a substantial interest in the proceeding. (c) If the psychiatrist or phy…

Evaluation. (a) If the respondent presents good and credible cause why he or she was not present for an ordered evaluation, the court shall continue the proceeding and issue another order for examination. COL622016 (b) A hearing concerning an individual who fails to comply, witho…

(a) At the hearing, the petitioner and respondent may proffer a mutually agreed upon proposed assisted treatment order, known as a consent order. (1) The terms of the order must be consistent with those of an initial order for assisted treatment made pursuant to this Act. (2) The…

(a) An order for assisted treatment, for its duration, subordinates the individual’s right to refuse the administration of medication or other minor medical treatment to the GBHWC, its designee, or any other medical provider obligated to care for the person by the court in its or…

Treatment. (a) An initial assisted treatment order directing care on an outpatient basis must include provisions for intensive case management. (b) The order may also require the patient to make use of and care providers to supply any or all of the following categories of service…

Rights. The determination that a person is in need of assisted treatment as an outpatient is not a determination that the patient is legally incompetent or incapacitated for any purpose other than those set out in this Act. ---------- ARTICLE APPEALS

(a) Except where specifically prohibited by this Act, a decision of the psychiatrist or physician may be appealed to an appropriate court of record within ten (10) calendar days of being entered. (b) The hearing of an appeal is de novo and must be held within seven (7) calendar d…

Each patient receiving medication pursuant to an assisted treatment order shall be examined every thirty (30) days for serious side effects by his or her treating professional.

After an examination described in § 82A801 determines, in his or her clinical judgment, that the patient has serious side effects from his or her current medication, the treating professional shall suggest, if available, an alternative appropriate treatment that will have fewer s…

(a) There shall be a one-step grievance procedure made available to patients on assisted outpatient treatment status. (b) Grievances concerning treatment may be made to the medical director of each inpatient facility. (c) Grievances about a patient’s treatment regimen may be brou…

(a) Grievances that are disallowed may be appealed to the court, which shall hear the appeal within fourteen (14) calendar days. COL622016 (b) All rulings on appeals of grievances by the court are final. (c) If the appeal of a grievance is denied, the patient it was brought eithe…

(a) An assisted outpatient treatment order’s requirement to maintain treatment can be enforced for non-compliance. (b) On the signature of a supervising psychiatrist, the order may be enforced either at the patient’s residence or at a treatment center designated by the GBHWC or i…

(a) The procedures used to determine whether a patient under an assisted treatment order who is on outpatient status should be placed in inpatient care are the same as those for initial placement in assisted treatment. (b) A patient who meets the criteria for emergency treatment …