2022 Delaware Code
Title 16 - Health and Safety
Chapter 50. INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL CONDITIONS; DISCHARGE; PROCEDURE
§ 5004. Emergency detention of a person with a mental condition; justification; procedure.

(a) Any person who believes that another person's behavior is both the product of a mental condition and is dangerous to self or dangerous to others may notify a peace officer or a credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener and request assistance for said person. Upon the observation by a peace officer or a credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener that such individual with an apparent mental condition likely constitutes a danger to self or danger to others, such person with an apparent mental condition shall be promptly taken into custody for the purpose of an emergency detention by any peace officer in the State without the necessity of a warrant. Any such observation shall be described in writing and shall include a description of the behavior and symptoms which led the peace officer or credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener to such conclusion. The documentation required herein shall set forth any known relationship between the person making the complaint and any other connection to the person with an apparent mental condition and, if known, the name of the nearest known relative.

(b) An emergency detention may only be initiated by a credentialed mental health screener or, if the individual is under the age of 18, by a juvenile mental health screener. An individual may be held on an emergency detention if it reasonably appears to a credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener that the person is acting in a manner that appears to be dangerous to self or dangerous to others. The credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener shall verify this finding in writing and complete the Department-approved emergency detention form; this documentation shall include the credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener's rationale for the detention, including specific information regarding the alleged mental condition and dangerous behaviors observed. Once the emergency detention form is completed, designated transportation personnel shall be directed by the Department to transport the person to a designated psychiatric treatment facility to for an evaluation. The emergency detention does not start until the person is presented to a designated psychiatric treatment facility.

(c) An emergency detention will result in admission to a designated psychiatric treatment facility for psychiatric observation, assessment, acute treatment, and any recommendations for referral for other services. Any referral for an emergency detention shall include a review of any advance health-care directive as set forth in this title or any other similar agreement relating to the person's wishes regarding potential hospitalization, care, treatment, and notifications to others if known to the credentialed mental health screener and available for review at the time of such referral.

(d) Individuals under the age of 18 may be emergently detained when the minor's parent or legal guardian is unwilling to consent to the individual being admitted to a facility voluntarily for assessment or care, or whose parent or legal guardian cannot be identified and located. A psychiatrist designated by the Secretary of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families may conduct an independent review of a determination that a person under 18 years of age admitted to a designated psychiatric treatment facility or hospital pursuant to an emergency detention is dangerous to self or dangerous to others.

(e) Once an individual is emergently detained in a designated psychiatric treatment facility pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, a psychiatrist shall review all documentation, conduct an examination of the individual, and document the findings of examination within the emergency detention time period both in the person's medical record and the emergency detention findings form. If the examining psychiatrist finds that the individual with an apparent mental condition is not dangerous to self and is not dangerous to others the psychiatrist shall certify these specific findings in writing and the individual who has been emergently detained shall be discharged from custody forthwith. All documentation required by this section will be recorded and retained in the medical record of that individual and reported to the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, or if the individual is a minor to the Division of Prevention and Behavioral Health Services, upon the discharge of the individual.

(f) If, at any time, an individual who is emergently detained agrees to go to a designated psychiatric treatment facility for further observation, a voluntary admission will be sought to fulfill the needed evaluation and the emergency detention order will become void. If a physician affiliated with an emergency department has completed an emergency medicine health assessment, as determined solely by such physician, and refers the patient to a credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener, with or without consultation with a psychiatrist, such a referral constitutes an appropriate discharge plan and after such discharge the physician affiliated with an emergency department will have no further responsibility for the evaluation and disposition of the patient.

(g) In the event that the psychiatrist at a designated psychiatric treatment facility determines that the person who has been emergently detained meets the criteria for further care and treatment and that such required care cannot be provided in an available, less restrictive, more community-integrated setting, such psychiatrist shall immediately initiate the provisional admission process as set forth in § 5005 of this title. Any such determination must be based upon observed and evaluated behavior and, if available, reliable information provided by other sources regarding the person's mental condition. Any involuntary commitment of said person shall be only to a hospital designated by the Secretary to provide such care and treatment.

(h) A designated psychiatric treatment facility that receives a minor on an emergency detention shall promptly make a reasonable and good-faith effort to contact that person's parent or legal guardian.

(i) All professional personnel employed by the State or private providers are mandated to disclose any potential or apparent conflicts of interest regarding their participation in the emergency detention of any individual with an apparent mental condition to any psychiatric facility. Such conflicts of interest shall be disclosed on the emergency detention form and may include, but are not limited to, employment by a privately operated psychiatric facility, a personal relationship with the individual being detained or committed involuntarily, a relationship with family or significant others of the individual being detained or committed involuntarily, or being the victim of a crime by the person being detained or committed involuntarily.

(j) No person will be detained or otherwise involuntarily committed to a designated psychiatric treatment facility unless a credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener determines that such detention or commitment is the least restrictive and most community-integrated means to adequately treat the person that is immediately available.

(k) The Department is authorized to establish regulations consistent with this chapter. These regulations shall include rules regarding the disclosure by credentialed mental health screeners and juvenile mental health screeners of potential conflicts of interest.