Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 86.djvu/168

 126

PUBLIC LAW Q2-280-APR..26, 1972

[86 STAT.

Public Law 92-280 April 26, 1972 [H. R. 10344]

AN ACT To authorize the District of Columbia to enter into the I n t e r s t a t e Compact on Mental Health.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of RepreHentaticeH of the Interstate Com- United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may HeaithAcl? ^ l^© clted as the "Interstate Compact on Mental Health Act*'. SEC. 2. The Commissioner of the District of Columbia is hereby authorized to enter into and execute on behalf of the District of Columbia an agreement with any State or States legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows: " THE IX T E K S T A T E C O M P ACT ON M E N T A L H E A L T H "ARTICLE I—PURPOSE AND FINDINGS

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"The party states find that the proper and expeditious treatment of the mentally ill and mentally deficient can be facilitated by cooperative action, to the benefit of the patients, their families, and society as a whoV. Further, the party states find that the necessity of and desirability for furnishing such care and treatment bears no primary relation to the residence or citizenship of the patient but that, on the contrary, the controlling factors of community safety and humanitarianism require that facilities and services be made available for all who ate in need of them. Consequently, it is the purpose of this compact and of the party states to provide the necessary legal basis for the institutionalization or other appropriate care and treatment of the mentally ill and mentally deficient under a system that recognizes the paramount importance of patient welfare and to establish the responsibilities of the party states in terms of such welfare. "ARTICLE II — DEFINITIONS

"As used in this compact: " (a) 'Sending state' shall mean a party state from which a patient is transported pursuant to the provisions of the compact or from which it is contemplated that a patient may be so sent. "(b) 'Receiving state' shall mean a party state to which a patient is transported pursuant to the provisions of the compact or to which it is contemplated that a patient may be so sent. "(c) 'Institution' shall mean any hospital or other facility maintained by a party state or political subdivision thereof for the care and treatment of mental illness or mental deficiency, and shall include Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in the District of Columbia. " (d) 'Patient' shall mean any person subject to or eligible as determined by the laws of the sending state, for institutionalization or other care, treatment, or supervision pursuant to the provisions of this compact. "(^e) 'After-care'shall mean care, treatment and services provided a patient, as defined herein, on convalescent status or conditional release. "(f) 'Mental illness' shall mean mental disease to such extent that a person so afflicted requires care and treatment for his own welfare, or the welfare of others, or of the community. " (g) 'Mental deficiency' shall mean mental deficiency as defined by appropriate clinical authorities to such extent that a person so afflicted is incapable of managing himself and his affairs, but shall not include mental illness as defined herein.

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