N.Y. Mental Hyg. Law § 33.07

§ 33.07 * Care and custody of the personal property of persons receiving\n services.\n * NB Effective until June 30, 2027\n * Care and custody of the personal property of patients.\n * NB Effective June 30, 2027\n (a) A patient's right to retain his personal belongings upon admission\nto a facility shall be respected. The director, subject to the\nregulations of the commissioner, may take temporary custody of the\npatient's personal property upon the person of the patient. Personal\nproperty which is retained for the patient's protection shall be used\nfor the support and benefit of the patient if deemed desirable.\nOtherwise, it is to be conserved for his benefit. If a patient is\ntransferred to another facility, his personal belongings shall be\ntransferred with him. Gifts received by a patient in a facility shall be\nhandled in the same manner.\n (b) The director of a department facility shall have the power to take\ntemporary and immediate custody of the personal property of a patient\nwhich is in the possession of other persons upon giving a receipt\ntherefor to the person having possession thereof.\n (c) Any interest on money received and held for a patient shall be the\nproperty of the individual patient and shall not accrue for the general\nwelfare of all patients in a facility.\n * (e) A mental hygiene facility director who is a representative payee\nfor a person pursuant to designation by the social security\nadministration or other federal agency and who assumes management\nresponsibility over the funds of such person, including benefits for\nwhich there is a state share, shall maintain such funds in a fiduciary\ncapacity to the person; provided that the application of such funds to\nthe cost of care and treatment of such person shall not, in and of\nitself, be a violation of such fiduciary obligation if such director\nacts in accordance with federal law and regulations. The commissioners\nof mental health, developmental disabilities, and alcoholism and\nsubstance abuse services shall promulgate regulations regarding the\nmanagement and protection of such funds in collaboration with persons\nreceiving services, advocacy groups representing persons receiving\nservices and families of such persons, and mental hygiene legal service.\nSuch regulations shall include, but not be limited to, the use of\nMedicaid exception trusts, including special needs trusts or similar\ndevices, notice requirements to qualified persons as defined by section\n33.16 of this article regarding the intent of the facility director to\napply to be the person's representative payee, and the appropriate\nestablishment and maintenance of a discharge account for future needs.\n In the event that a director of a department facility receives a lump\nsum retroactive payment of a federal or state benefit on behalf of a\nperson in the director's capacity as representative payee and the\nreceipt of such funds would, in combination with other funds held on\nbehalf of such person, make the person ineligible for government\nbenefits, such director shall, to the extent permissible by law, apply\nthe funds in excess of the appropriate eligibility level to the person's\npersonal needs or seek to place such excess funds into a qualifying\nMedicaid exception trust, including a special needs trust, or similar\ndevice; provided, however, that, for purposes of this section, the term\n"lump sum retroactive payment" shall not apply to any payment that\nexceeds the expected monthly recurring amount where such excess is due\nto a delay in processing an application, changing a representative payee\nor similar administrative delay. The director of a department facility\nshall ensure that the treatment team meet with, and determine the\ncurrent and future personal needs of, the person receiving services. For\npurposes of this section, a treatment team is one that is responsible\nfor the following, including but not limited to, clinical assessments,\ntreatment plan development, any necessary discharge planning, and\npersonal expenditure planning.\n * NB Effective until June 30, 2027\n * (e) A mental hygiene facility which is a representative payee for a\npatient pursuant to designation by the social security administration or\nwhich assumes management responsibility over the funds of a patient,\nshall maintain such funds in a fiduciary capacity to the patient. The\ncommissioners of mental health and developmental disabilities shall\ndevelop standards regarding the management of patient funds.\n * NB Effective June 30, 2027\n * (f) The commissioners of mental health, developmental disabilities,\nand alcoholism and substance abuse services shall post on the offices'\nrespective websites, in a prominent location, the applicable standards,\nregulations and/or policies established pursuant to this section.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n * (g) Upon request by a person receiving services from a department\nfacility, his or her guardian, qualified persons, as defined by section\n33.16 of this article, or other legally authorized representative, the\ndirector of such facility shall, on a quarterly basis, make a statement\nof deposits and disbursements from the personal account of the person\nreceiving services available for review.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n * (h) The office of mental health and the office for people with\ndevelopmental disabilities and mental hygiene legal service shall\ncollaboratively review, at least annually, the management of funds which\na department facility director receives as a representative payee or of\nfunds received pursuant to section 29.23 of this title. In such review,\nthe office of mental health and the office for people with developmental\ndisabilities shall make available final federal reviews regarding\nfacility directors' handling of federal benefits and other related\ndocuments to aid the proper conduct of such review.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n * (i) The office of mental health and the office for people with\ndevelopmental disabilities shall, by the fifteenth day of December of\neach year, commencing on December fifteenth, two thousand eleven, submit\nand publish on its official website, a report to the governor, speaker\nof the assembly, temporary president of the senate, chair of the\nassembly committee on mental health, and the chair of the senate\ncommittee on mental health, detailing how persons' federal benefits are\nbeing utilized.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2027\n