Section 388-865-0578. Minor children seventeen years of age and younger—Admission, evaluation, and treatment without the minor's consent—Evaluation and treatment facility.

(1) Under RCW 71.34.600, an evaluation and treatment facility may admit, evaluate, and treat a minor child seventeen years of age or younger without the consent of the minor if the minor's parent(s) brings the minor to the facility.

(2) The evaluation and treatment facility must ensure a trained professional person (defined in RCW 71.05.020) evaluates the minor within twenty-four hours of the time the minor was brought to the facility.

(3) If the professional person determines the condition of the minor requires additional time for evaluation, the additional time must not be longer than seventy-two hours.

(4) If the evaluation and treatment facility holds the minor for treatment, the treatment must be limited to medically necessary treatment that the professional person has determined is needed to stabilize the minor's condition in order to complete the evaluation.

(5) The evaluation and treatment facility must:

(a) Notify the department within twenty-four hours of completing the minor's evaluation if the minor is held for inpatient treatment.

(b) Notify the minor being held for inpatient treatment of the right under RCW 71.34.620 to petition the superior court for release from the facility. The minor must be informed of this right before the department completes a review of the minor's admission and inpatient treatment (see subsection (7) of this section). If the minor is not released as a result of a petition for judicial review, the facility must release the minor no later than thirty days following the later of:

(i) The date of the department's determination under RCW 71.34.610; or

(ii) The date the petition is filed, unless a mental health professional initiates proceedings under Title 71 RCW.

(6) The minor's clinical record must show documentation that the department and the minor were notified as required under (a) and (b) of this subsection.

(7) One of the following must occur when the department conducts a review under RCW 71.34.610.

(a) If the department determines it is no longer medically necessary for the minor to receive inpatient treatment, the department notifies the minor's parent(s) and the facility. The facility must release the minor to the minor's parent(s) within twenty-four hours of receiving notice from the department.

(b) If the professional person in charge of the facility and the minor's parent(s) believe that it is medically necessary for the minor to remain in inpatient treatment, the facility must release the minor to the parent(s) on the second judicial day following the department's determination in order to allow the parent(s) time to file an at-risk youth petition under chapter 13.21A RCW.

(c) If the department determines it is medically necessary for the minor to receive outpatient treatment and if the minor declines to obtain such treatment, the refusal is grounds for the minor's parent(s) to file an at-risk youth petition under chapter 13.21A RCW.

(8) The evaluation and treatment facility must not discharge a minor admitted under RCW 71.34.600 based solely on the minor's request.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 71.05.560, 71.24.035, 71.34.375, 71.34.500, 71.34.510, 71.34.520, 71.34.610, 71.34.620, 71.34.630, 71.34.640, 71.34.650, 71.34.750, and 2011 c 302. WSR 12-21-133, § 388-865-0578, filed 10/24/12, effective 11/24/12.]

RCW 71.05.560, 71.24.035, 71.34.375, 71.34.500, 71.34.510, 71.34.520, 71.34.610, 71.34.620, 71.34.630, 71.34.640, 71.34.650, 71.34.750, and 2011 c 302. WSR 12-21-133, § 388-865-0578, filed 10/24/12, effective 11/24/12.