H0222 Summary

• Establishes the Secure Treatment Facility Act, authorizing the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to operate a secure facility for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities who pose a substantial threat to others' safety and have serious mental illness.

• Facility must include locked grounds and residential units, exit alarms, monitoring cameras in common areas, modified interiors to reduce suicide risk, and restricted access to potential weapons.

• Admission requires a primary diagnosis of developmental disability and serious mental illness, adult age, court commitment under criminal or civil law, and court finding that the person presents a substantial threat to others' safety if not treated in a secure setting.

• Director determines actual disposition to the facility considering less-restrictive alternatives, facility capacity, and availability of appropriate care; persons may appeal redisposition to the facility within 30 days and request court review of continued appropriateness.

• Persons retain civil rights under existing law including access to attorneys and advocates, with limitations on communication and visitation permitted only as part of individual treatment plans with documentation and appeal rights to the department's human rights committee.