PRINTER'S NO. 1401
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1309
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY SCHLOSSBERG, FREEMAN, GUENST, HILL-EVANS,
HOHENSTEIN, HOWARD, KENYATTA, MADDEN, NEILSON, SAMUELSON AND
SANCHEZ, APRIL 30, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, APRIL 30, 2021
AN ACT
Providing for establishment of suicide death review teams, for
duties of Department of Health, for confidentiality of
suicide death review team records and criminal and civil
liability protections.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Suicide Death
Review Act.
Section 2. Declaration of purpose.
The General Assembly finds and declares that the purpose of
this act is to authorize local communities to establish suicide
death review teams as multi-disciplinary teams assembled to
conduct confidential reviews of suicide death cases in
compliance with all applicable Federal and State laws regarding
confidentiality.
Section 3. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
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have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"County." A county of the first class, second class, second
class A, third class, fourth class, fifth class, sixth class,
seventh class and eighth class.
"Deceased individual." An individual who died by suicide.
"Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth.
"Local department of health." Any of the following:
(1) A local department of health established by a
municipality.
(2) A single-county department of health or joint-county
department of health established under the act of August 24,
1951 (P.L.1304, No.315), known as the Local Health
Administration Law.
"Municipality." A county, city, borough, incorporated town
or township.
"Suicide death review team." A suicide death review team
established under section 4(a).
Section 4. Establishment of suicide death review teams.
(a) Establishment.--A local department of health shall
establish a suicide death review team for purposes specified
under this act. The suicide death review team shall consist of
the following individuals selected by the local department of
health:
(1) An individual licensed as a physician or an
osteopathic physician who practices as a psychiatrist.
(2) An individual licensed as a psychologist.
(3) A county coroner or medical examiner.
(4) A local behavioral health director or a designee.
(5) An individual who is a member of the education
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community with experience related to existing and potential
suicide prevention efforts for students in primary and
secondary schools.
(6) An individual who is a member of the law enforcement
community with experience related to existing and potential
suicide prevention efforts for individuals who are involved
with the law enforcement system.
(7) A representative of an organization that advocates
for persons with mental illness and their family members.
(8) Any other individual deemed necessary by the local
department of health to administer the suicide death review
team's duties under this act, including an individual with
experience and knowledge regarding health, social services,
law enforcement, education, emergency medicine, mental
health, juvenile delinquency, adult and juvenile probation or
drug and alcohol abuse.
(c) Duties.--A suicide death review team shall have all of
the following duties:
(1) Upon receipt of a report of a suicide death that has
been forwarded to the suicide death review team, conduct a
multi-disciplinary review of all available information on the
deceased individual.
(2) Establish policies and procedures for pooling all
available information on suicide deaths from State, county
and local agencies, law enforcement and private entities that
comply with all applicable Federal and State laws regarding
confidentiality.
(3) Identify points of contact between the deceased
individual and health care systems, social services systems,
criminal justice systems and other systems involved with the
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deceased individual.
(4) Identify the risk factors that put individuals at
risk for death by suicide within the suicide death review
team's jurisdiction.
(5) Promote cooperation and coordination across State,
county and local agencies involved in suicide investigations.
(6) Recommend improvements in sources of information
relating to investigating reported suicide deaths, including
standards for the uniform and consistent reporting of suicide
deaths by law enforcement or other emergency service
responders within the suicide death team review's
jurisdiction.
(7) Recommend improvements to State laws and local
partnerships, policies and practices to prevent deaths by
suicide.
(d) Chair, vacancies and meetings.--A suicide death review
team shall select a chair by a majority vote of a quorum of the
suicide death review team's members. A majority of the suicide
death review team's members shall constitute a quorum. The
suicide death review team shall meet at least quarterly to
conduct business and review suicide death cases transmitted to
the suicide death review team. A vacancy in the suicide death
review team shall be filled in accordance with subsection (a).
(e) Interviews.--If a suicide death review team opts to
contact a family member or caregiver of the deceased individual
to conduct an interview with the family member or caregiver, the
suicide death review team shall develop protocols for initiating
the contact and conducting the interview. The protocols shall be
based on trauma-informed care principles and address all of the
following:
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(1) The suicide death review team's collection, use and
disclosure of information and records to the family member or
caregiver.
(2) Providing notice to the family member or caregiver
that the interview is voluntary.
(3) Ensuring that information attained from the
interview is confidential.
(f) Annual report.--A suicide death review team shall
summarize and share priority recommendations and aggregated,
non-individually identifiable findings in an annual report. A
local department of health shall publish the annual report under
this subsection on the local department of health's publicly
accessible Internet website for use by staff for a variety of
purposes, including evaluations, policy considerations and
health care program enhancements. The annual report under this
section shall comply with confidentiality requirements under
section 6(b).
Section 5. Duties of department.
The department shall have all of the following duties:
(1) Assist in collecting the reports of a suicide death
review team.
(2) Provide technical assistance to a suicide death
review team in conducting suicide death reviews.
(3) Facilitate communication among suicide death review
teams.
(4) Transmit available information to an appropriate
suicide death review team regarding a suicide death in the
suicide death review team's jurisdiction, including all of
the following information:
(i) The deceased individual's age, race, gender,
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county of residence and county of death.
(ii) The date, manner, cause and specific
circumstances of the suicide death as recorded on the
deceased individual's completed death certificate.
(5) Providing a suicide death review team access to all
of the following:
(i) Information and records maintained by a health
care provider related to the deceased individual's
physical health, mental health and substance abuse
disorder treatment.
(ii) Any relevant information and records maintained
by a State or local agency, including any of the
following:
(A) The deceased individual's criminal history
records and records of probation and parole if the
transmission of the records does not affect an
ongoing criminal investigation.
(B) The deceased individual's access to various
lethal means, social service records, school records
and educational histories and coroner or medical
examiner records, including autopsy and toxicology
reports.
(6) Promulgate regulations necessary to implement this
act.
Section 6. Confidentiality of suicide death review team
records.
(a) Meetings.--A suicide death review team meeting shall be
closed to the public and information discussed at the meeting
shall be deemed confidential.
(b) Records.--The proceeding, records and opinions reviewed
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by a suicide death review team shall remain confidential and may
not be disclosed under the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6,
No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law. The proceedings, records
and opinions of a suicide death review team shall be
confidential and may not be subject to discovery, subpoena or
introduction into evidence in a criminal or civil proceeding. A
member of a suicide death review team may not be questioned in a
criminal or civil proceeding regarding information presented in
or opinions formed as a result of a meeting of the suicide death
review team. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to
prevent a member of a suicide death review team from testifying
in a criminal or civil proceeding to information obtained
independently of the suicide death review team or which is
public information.
Section 7. Criminal and civil liability protections.
An individual who, in good faith, participates as a member of
a suicide death review team or provides information to achieve
the duties of a suicide death review team may not be subject to
criminal or civil liability as a result of the participation or
information.
Section 8. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 30 days.
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