Holding Minors in Psychiatric Hospitals – Involuntarily

Posted on Aug. 28, 2024

California calls it: 5585. Civil Detainment
I am presenting California codes, but every state has its own statutes and regulations for placing minors on involuntary inpatient psychiatric holds. 
Why am I sounding the alarm? Recently, I attended a meeting where parents really let it rip! One mother stated her daughter was referred to a mobile psychiatric assessment unit, by her school, for saying she wanted to kill herself.  Her daughter was 12 years old and mad at Mom for not letting her wear a certain pink tennis shoes.  What can I say? Preteens.

Daughter gets placed on a 5585 – involuntary psychiatric hold-  and told she would only remain in the hospital for 72 hours. That did not happen. It  was more like 6 days. Daily her daughter was crying that she wanted to go home and denied wanting to kill herself.  The psychiatrist had only spoken to Mom for 5 minutes, informing Mom that antidepressants  should be prescribed. Mom agrees to the antidepressants and daughter ended up  experiencing  negative reactions from the antidepressants. Mom was only allowed to see daughter for 15 minutes during the five days hospitalization. There were no active symptoms meeting the DSM diagnostic impression for clinical depression.



Yes, many patient rights were violated. 



Not good.



Let’s start with the reminder that psychiatrists/clinicians MUST meet the standards of informed consent when prescribing antidepressants to minors. That means taking time to educate the parents on risk and benefits, symptoms identified and requiring treatment, collecting family history, discussing alternative treatment like psychotherapy only. Let me just say, in that situation over 7 codes were violated…starting with not meeting the standards of probable cause for the hold. 

Parents can report any clinician/Psych RN/psychiatrists to their respective professional board for “knowingly and willfully” writing or continuing a psychiatric hold if they fail to follow the civil detainment case law, regulations, and statutes. Also, the parent may have cause to sue for civil damages(Cal. WIC 5259.1).
Not good.
It is important to stay on track with the statutes, regulations, and court rulings to minimize your professional risk. Take this post as informational only, designed to keep all licensed mental health providers in good standing. Have questions; call a knowledgeable consultant.

Compliance, worth the investment.