APRN/LCSW/LPC/LMFT Emergency Certificate
Pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes Section 17a-503:
"Any clinical social worker licensed under chapter 383b or advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 378 who (1) has received a minimum of eight hours of specialized training in the conduct of direct evaluations as a member of (A) any mobile crisis team, jail diversion program, crisis intervention team, advanced supervision and intervention support team, or assertive case management program operated by or under contract with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, or (B) a community support program certified by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and (2) based upon the direct evaluation of a person, has reasonable cause to believe that such person has psychiatric disabilities and is dangerous to himself or herself or others or gravely disabled, and in need of immediate care and treatment, may issue an emergency certificate in writing that authorizes and directs that such person be taken to a general hospital for purposes of a medical examination. The person shall be examined within twenty-four hours and shall not be held for more than seventy-two hours unless committed under section 17a-502. The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services shall collect and maintain statistical and demographic information pertaining to emergency certificates issued under this subsection.”
History: Sec. 17-183a transferred to Sec. 17a-503 in 1991; P.A. 93-227 amended Subsec. (b) by requiring examination within 24 hours rather than 48 hours and added Subsec. (c) re issuance of emergency certificate by psychologist; P.A. 95-257 replaced variants of “mental illness” and “mentally ill” with variants of “psychiatric disabilities”, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 00-147 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (b) and added new Subsec. (d) re issuance of emergency certificates by certain clinical social workers and advanced practice registered nurses; P.A. 08-21 amended Subsec. (d)(1) by removing “under this subsection” and adding “crisis intervention team, advanced supervision and intervention support team” re permissible forms of specialized training in conducting direct evaluations, effective April 29, 2008; P.A. 10-60 amended Subsec. (d)(1) by designating existing provision re team or program membership as Subpara. (A) and adding Subpara. (B) re specialized training as member of community support program certified by department; P.A. 19-117 added Subsec. (e) re issuance of emergency certificate in correctional facilities by advanced practice registered nurse, effective July 1, 2019; P.A. 22-92 amended Subsec. (d) by adding reference to professional counselor and marital and family therapist and making technical changes.
This certificate must be completed, signed and dated by an APRN/LCSW/LPC/LMFT clinician of an approved DMHAS program prior to transport.
A copy of the original (white) must be faxed to the Attn of DMHAS Community Services Division at 860-418-6857 within 3 days of completion.
To request APRN/LCSW/LPC/LMFT Emergency Certificates, call DMHAS at (860) 418-7000. Please specify your request for the "APRN/LCSW/LPC/LMFT Emergency Certificate” form and provide your agency name and address.
For general questions regarding the Emergency Certificate, please contact Erika.Echevarria@ct.gov or Lisa.Zurolo@ct.gov
For questions regarding Emergency Certificate training, please contact the DMHAS Office of Workforce Development at workforce.development@ct.gov