                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS; DUTY TO PROTECT THIRD PARTIES; IMMUNITY (§
54.1-2400.1)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Certified substance abuse counselor&#8221; means a person certified to
provide substance abuse counseling in a state-approved public or private
substance abuse program or facility.
			&#8220;Client&#8221; or &#8220;patient&#8221; means any person who is
voluntarily or involuntarily receiving mental health services or substance abuse
services from any mental health service provider.
			&#8220;Clinical psychologist&#8221; means a person who practices clinical
psychology as defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3600.
			&#8220;Clinical social worker&#8221; means a person who practices social work
as defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3700.
			&#8220;Licensed practical nurse&#8221; means a person licensed to practice
practical nursing as defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3000.
			&#8220;Licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner&#8221; means any
person licensed to engage in the practice of substance abuse treatment as
defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3500.
			&#8220;Marriage and family therapist&#8221; means a person licensed to engage
in the practice of marriage and family therapy as defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3500.
			&#8220;Mental health professional&#8221; means a person who by education and
experience is professionally qualified and licensed in Virginia to provide
counseling interventions designed to facilitate an individual&#8217;s
achievement of human development goals and remediate mental, emotional, or
behavioral disorders and associated distresses which interfere with mental
health and development.
			&#8220;Mental health service provider&#8221; or &#8220;provider&#8221; refers
to any of the following: (i) a person who provides professional services as a
certified substance abuse counselor, clinical psychologist, clinical social
worker, licensed substance abuse treatment practitioner, licensed practical
nurse, marriage and family therapist, mental health professional, physician,
physician assistant, professional counselor, psychologist, qualified mental
health professional, registered nurse, registered peer recovery specialist,
school psychologist, or social worker; (ii) a professional corporation, all of
whose shareholders or members are so licensed; or (iii) a partnership, all of
whose partners are so licensed.
			&#8220;Professional counselor&#8221; means a person who practices counseling
as defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3500.
			&#8220;Psychologist&#8221; means a person who practices psychology as defined
in &#xA7; 54.1-3600.
			&#8220;Qualified mental health professional&#8221; has the same meaning as
provided in &#xA7; 54.1-3500.
			&#8220;Registered nurse&#8221; means a person licensed to practice
professional nursing as defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3000.
			&#8220;Registered peer recovery specialist&#8221; means a person who by
education and experience is professionally qualified and registered by the Board
of Counseling to provide collaborative services to assist individuals in
achieving sustained recovery from the effects of addiction or mental illness, or
both. A registered peer recovery specialist shall provide such services as an
employee or independent contractor of the Department of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Services, a provider licensed by the Department of Behavioral
Health and Developmental Services, a practitioner licensed by or holding a
permit issued from the Department of Health Professions, or a facility licensed
by the Department of Health.
			&#8220;School psychologist&#8221; means a person who practices school
psychology as defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3600.
			&#8220;Social worker&#8221; means a person who practices social work as
defined in &#xA7; 54.1-3700.

B. A mental health service provider has a duty to take precautions to protect
third parties from violent behavior or other serious harm only when the client
has orally, in writing, or via sign language, communicated to the provider a
specific and immediate threat to cause serious bodily injury or death to an
identified or readily identifiable person or persons, if the provider reasonably
believes, or should believe according to the standards of his profession, that
the client has the intent and ability to carry out that threat immediately or
imminently. If the third party is a child, in addition to taking precautions to
protect the child from the behaviors in the above types of threats, the provider
also has a duty to take precautions to protect the child if the client threatens
to engage in behaviors that would constitute physical abuse or sexual abuse as
defined in &#xA7; 18.2-67.10. The duty to protect does not attach unless the
threat has been communicated to the provider by the threatening client while the
provider is engaged in his professional duties.

C. The duty set forth in subsection B is discharged by a mental health service
provider who takes one or more of the following actions:

   1. Seeks involuntary admission of the client under Article 16 (&#xA7; 16.1-335
   et seq.) of Chapter 11 of Title 16.1 or Chapter 8 (&#xA7; 37.2-800 et seq.) of
   Title 37.2.

   2. Makes reasonable attempts to warn the potential victims or the parent or
   guardian of the potential victim if the potential victim is under the age of
   18.

   3. Makes reasonable efforts to notify a law-enforcement official having
   jurisdiction in the client&#8217;s or potential victim&#8217;s place of
   residence or place of work, or place of work of the parent or guardian if the
   potential victim is under age 18, or both.

   4. Takes steps reasonably available to the provider to prevent the client from
   using physical violence or other means of harm to others until the appropriate
   law-enforcement agency can be summoned and takes custody of the client.

   5. Provides therapy or counseling to the client or patient in the session in
   which the threat has been communicated until the mental health service
   provider reasonably believes that the client no longer has the intent or the
   ability to carry out the threat.

   6. In the case of a registered peer recovery specialist, or a qualified mental
   health professional who is not otherwise licensed by a health regulatory board
   at the Department of Health Professions, reports immediately to a licensed
   mental health service provider to take one or more of the actions set forth in
   this subsection.

D. A mental health service provider shall not be held civilly liable to any
person for:

   1. Breaching confidentiality with the limited purpose of protecting third
   parties by communicating the threats described in subsection B made by his
   clients to potential third party victims or law-enforcement agencies or by
   taking any of the actions specified in subsection C.

   2. Failing to predict, in the absence of a threat described in subsection B,
   that the client would cause the third party serious physical harm.

   3. Failing to take precautions other than those enumerated in subsection C to
   protect a potential third party victim from the client&#8217;s violent
   behavior.

HISTORY: 1994, c. 958; 1997, c. 901; 2005, c. 716; 2010, cc. 778, 825; 2017, cc.
61, 417, 418, 426; 2018, cc. 171, 803; 2019, cc. 101, 217.