§43A-5-505.

§43A-5-505.
   
   A. A child may be admitted to a mental health facility willing to
   admit the child for inpatient treatment upon application and with the
   consent of a parent having custody of the child as follows:
   
   1. A child sixteen (16) years of age or older may be admitted to a
   willing mental health facility for inpatient treatment upon the joint
   application and consent of the child and the child's parent; and
   
   2. The consent of a child under the age of sixteen (16) is not
   required for admission pursuant to the provisions of this section.
   
   B. Upon the application of a parent of the child, a mental health
   facility may admit the child for inpatient mental health evaluation or
   treatment if the person in charge of the mental health facility or a
   designee and a licensed mental health professional determines the
   child to be clinically eligible for such admission.
   
   1. A child may be eligible for admission for inpatient evaluation
   when, after a prescreening examination, a licensed mental health
   professional determines and states in writing that there is reasonable
   cause to believe that the child may be in need of mental health
   treatment and that such evaluation is necessary to properly determine
   the condition of the child and the mental health treatment needs of
   the child, if any.
   
   2. A child may be eligible for inpatient mental health treatment when,
   after an outpatient or inpatient mental health evaluation, a licensed
   mental health professional determines and states in writing that in
   his or her professional opinion the child is a child in need of mental
   health treatment and:
   
   a. the child appears to have a mental illness serious enough to
   warrant inpatient treatment and is reasonably likely to benefit from
   the treatment, and
   
   b. based upon the following, inpatient treatment is determined to be
   the least restrictive alternative that meets the needs of the child:
   
   (1) reasonable efforts have been made to provide for the mental health
   treatment needs of the child through the provision of less restrictive
   alternatives and such alternatives have failed to meet the treatment
   needs of the child, or
   
   (2) after a thorough consideration of less restrictive alternatives to
   inpatient treatment, the condition of the child is such that less
   restrictive alternatives are unlikely to meet the mental health
   treatment needs of the child, and
   
   c. the child has been provided with a clinically appropriate
   explanation of the nature and purpose of the treatment, and
   
   d. if the child is sixteen (16) years of age or older, the child has
   been provided with an explanation of the child's rights under this act
   as they would apply if the child were to object to admission, and the
   child has consented to admission.
   
   3. If admission or transfer from a private mental health facility to a
   state-operated mental health facility is sought, the community mental
   health center serving the area in which the child resides shall
   provide the mental health evaluation required by this section and
   shall ensure that the necessary written findings have been made before
   approving the admission.
   
   4. A copy of the written findings of the evaluation required by this
   section shall be provided to the consenting parent and the parent
   shall have the opportunity to discuss the findings with the person
   conducting the evaluation.
   
   C. The determinations and written statements of a licensed mental
   health professional made pursuant to this section shall, upon the
   admission of the child for inpatient evaluation or treatment, be made
   a part of the medical record of the child.
   
   D. Inpatient treatment of a child admitted under this section may not
   exceed ninety (90) consecutive days unless continued inpatient
   treatment has been authorized by appropriate hospital medical
   personnel, based upon their written findings that the criteria set
   forth in subsection B of this section continue to be met, after such
   persons have examined the child and interviewed the consenting parent
   and reviewed reports submitted by members of the facility staff
   familiar with the child's condition.
   
   E. Any child admitted under this section while younger than sixteen
   (16) years of age and the child's consenting parent shall be informed
   orally and in writing by the director of the facility for inpatient
   treatment within five (5) days prior to the child's sixteenth birthday
   that continued voluntary treatment under the authority of this section
   requires the child's consent.
   
   F. 1. If the parent who consented to a child's admission under this
   section revokes such consent at any time, or if a child sixteen (16)
   or older objects at any time to further treatment, the child shall be
   discharged within forty-eight (48) hours to the custody of such
   consenting parent, unless the parent of the child refusing or revoking
   such consent or, when the parent revokes such consent, the facility,
   requests the district attorney to file a petition alleging the child
   to be a child in need of mental health treatment and to require
   inpatient treatment in accordance with the provisions of subsection B
   of Section 5-506 of this title.
   
   2. In such cases, the child may be detained up to three (3) days,
   excluding weekends and legal holidays, pending the filing of the
   petition and if a petition is filed, the child may be detained in the
   mental health facility only upon an order of the court pending hearing
   on the petition and further order of the court.
   
   G. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to prohibit or
   preclude an emergency admission of a child to a mental health facility
   when the condition of the child warrants such admission. Whenever the
   admission of a child who has been admitted to a mental health facility
   as an emergency patient continues for longer than seventy-two (72)
   hours for the purpose of continued inpatient evaluation or treatment
   the provisions of subsection B of this section shall apply.