2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 52 - College of Occupational Therapy Professionals of Puerto Rico (§§ 1047 — 1056) › § 1050 - Purpose and objectives

(1) The College of Occupational Therapy Professionals of Puerto Rico shall have the following purposes and objectives:
(a) Provide the training of occupational therapy professionals through training and continuing education courses in accordance with the needs of the population which they serve in the different areas: pediatrics, physical dysfunction, mental health and geriatrics, among others.
(b) Promote and oversee compliance with the code of ethics that directs the profession, together with the Board, and contribute to the formulation and interpretation of the standards of professional ethics thereof.
(c) Guarantee that the services offered by both public and non-governmental institutions are of high-quality and directed by the professional practice and ethical standards established by the profession for the benefit and protection of persons who receive occupational therapy services.
(d) Develop and implement community service programs for the benefit of the consumers of the services and the general population.
(e) Promote initiatives directed toward basing the professional practice on the evidence obtained by recent research on the study of the value of occupation in the life of human beings so that appropriate intervention may be offered, according to the needs of the consumer.
(f) Promote the development of research and related activities that may support or validate the evaluation and intervention methods used in the profession.
(g) Establish relations or affiliations with colleges, analogous associations or entities relative to occupational therapy to promote shared activities to the benefit of the consumers of the services and the profession, in accordance with the rules of reciprocity, courtesy and others.
(h) Contribute toward the establishment and development of work relationships that are characterized by a high sense of sensibility and commitment to the population served.
(i) Oversee the well-being and protection of the approval of meritorious laws and defend them from any prejudicial law.
(j) Work with other purposes in accordance with the health services rendering needs in Puerto Rico.
(2) The College shall have the following powers:
(a) To subsist and operate under its name.
(b) To adopt and use an official seal, which it may alter at will, as provided in the bylaws.
(c) To adopt bylaws as provided in a General Assembly, which shall be compulsory for all its members, and submit them to any amendments necessary in the manner and under the requirements established in their norms.
(d) To sue and be sued as a juridical person.
(e) To acquire rights and property, personal and real, through purchase, donation, exchange, bequeathal or any other legal means; to own, mortgage, lease or dispose thereof in any legal manner and in accordance with its bylaws.
(f) To make loans and constitute sureties for the payment of such duly approved commitments, as provided in the approved bylaws in effect.
(g) To appoint its directors, employees and officers.
(h) To create voluntary participation insurance systems and special protection funds for its members.
(i) To provide, through the bylaws, after prior consultation of the members in ordinary or special assembly, for the collection of membership fees.
(j) To exercise the incidental and necessary or convenient powers to fulfill its obligations and purposes in accordance with this chapter.
History —Dec. 11, 2007, No. 183, §§ 5 and 6.