New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 14 - DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE › Chapter XIII - Office of Mental Health › Part 527 - Rights Of Patients › Section 527.2 - Legal base

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Section 7.07  of the Mental Hygiene Law gives the
				Office of Mental Health responsibility for seeing that the personal and civil
				rights of persons with mental illness receiving care and treatment are
				adequately protected.
(b) Section 7.09  of the Mental Hygiene Law authorizes
				the commissioner to adopt regulations necessary and proper to implement any
				matter under his jurisdiction. Such section also requires the commissioner to
				promulgate regulations to address the communications needs of
				non-English-speaking individuals seeking or receiving services in facilities
				operated or licensed by the Office of Mental Health.
(c) Sections 10.06 and
				10.10  of the Mental Hygiene Law give the
				Office of Mental Health responsibility for providing care, treatment, and
				control to sex offenders confined or committed to a secure treatment facility,
				as defined in section 10.03 of such law.
(d) Article 31 of the Mental Hygiene Law
				authorizes the commissioner to visit and inspect all services for persons with
				mental illness in the State, and requires providers of certain mental health
				services to have an operating certificate issued by the Office of Mental
				Health. Section 31.04 of such law further empowers the commissioner to issue
				regulations setting standards for licensed programs for the rendition of
				services for persons with mental illness.
(e) Section 33.02  of the Mental Hygiene Law
				establishes statutory rights of persons with mental disabilities and requires
				the commissioner to publish regulations informing residents of facilities or
				programs operated or licensed by the Office of Mental Health of their rights
				under law.
(f) Section 33.05  of the Mental Hygiene Law provides
				that each patient or resident in a facility shall have the right to communicate
				freely and privately with persons outside the facility as frequently as he or
				she wishes, subject to regulations of the commissioner designed to assure the
				safety and welfare of patients and to avoid serious harassment to
				others.
(g) Section 401  of the Correction Law provides that the
				Office of Mental Health and the Department of Corrections and Community
				Supervision shall be jointly responsible for the administration and operation
				of programs for the care and treatment of inmates with mental illness who are
				in need of psychiatric services but who do not require hospitalization for the
				treatment of mental illness.
(h)
				Article 29-C of the Public Health Law establishes the right of competent adults
				to appoint an agent to make health care decisions in the event they lose
				decisionmaking capacity. Article 29-C further empowers the Office of Mental
				Health to establish regulations regarding the creation and use of health care
				proxies in mental health facilities.
(i) The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
				1990 (Public Law
				101-508, sections 4206 and 4751) requires that
				institutional providers participating in the Medicare or Medical Assistance
				programs inform patients about their rights, under State law, to express their
				preferences regarding health care decisions.