New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 37 - COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ACT › Subchapter 4 - CONSUMER REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM ELEMENTS › Section 10:37-4.5 - Client rights

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) This section
				shall apply to all State-funded mental health Program Elements. Inpatient
				Units, including 24-hour Supervised Treatment Homes providing crisis
				intervention services for children, are also required to comply with laws
				governing the treatment of persons admitted to inpatient psychiatric
				facilities, including but not limited to
				30:4-24,
				30:4-24.1,
				30:4-24.2 and
				30:4-24.3.
(b) Each client shall be made aware of the
				rights and privileges in receiving mental health services. Each agency shall
				establish a policy statement in this regard.
(c) Notice of the client's rights set forth
				in this chapter and any rules governing the conduct of clients with respect to
				an agency shall be given to each client within five days of admission. Such
				notice shall be in writing, and shall be supplemented by an offer to discuss or
				explain the written description. Explanations shall be in a language which the
				client understands. If the client cannot read the provisions of the notice, it
				shall be read to him/her.
(d) In
				the case of an adjudicated incompetent client, such procedure in (c) above
				shall be followed for the client's guardian. Receipt of the written notice
				shall be documented in the client's file.
(e) If the client or guardian refuses to
				acknowledge receipt of the notice, the person delivering the notice shall
				document this in the client's file.
(f) Subject to any other provisions of law,
				no client shall be deprived of any civil right solely by reason of his/her
				receiving mental health services, nor shall such services modify or vary any
				legal or civil right of any client.
(g) No client may be presumed to be
				incompetent because she/he has been examined or treated for mental illness,
				regardless of whether such evaluation or treatment was voluntarily or
				involuntarily received.
(h) All
				funded mental health programs shall provide their clients with the following
				rights, a list of which shall be prominently posted in all facilities and
				brought to the attention of clients as described in (b) above, and by
				additional means as the Division may require.
1. The right to be free from unnecessary or
				excessive medication. (See
				10:37-6.54.)
2. The right to not be subjected to
				non-standard treatment or procedures, experimental procedures or research,
				psycho-surgery, sterilization, electro-convulsive therapy or provider
				demonstration programs, without written informed consent, after consultation
				with counsel or interested party of the client's choice. (See N.J.A.C. 10:37-6,
				Article XV.)
i. If a client has been
				adjudicated incompetent, authorization for such procedures may be obtained only
				pursuant to the requirements of N.J.S.A. 30:4-24.2d(2).
3. The right to treatment in the least
				restrictive setting, free from physical restraints and isolation, provided,
				however, that a client in Inpatient Care may be restrained or isolated in an
				emergency pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 30:4-24.2d(3). (See N.J.A.C.
				10:37-6, Article XV.)
4. The right
				to be free from corporal punishment.
5. The right to privacy and
				dignity.
6. The right to the least
				restrictive conditions necessary to achieve the goals of
				treatment/services.
7. In inpatient
				or other residential care:
i. The right to
				normal opportunities for interaction with members of the opposite
				sex;
ii. The right of a client to
				wear his/her clothes; to keep and use his/her personal possessions including
				toilet articles; and to keep and be allowed to spend his/her own money for
				expenses and purchases;
iii. The
				right to have access to individual storage space for his/her private
				use;
iv. The right to see visitors
				each day;
v. The right to have
				reasonable access to and use of telephone, both to make and receive
				confidential calls;
vi. The right
				to have ready access to letter writing materials, including stamps, and the
				right to mail and receive unopened correspondence;
vii. The right to regular physical exercise
				several times a week;
viii. The
				right to be outdoors at regular and frequent intervals, in the absence of
				medical considerations;
ix. The
				right to practice the religion of his/her choice or abstain from religious
				practices. Provisions for such worship in Inpatient Care shall be made
				available to each person on a nondiscriminatory basis.
x. The right to receive prompt and adequate
				medical treatment for any physical ailment.
8. The rights in
				10:37-4.5(h)1  -4
				may not be denied under any circumstances;
9. The rights in
				10:37-4.5(h)5  -7
				may be denied to clients in Inpatient Care for good cause, in any instance in
				which the Director of the Program Element feels that it is imperative to deny
				any of these rights; provided, however, that under no circumstances shall a
				client's right to communicate with his/her attorney, physician or the courts be
				restricted.
i. Any such denial of a client's
				rights shall take effect only after a written notice of the denial, which
				includes an explanation of the reason for the denial has been filed in the
				client's record.
ii. Any such
				denial of a client's rights shall be effective for a period not to exceed 30
				days and may be renewed for additional 30-day periods only by a written
				statement entered by the Director of the Program Element in the client's
				treatment record which indicates the detailed reason for such denial or
				renewal.
10. Every
				client in Inpatient Care is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus upon proper
				petition by himself, by a relative, or a friend to any court of competent
				jurisdiction in the county in which she/he is detained and shall further be
				entitled to enforce any of the rights stated by civil action or other remedies
				otherwise available by common law or statute.