New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services › Subchapter D - Adult-Care Facilities › Part 490 - Standards For Residences For Adults › Section 490.5 - Resident protections

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
		    Resident rights.
(1) Each operator must adopt
		    a statement of rights and responsibilities of residents and treat each resident
		    in accordance with the principles contained in the statement.
(2) A copy of the statement of rights issued
		    by the department must be posted in a conspicuous location in a public area of
		    the facility, provided to each resident upon admission, and reviewed with the
		    resident annually thereafter.
(3)
		    The operator of a residence for adults must afford each resident the right:
(i) to, at all times:
(a) receive courteous, fair and respectful
		    care and treatment ;
(b) have their
		    dignity preserved;
(c) be free from
		    coercion and restraint; and
(d) not
		    be physically, mentally or emotionally abused or neglected in any
		    manner;
(ii) to exercise
		    his/her civil rights and religious liberties, and to make personal decisions,
		    including the choice of physician and to have the assistance and encouragement
		    of the facility in exercising these rights and liberties;
(iii) to have private written and verbal
		    communications or visits with anyone of his/her choice, or to deny or end such
		    communications or visits;
(iv) to
		    send and receive mail or any correspondence unopened and without interception
		    or interference;
(v) to present
		    grievances or recommendations on their own behalf or the behalf of other
		    residents to the administrator or facility staff, the Department of Health,
		    other government officials, or any other parties without fear of reprisal or
		    punishment;
(vi) to join other
		    residents or individuals inside or outside the facility to work for improvement
		    in resident care;
(vii) to
		    confidential treatment of personal, social, financial and health
		    records;
(viii) to have privacy in
		    their own room and sleeping unit, and in treatment and in caring for personal
		    needs, with only the resident and appropriate staff having access;
(ix) to receive a written admission or
		    residency agreement, detailing the services regularly provided by the facility
		    operator, those additional services which will be provided if the resident
		    needs or asks for them and the charges (if any) of these additional
		    services;
(x) to manage their own
		    financial and personal affairs, including the right to determine from whom
		    medical services are received, provided such services are within the provider's
		    scope of practice;
(xi) to select a
		    private room if one is available and affordable to the resident. Residents in
		    shared rooms shall be afforded choice of roommates and the operator shall make
		    all reasonable efforts to accommodate such expressed choice;
(xii) to decorate their room to taste and in
		    compliance with all applicable local and state fire and safety codes;
(xiii) to neither be restrained in any way
		    nor locked in a room at any time;
(xiv) to be permitted to engage in activities
		    outside the facility to the degree the resident prefers;
(xv) to control their own schedule and
		    activities and have access to reasonably available foods of preference at any
		    time;
(xvi) to not be coerced or
		    required to perform the work of staff members or contractual work for the
		    facility, but the resident must be afforded the opportunity to seek employment
		    and work in the greater community if he or she so chooses, and if the resident
		    performs work on behalf of the facility, to receive fair compensation from the
		    operator of the facility;
(xvii) to
		    have security for any personal possessions if stored by the facility;
(xviii) to have recorded on the facility's
		    accident or Incident Report the resident's version of the events leading up to
		    the accident or incident;
(xix) to
		    object if the operator terminates the admission or residency agreement against
		    the resident's will. The operator shall provide instructions for formally
		    making an objection if requested by the resident.