N.J. Admin. Code § 10:37-4.5

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 19, October 7, 2024

Section 10:37-4.5 - Client rights

(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.

N.J. Admin. Code § 10:37-4.5