Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 38, September 20, 2024
A. No
mental health agency shall interfere with a client's right to acquire, retain
and dispose of personal property, including the right to maintain an individual
bank account, except where:
1. The client is
under guardianship, conservatorship, or has a representative payee;
2. Otherwise ordered by court; or
3. A particular object, other than money or
personal funds, poses an imminent threat of serious physical harm to the client
or others. Any restriction on the client's control of property deemed to pose
an imminent threat of serious physical harm shall be recorded in the client's
record together with the reasons the particular object poses an imminent threat
of serious physical harm to the client or others.
B. If a mental health agency, which offers
assistance to its clients in managing their funds, takes possession or control
of a client's funds at the request of the client, guardian, or by court order,
the mental health agency shall issue a receipt to the client or guardian for
each transaction involving such funds. If deposited funds in excess of $250 are
held by the mental health agency, where the likelihood of the client's stay
will exceed 30 days, an individual bank account or an amalgamated client trust
account shall be maintained for the benefit of the client. All interest shall
become the property of the client or the fair allocation of the interest in the
case of an amalgamated client trust account. The mental health agency shall
provide a bond to cover client funds held.
1.
Unless a guardian, conservator, or representative payee has been appointed, the
client shall have an unrestricted right to manage and spend deposited
funds.
2. The mental health agency
shall obtain prior written permission from the client, the guardian or
conservator for any arrangement involving shared or delegated management
responsibilities. The permission shall set forth the terms and conditions of
the arrangement.
3. Where the
mental health agency has shared or delegated management responsibilities, the
mental health agency shall meet the following requirements:
a. Client funds shall not be applied to goods
or services which the mental health agency is obligated by law or funded by
contract to provide, except as permitted by a client fee schedule authorized by
the Administration;
b. The mental
health agency and its staff shall have no direct or indirect ownership or
survivorship interest in the funds;
c. Such arrangements shall be accompanied by
a training program, documented in the ISP, to eliminate the need for such
assistance;
d. Staff shall not
participate in arrangements for shared or delegated management of the client's
funds except as representatives of the mental health agency;
e. Any arrangements made to transfer a client
from one mental health agency to another shall include provisions for
transferring shared or delegated management responsibilities to the receiving
mental health agency;
f. The client
shall be informed of all proposed expenditures and any expression of preference
within reason shall be honored; and
g. Expenditures shall be made only for
purposes which directly benefit the client in accordance with the client's
interests and desires.
4. A record shall be kept of every
transaction involving deposited funds, including the date and amount received
or disbursed, and the name of the person to or from whom the funds are received
or disbursed. The client, guardian, conservator, mental health agency or
regional human rights advocate or other representative may demand an accounting
at any reasonable time, including at the time of the client's transfer,
discharge or death.
5. Any funds so
deposited shall be treated for the purpose of collecting charges for care the
same as any other property held by or on behalf of the client. The client or
guardian shall be informed of any possible charges before the onset of
services.
