Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 38, September 20, 2024
A. The agency
director before whom a grievance or request for investigation has been
initiated shall immediately take whatever action may be reasonable to protect
the health, safety and security of any client, witness, individual filing the
grievance or request for investigation, or individual on whose behalf the
grievance or request for investigation is filed.
B. Summary disposition.
1. A mental health agency or the
Administration may summarily dispose of any grievance or a request for an
investigation where the alleged rights violation or condition occurred more
than one year immediately prior to the date on which the grievance or request
is made.
2. A mental health agency
or the Administration who receives a grievance or request which is primarily
directed to the level or type of mental health treatment provided to a client,
which can be fairly and efficiently addressed within the procedures set forth
in Article 3 and in
R9-21-401, and which do not
directly or indirectly involve any rights set forth in A.R.S. Title 36 or
Article 2, may refer the grievance for resolution through the Individual
Service Plan process or the appeal process in
R9-21-401.
C. Disposition without investigation.
1. Within seven days of receipt of a
grievance or request for an investigation, a mental health agency or the
Administration may promptly resolve a grievance or request without conducting a
full investigation, where the matter:
a.
Involves no dispute as to the facts;
b. Is patently frivolous; or
c. Is resolved fairly and efficiently within
seven days without a formal investigation.
2. Within seven days of receipt of the
grievance or request described in subsection (C)(1), the mental health agency
or the Administration shall prepare a written, dated decision.
a. The decision shall explain the essential
facts, why the mental health agency or the Administration believes that the
matter is appropriately resolved without the appointment of an investigator,
and the resolution of the matter.
b. The mental health agency or the
Administration shall send copies of the decision to the parties, together with
a notice of appeal rights according to A.R.S. §
41-1092.03, and to anyone else
having a direct interest in the matter.
3. After the expiration of the appeal period
without appeal by any party, or after the exhaustion of all appeals and subject
to the final decision on the appeal, the mental health agency or the
Administration shall promptly take appropriate action and prepare and add to
the case record a written, dated report of the action taken to resolve the
grievance or request.
D.
Matters requiring investigation.
1. If the
matter complained of cannot be resolved without a formal investigation
according to the criteria set forth in subsection (C)(1), within seven days of
receipt of the grievance or request the mental health agency or the
Administration shall prepare a written, dated appointment of an impartial
investigator who, in the judgment of the mental health agency or the
Administration, is capable of proceeding with the investigation in an objective
manner but who shall not be:
a. Any of the
persons directly involved in the rights violation or condition requiring
investigation; or
b. A staff person
who works in the same administrative unit as, except a person with direct line
authority over, any person alleged to have been involved in the rights
violation or condition requiring investigation.
2. Immediately upon the appointment of an
investigator, the mental health agency or the Administration shall notify the
person filing the grievance or request for investigation in writing of the
appointment. The notice shall contain the name of the investigator, the
procedure by which the investigation will be conducted and the method by which
the person may obtain assistance or representation.
E. If a client is a client who needs special
assistance, the mental health agency or the Administration shall immediately
send a copy of the grievance or request to the Office of Human Rights and the
Independent Oversight Committee with jurisdiction over the agency and shall
send a copy of all decisions required by this Chapter made by the mental health
agency or the Administration regarding the grievance or request to the Office
of Human Rights and the Independent Oversight Committee with jurisdiction over
the agency.
