Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 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.
