Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) This section
shall apply to all State-funded mental health programs. Any questions related
to service delivery, denial or termination of services shall be an appropriate
subject for review. Any client, applicant, or person who has been a client
within the last three months or his/her designee, parent or guardian, shall
have the right to seek review. Such persons shall be identified below as
"clients."
(b) Establishment of
complaint procedure: Each agency shall establish internal client complaint
procedures which will be subject to Division review and approval at the time of
the agency's annual request for State funding.
1. Explanation to clients: Each client shall
be made aware of the existence of a complaint procedure at second,
non-emergency contact. Written notice, as well as a verbal explanation of
agency complaint procedures, and external advocacy services which are directly
available to clients at all times, shall be given to each client at the
earliest appropriate opportunity. Under all circumstances, clients not accepted
for services shall be informed immediately of the State-wide advocacy services
available to them. Information regarding external advocacy services shall
minimally include the:
i. Community Mental
Health Law Project (if one exists in the client's county);
ii. County Mental Health Administrator in the
county;
iii. Division of Mental
Health and Hospitals' Ombudsperson;
iv. Division of Mental Health
Advocacy;
v. Division of Youth and
Family Services (for child abuse and/or neglect);
vi. County Welfare Agency (for adult
abuse).
2. Posting: The
information contained in the written notice required above shall be posted in a
prominent place in the agency's facilities.
(c) Designation of Agency Ombudsperson: The
Agency Director shall designate a staff person to function as Agency
Ombudsperson, on an as needed basis. Small agencies may choose to share staff
for this function.
(d)
Responsibilities of Agency Ombudsperson:
1.
The responsibilities of the Agency Ombudsperson shall be:
i. To receive client complaints;
ii. To act as an advocate for clients who
make complaints; and
iii. To
attempt to negotiate resolutions of issues raised by clients (Complaints shall
be investigated and negotiated within five working days.)
2. The Agency Ombudsperson shall submit a
written report of findings, resolutions and/or recommendations to the Agency
Director and to the client within seven working days of the complaint. If the
complaint has been resolved to the client's satisfaction, the grievance process
shall end at this point.
(e) Optional establishment of Internal Agency
Review Committee: The Agency may develop, by the Director's appointment or by
staff/client election, an interdisciplinary review committee. It is suggested
that such a Committee include an equal number of staff or Agency Board members
and clients of the Agency. If established, such a Committee should:
1. Receive and review complaints within three
working days of a request by a client or Agency Director;
2. Submit a written report of its findings
and recommendations to the Agency Director within five working days of
complaint.
3. Report to the
Division of Youth and Family Services complaints or allegations of abuse and/or
neglect, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.1 0.
(f) Internal Agency complaint resolution:
1. The Agency shall permit and encourage
clients who object to a decision of a therapist, counselor, or service
procurer, to consult with, and to obtain the opinion of, a second such person
either within or without the Agency.
2. If a complaint has not been resolved by
the Agency Ombudsperson to the client's satisfaction, the client may request
review by the Agency Director. If an Internal Agency Review Committee has been
established in the Agency, either the client or the Agency Director may request
review by that Committee. The Director shall make the final Agency-level
decision regarding the complaint, in a due process manner, as quickly as
possible.
3. If the complaint has
still not been resolved to the client's satisfaction, the client may request
review by the County Mental Health Board.
(g) Responsibility of the County Mental
Health Board:
1. The County Mental Health
Board, through its Administrator, shall receive and review complaints referred
from Agency Directors within five working days.
2. The County Mental Health Board shall make
its findings and recommendations known to the Agency Director and to the client
within seven working days of complaint. If the client is not satisfied with the
recommendations of the Board, or the Agency's response to these
recommendations, the client may request review by the Division.
(h) State-level review by the
Division:
1. A client may request a review by
the Division directly, and in confidence, at any time. Clients shall be
encouraged by the Division, however, to seek an Agency-level review first and
will be asked to justify the omission of an Agency or a County-level review.
The Division will advise the Agency and the County Mental Health Board of all
complaints received directly, unless the client, on notice, refuses to consent
to such disclosure.
2. The Division
may convene a Professional Review Committee, when needed, consisting of an
interdisciplinary team appropriate to the subject of the complaint. The
designees shall receive and review complaints referred by clients within five
working days and shall submit a written report of its findings and
recommendations to the Division Director within two more days.
3. The Division Director shall review this
report and submit recommendations to the Agency Director and the client within
seven working days. The Division shall determine if any formal State
remediation/funding compliance action is necessary based on the Agency's
response to these recommendations.
(i) Procedures not to limit access to other
remedies: These procedures are intended to be in addition to, rather than in
replacement of, any other remedies available to clients for the negotiation or
redress of complaints services delivery. It is not the intention of the
Division that clients be required to exhaust these procedures before seeking
negotiation or redress for complaints in any judicial or administrative
forum.
(j) No suspension of Agency
action during review: An Agency action which is the subject of a client
complaint need not be suspended pending review under these procedures. A
client, however, may request expedited, direct review by the Division at any
time, and such review shall be completed within 72 hours of the
request.
(k) Confidentiality: A
client who requests assistance with or review of a complaint by an Agency
Ombudsperson, Internal Agency Review Committee, Agency Director, County Mental
Health Board or the Division, shall be required to consent to the disclosure of
relevant records, in order to authorize persons providing assistance or review
to discuss the subject of the complaint with relevant Agency staff if
necessary.
