Consumer Rights

Mindoula values its members and respects their rights. Our team will work to make sure members always understand their rights. As a participating member of any Mindoula case management and service coordination program, our members have the right to:

1. The right to treatment and services that support a consumer’s liberty and result in positive outcomes to the maximum extent possible;
2. The right to participate in the development of an individualized, written treatment plan or program plan to be developed promptly after admission;
3. The right to participate in the development of an individualized, written treatment plan or program plan to be developed promptly after admission;
4. The right to participate in periodic review and reassessment of needs, and appropriate revisions of the plan, including a description of the services that may be needed for follow-up, every 90 days or as his or her needs change;
5. The right to receive a copy of his or her individualized treatment plan or program plan;
6. The right to ongoing informed participation in the treatment plan process;
7. The right to treatment based on the treatment plan or program plan;
8. The right to periodic evaluations related to his or her needs no less frequently than every 180 days while an active consumer of a behavioral health service;
9. The right to have present at any treatment planning or discharge planning meeting representatives of all disciplines providing treatment to the consumer and any other individual, including the consumer’s case manager and family members;
10. The right to treatment based on diagnosis and an assessment of the consumer’s needs and based on a treatment plan that identifies immediate needs and interventions and responsibility for implementing the plan;
11. The right to treatment and services in the least restrictive, most appropriate and potentially most effective setting possible;
12. The right of a consumer receiving care and treatment to receive it in accordance with accepted behavioral health and medical practice standards;
13. The right to treatment by trained and competent personnel capable of implementing the consumer’s individualized program plan or treatment plan;
14. The right to have recorded all treatments administrated;
15. The right to either give informed written consent for care or treatment or to object to or refuse treatment, including any aspect of the individualized program plan or treatment plan, at any time, provided that:
    • If informal discussion and negotiation do not resolve differences, a consumer’s right to object to or refuse treatment shall be recognized as legitimate, and shall be responded to in accordance with the provisions of the behavioral health service’s consumer grievance procedure;
    • A consumer who has refused psychotropic medication or other recommended therapy has the right to have an agreed-upon effective alternative treatment offered, and it shall be provided if the consumer consents and if within the scope of the behavioral health service’s practice;
    • A consumer has the right to orally refuse medication or other treatment that overrides prior written consent, except in emergency situations in which it is documented that the absence or medication or other treatment would be harmful to the consumer or others; and
    • In the absence of written consent, if treatment is provided to a consumer, he or she has the right to documentation of the precipitating causes for providing the treatment;
16. The right to a legal representative when unable to act on his or her own behalf;
17. The following rights related to an advance psychiatric directive:
    • The right to an advance psychiatric directive prepared at a time when the individual has not been adjudged to be incompetent;
    • The right to withdraw an advance psychiatric directive written and signed by the consumer verbally or in writing at any time;
    • The right to be informed by a behavioral health service of the availability and applicability of an advance psychiatric directive and to receive education and assistance from the behavioral health service in preparing such a document;
    • The right to refuse to create an advanced psychiatric directive;
    • The right to have his or her advanced psychiatric directive entered into his or her clinical record at a behavioral health service at which he or she is receiving or may receive care;
    • The right to have the advance psychiatric directive honored unless:
      • The consumer withdraws it verbally or in writing;
      • The behavioral health service lacks sufficient resources; or
      • A professional staff member of the behavioral health service believes that the directive would endanger the consumer’s life or be dangerous to others;
    • The right to be informed of a behavioral health service’s reason for not honoring his or her advance psychiatric directive;
18. The right to be free from involuntary experimentation, including the right to refuse to participate in or be subject to research or experimental treatment without first providing voluntary, informed, and written consent and receiving an opportunity to consult with independent specialists and with his or her legal representative;
19. The right to freedom from restraint or seclusion. Restraint and seclusion shall only be used in situations where there is imminent danger to the consumer or others, restraints are clinically necessary, and all less restrictive methods of control have been exhausted;
20. The right to a humane treatment environment in which personal dignity and self-esteem are promoted and the consumer is afforded full protection of his or her rights;
21. The right to confidentiality of records and all information about the consumer’s diagnosis and treatment, as provided by law;
22. The right to be informed about the limits of confidentiality, under West Virginia law, of the consumer’s records and information about his or her diagnosis or treatment;
23. The right to access his or her own consumer records in accordance with law;
24. The right to privacy and the right to move about freely, unless his or her safety or the safety of others is threatened;
25. The right to assert grievances, orally or in writing, with respect to the infringement of all rights, including the right to have all grievances considered in a fair, timely and impartial procedure, and further including the following:
    • The right to be informed of and receive a copy of the behavioral health service grievance procedure;
    • The right, of the consumer or another person acting on the consumer’s behalf, to file a grievance with the behavioral health service concerning any alleged violation of the rights afforded by this rule;
    • The right to discuss a grievance with their professional behavioral health care provider or with an advocate of his or her choosing;
    • The right to receive a reasonable and timely written decision from the behavioral health service;
    • The right, after receipt of the decision or lack of a timely decision on the grievance, to require a hearing by the Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources or bring action in circuit court against the behavioral health service;
    • The right to withdraw the grievance at any time;
    • The right to pursue other relief, even if he or she does not file a grievance; and
    • The right to report any reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect to civil and criminal authorities in accordance with the applicable adult protective services act or child protective services act, in addition to using the grievance procedure of the behavioral health service;
26. The right to unimpeded and private communication by any means with whomever a consumer choose, except that a consumer’s right to communication (except for that with his or her legal representative) may be restricted or denied if authorized by the treatment staff or the attending physician for a specified time not to exceed 30 days, after which the restriction may be reviewed and reinstated;
27. The right of access to an available advocate in order to understand, exercise and protect his or her rights;
28. The right to be informed in advance of any charges for services;
29. The right to all available services without discrimination because of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, national origin, or marital status;
30. The right not to be discriminated against because of the receipt of behavioral health services;
31. The right to exercise his or her civil rights;
32. The right to referral, as appropriate, to other providers of behavioral health services;
33. The right to be free from physical, verbal, sexual or psychological abuse or punishment;
34. The right not to be deprived of any right as punishment or for clinical reasons, except when an incident occurs related to the exercise of a right, the right may be deprived for clinical reasons, but only for as long as is necessary to permit correction of a situation;
35. The right to not have seclusion used as punishment, but only as an emergency measure to control imminent destructive behavior that is a threat to the consumer or others;
36. The right to not have physical restraints used as punishment or as a convenience for staff;
37. The right to be free from unnecessary or excessive medication;
38. The right to drugs or medication that is not used as punishment, for the convenience of staff, as a substitute for adequate staffing, as a substitute for programming, including an individualized program plan or treatment, or in quantities that interfere with the treatment program;
39. The right to be free from uncompensated labor that involves the operation and maintenance of a behavioral health service;
40. The right to have unlimited access to his or her funds except as provided by law; and
41. The right to be informed orally, in writing and in appropriate language and terms, of the rights described in this section.