Rights Of Outpatients In All Outpatient Programs Licensed Or Run By The Office Of Mental Health

From the Commissioner of Mental Health

One of our important roles at the State Office of Mental Health is to offer meaningful information to help people make choices and
decisions about mental health issues.

It is our hope that an understanding of the rights of outpatients will help foster respectful relationships between people who use mental
health services, family members, staff people and members of the community.

Ann Marie T. Sullivan, M.D.

New York State Commissioner of Mental Health

The rights of people in outpatient mental health programs are protected by both law and regulation.

The State Office of Mental Health (OMH) licenses outpatient programs in five categories clinic, continuing day treatment, day
treatment for children, intensive psychiatric rehabilitation treatment and partial hospitalization. In 2005, OMH also began a phased
implementation process for the issuance of Personalized Recovery Oriented Services (PROS) licenses. A new comprehensive recovery-
oriented program model that integrates treatment, support and rehabilitation services, PROS has four service components: Community
Rehabilitation and Support; Intensive Rehabilitation; Ongoing Rehabilitation and Support; and Clinical treatment. Generally, you will
not stay overnight in an outpatient program.

Your civil rights continue if you participate in an outpatient program. The law specifically mentions your continued right to register
and vote in elections, apply for permits and licenses, take civil service tests and apply for jobs and be appointed without discrimination
if you qualify.

Under the law you have the right to be treated confidentially, with respect and dignity by all staff people.

Treatment or access to programs may not be limited or denied because of race, creed, color, sex, national origin, age, marital status, or
disabilities which are unrelated to treatment. If you think that you are being discriminated against on any of these grounds or if you
believe that you are a victim of mental, verbal, physical or sexual abuse this booklet tells where you may file an official complaint.

The fact that you are receiving psychiatric treatment does not mean you are mentally incompetent. You are considered legally
competent unless a judge has ruled that you are incompetent.

people have recurring episodes of mental illness, these documents may be of particular interest to people who use mental health
services. The documents allow you to provide instructions about your future treatment, to be used later if you are unable to give
instructions at the time you are being treated.

Basic Information

When you are admitted to an outpatient program or shortly after, you should be informed about your rights. These rights may be
restricted only upon written order of a physician. Any such order must be placed in your clinical record and must state the clinical
justification for the limitation and the specific time period when it will remain in effect. Your rights may not be limited as punishment
or for the convenience of staff people.
 Rights of Outpatients in all outpatient programs licensed or run by the Office of Mental Health
2

These rights include:

The right to freedom from abuse and mistreatment by employees.
The right to a reasonable degree of privacy, including bathroom privacy.
The right to an individualized service plan and a full explanation of the services provided, and the right to participate in the
development of your individualized service plan.
nts
to the director of the program or the organizations listed at the back of this booklet.
The right to receive clinically appropriate care and treatment suited to your needs and skillfully, safely and humanely
administered with full respect for your dignity and personal integrity.
The right to be treated in a way which acknowledges and respects your cultural environment.

In a separate category, your outpatient program may inform you about these additional elements, although they are not rights set forth
in law or regulation:
The name of the staff member who will have primary responsibility, for example, as your principal contact person or personal
service coordinator.
Alternate treatments available to you.
The rules of conduct in your program.
The cost of treatment.
The limit, if there is one, on how long you can stay in the program.

The authority under which the program operates.

Participation and Objections

For most people, participating in an outpatient program is voluntary. Occasionally someone is ordered by a court to obtain outpatient
.
While your full participation in the program is a central goal, if you object to your individualized service plan, or if it is not working
to your satisfaction and you want it changed, that alone is not reason to discharge you from the program. Periodically, you can expect
to review your plan with staff people to look at your progress. You can be discharged if participation is no longer clinically appropriate
or if you engage in conduct which poses a risk of physical harm to yourself or others.

You have the right to make an informed choice on whether you will participate in research projects. These could involve new
medications, a series of questions posed by an interviewer or questionnaires. If you refuse to participate, a program cannot use that as
grounds to deny you further treatment. If you decide to participate, your signed informed consent is required.

Privacy and Confidentiality

The law protects your right to privacy and confidentiality during treatment. This includes conversations between you and staff people
who provide services, and information in your record. You have the right to see your treatment record unless there is a clinical reason
why you should not, and to request that your physician discuss your treatment record with you. You may ask to have your record sent
to any other service provider or your attorney. If you are under age 18, a parent or legal guardian may make this request.

The Office of Mental Health will provide you with a separate Notice of Privacy Practices that will tell you how we use and disclose
your confidential mental health treatment information. It will also tell you what your rights are with regard to your mental health
treatment information, and who you can contact if you have questions or a complaint about how we have used or shared your treatment
records.

Generally, information from your treatment record cannot be released without your written consent. In limited circumstances, however,
the law may allow or require release of records or information to certain individuals, governmental agencies or provider organizations.
Most disclosures will be noted in your record, and you are entitled to learn about them upon request. The law states that notations do
not have to be kept when records are disclosed to the Mental Hygiene Legal Service, quality of care reviewers or government finance
agents dealing with payments. The law also says that for disclosures made to insurance companies licensed under the State Insurance
Law, such a notation needs to be entered only at the time the disclosure is first made.
 Rights of Outpatients in all outpatient programs licensed or run by the Office of Mental Health
3

Access to Records

You must be given an opportunity to inspect your clinical record when you have submitted a written request. The law does allow some
limitations on this access, based on clinical justification. A program can impose a reasonable charge for all inspections and copies. The
charge cannot exceed what these services actually cost the program. In no case can a program charge more than 75 cents per page.

If you disagree with some part of your record, you can submit a written statement challenging the information in the record to be
permanently attached to the record.

Problems or Complaints

to each
person upon admission, and post the rights in a conspicuous location. If you have a problem or complaint, the person who runs the
program is responsible for making sure your rights are protected. If this does not work, or is inappropriate, there are other organizations
that can help.

FOR ASSISTANCE:

- Chief Compliance Officer

Deborah DiMicco

(845) 452-1420 x106

NYS Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs
161 Delaware Avenue
Delmar, New York 12054-1310
General Phone:
518-549-0200
Relay users, please dial Dial 7-1-1 and give the operator (518) 549-0200
Email for general inquiries: [email protected]

Report Abuse
1-855-373-2122 (staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
Relay users, please dial 7-1-1 and give the operator 1-855-373-2122

Report a Death
1-855-373-2124

Office of the Executive

Executive Director Denise Miranda
Executive Deputy Director Laura Darman
518-549-0200

Accessibility
NYS Accessibility Coordinator 518-473-0234
Language Assistance
1-800-624-4143 (Monday through Friday 9am-5pm)

New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled
401 State Street, Schenectady, NY 12305
Telephone (518) 388-2888

Protection and Advocacy for Individuals Who Are Mentally Ill (PAIMI) Disability Advocates
5 Clintron Square, Albany, NY 12207
Telephone: (518) 432-7861
 Rights of Outpatients in all outpatient programs licensed or run by the Office of Mental Health
4

Mental Hygiene Legal Service

Third Judicial Department
40 Steuben Street, Suite 501, Albany, NY 12207

National Alliance on Mental Illness

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of New York State
260 Washington Ave., Albany NY 12210
Telephone: (518) 462-2000

NAMI Mid-Hudson Inc.

(845) 206-9892
[email protected]
P.O. Box 787
Poughkeepsie, NY 12602

Office of Mental Health

New York State Office of Mental Health
44 Holland Ave., Albany NY 12229
Toll free: 1-800-597-8481, En Espanol: 1-800-597-8481

Hudson River Field Office

10 Ross Circle, Suite 5N, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Telephone: (845) 454-8229
Fax: (845) 454-8218

________________________________________________________ ______________________
12/19/24
Signature of Youth Date

________________________________________________________
Jaxton Valleau
Print Name