Client's Rights & Responsibilities

Client’s Rights & Responsibilities

Southeast Mental Health Services wishes to inform you of your rights & responsibilities as a willing client. Your clinician will tell you your rights and/or answer any questions about these rights during your first two (2) visits with us.

1.         You have a right to be treated with respect and dignity by all staff as a respected client of the Center.

Ø  We expect you to treat us with respect & dignity as well.

2.         You have a right to receive services which fit your own needs and that involves you in setting goals and in the rest of your counseling. You have a right to be treated in the least restrictive setting as long as we have the on hand resources. Please ask your clinician what least restrictive setting means. You have a right to have your treatment plan reviewed every 180 days by your clinician and supervisor involved in carrying out your treatment plan.

Ø  Your responsibility is to tell your clinician what you need.

3.         You have a right to have your clinician tell you about the treatment and medication that will be used, including the benefits, any risks, side effects and to provide information about other treatment options, if there are any available. You have a right to refuse any of the services as a willing client of the Center unless there becomes an emergency in which you may be dangerous to yourself or others, or gravely disabled due to a mental illness, or in those cases where a court order requires your participation in receiving services.

Ø  You are responsible to tell the clinician when you don’t fully understand, want to find out more information, when you experience any risks or side effects, when you want to end treatment or change clinicians.

4.         This Center holds the privacy of your records extremely important and we will fully protect your privacy as required by law. Complete information regarding how we may use and share information about you either with or without your special permission can be seen in our Notice of Privacy Practices. Your clinician will give you a copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices. If you feel your privacy rights have been broken, you may contact the Privacy Officer or the Department of Human Services. You are entitled to receive a copy of the complaint rules made in agreement with the Division of Mental Health rules at this Center. The advocate will explain these rules if they are hard for you to understand and you have a right to have them written in the language that you understand.

Ø  If you feel your privacy has been broken, it is your responsibility to report it.

5.         You have several rights regarding your health information:

a)      the right to look at it with your clinician at the center and copy your health information at your own expense

b)      the right to ask for a change if you feel the information is not complete or not correct,

c)      the right to a listing of certain hand outs of your information,

d)     the right to request to be contacted at a certain telephone number and/or address

e)      the right to limit the amount of sharing we would do of your health information.

Ø  If you don’t understand these rules, it is your responsibility to ask.

Ø  You are responsible to give advanced notice to the clinician so you can look at your information.

Ø  It is your responsibility to tell your clinician which telephone number and/or address you want us to contact you at.

6.         You have a right to file a grievance concerning the denial of services or treatment through the Division of Mental Health approved complaint rules at this Center. An advocate will fully inform you of the rules and help you in this process.

You can contact the advocate, Myriah Hagerman at 711 Barnes Ave. La Junta, CO 81050 or at one of the following phone numbers: 1-800-511-5446 or 719-384-5446.

The services you receive will not be at risk and you will not be punished for filing a complaint.

Ø  It is your responsibility to start the complaint process by talking to the advocate.

7.         As part of the admission rules at this Center, you will be asked to sign a required statement. This required statement will tell you of your clinician’s professional degree assigned to provide treatment to you.

Ø  It is your responsibility to ask about the professional degree if you want to know more.

8.         If it is necessary to change your clinician, you will be given reasons for the asked for change and we will seek your cooperation, except in events beyond our control in the orderly transfer from one clinician to another.

9.         You have the right to end your treatment at this Center unless under involuntary treatment certification. Please ask your clinician what involuntary treatment certification means. We also have the right to end services we provide to you for proper clinical reasons or for other special reasons that will be fully explained to you at the time of your services ending.

10.     You have the right to have an Advanced Directive. You have a right to receive services whether or not you have an Advanced Directive.

Ø  If you need help to develop an Advanced Directive, it is your responsibility to ask your clinician or   the Consumer and Family Advocate, Myriah Hagerman at 711 Barnes Ave. La Junta, CO 81050 or at one of the following phone numbers: 1-800-511-5446 or 719-384-5446.

07/28/09