WCHO Recipient Rights

Yet another meeting...

The Washtenaw Community Health Organization is our local Community Mental Health agency that serves people with developmental disabilities as well as people with mental illness and substance abuse problems. Anyone who suspects that a person receiving services through the WCHO has had his or her rights violated may file a complaint with the WCHO Office of Recipient Rights. It is especially important for employees of provider agencies to file complaints on behalf of the people they work with and it is a serious offense if they fail to do this.

Rights violations include various degrees of neglect and abuse, unnecessary invasion of privacy and confidentiality, unsafe living conditions, failing to provide services suitable to the person's needs, failing to treat the person and family with dignity and respect, to name just a few. The Policies and Procedures for the CMH Partnership of Southeast Michigan provides comprehensive information on the rights of people served in the mental health system.

The Recipient Rights Advisory Committee for the WCHO met on June 18, 2009 to review recent data on rights complaints. The data for the second quarter of this fiscal year (January through March, 2009) shows a large increase in the number of complaints received over the same quarter last year (118 versus 66 last year) as well as a large increase in the number of substantiated allegations (allegations that the Recipient Rights determined to be rights violations). This year there were 72 substantiated complaints as opposed to 30 last year during the same quarter.

There have been serious problems with one provider agency that has generated a number of complaints, but this is not enough to explain the increase. The most complaints have been from residential group homes for the developmentally disabled (19) and supported living placements (39). Supported living placements are unlicensed and serve up to 4 people with developmental disabilities with services provided in the home.

Only two of the incident reports came from families or guardians with 58 originating from the Office of Recipient Rights, 25 from recipients, and 24 from staff. It is especially important for families and guardians to be aware of complaint procedures and to use them when problems arise to ensure accountability and to correct problems within the system of care.

For more information on rights violations, go to the WCHO Recipient Rights Web site on how to file a complaint.

The Recipient Rights Advisory Committee meets quarterly with the next meeting in September 2009. There are two openings on the committee. If you are interested in joining the committee or have other questions about recipient rights, contact:

Shane Ray, Recipient Rights Supervisor
(734) 544-3000
rays@ewashtenaw.org