42 U.S.C. § 15009 — Rights of individuals with developmental disabilities
submitted 26 years ago by Pub. L. 106-402 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 535 words · no verdicts yet
Congress recognizes rights to appropriate treatment, services, and habilitation for people with developmental disabilities, provided in the least restrictive setting. It identifies safety, medical care, restraint, visitation, residential, and nonresidential standards and says these rights add to other constitutional and legal rights.
(a) In general
(1) People with developmental disabilities have a right to appropriate treatment*, services, and habilitation consistent with section 15001(c). (2) These should maximize each person’s potential and be provided in the setting least restrictive of personal liberty. (3) Federal and State* governments must ensure public money goes only to institutional, residential, community, and educational programs that provide appropriate treatment, services, and habilitation and meet minimum standards: (A) care free from abuse, neglect, sexual and financial exploitation, and legal or human-rights violations, with no greater risk of harm than the general population; (B) appropriate and sufficient medical and dental care; (C) no physical restraint or seclusion unless absolutely necessary for immediate physical safety, and never as punishment or a substitute for habilitation; (D) no excessive chemical restraint and none used as punishment, substitute for habilitation, or in amounts interfering with services, treatment, or habilitation; and (E) close relatives or guardians may visit without advance notice. (4) All programs should meet standards designed for the best possible result. Residential programs serving people needing comprehensive health, habilitation, assistive technology, or rehabilitation services should meet standards at least equivalent to the Secretary’s June 3, 1988 intermediate-care-facility standards, as appropriate to facility size and service arrangements. Other residential programs should provide care suited to residents, admit only people whose needs the facility can meet, and provide humane, sanitary care protecting rights. Nonresidential programs should provide care appropriate to the people served.
(b) Clarification
These rights are additional to constitutional and other rights otherwise provided to everyone.
Congress makes the following findings respecting the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities:
Individuals with developmental disabilities have a right to appropriate treatment*, services, and habilitation for such disabilities, consistent with section 15001(c) of this title.
The treatment, services, and habitation 1 for an individual with developmental disabilities should be designed to maximize the potential of the individual and should be provided in the setting that is least restrictive of the individual’s personal liberty.
The Federal Government and the States both have an obligation to ensure that public funds are provided only to institutional programs, residential programs, and other community programs, including educational programs in which individuals with developmental disabilities participate, that—
provide treatment, services, and habilitation that are appropriate to the needs of such individuals; and
meet minimum standards relating to—
provision of care that is free of abuse, neglect, sexual and financial exploitation, and violations of legal and human rights and that subjects individuals with developmental disabilities to no greater risk of harm than others in the general population;
provision to such individuals of appropriate and sufficient medical and dental services;
prohibition of the use of physical restraint and seclusion for such an individual unless absolutely necessary to ensure the immediate physical safety of the individual or others, and prohibition of the use of such restraint and seclusion as a punishment or as a substitute for a habilitation program;
prohibition of the excessive use of chemical restraints on such individuals and the use of such restraints as punishment or as a substitute for a habilitation program or in quantities that interfere with services, treatment, or habilitation for such individuals; and
provision for close relatives or guardians of such individuals to visit the individuals without prior notice.
All programs for individuals with developmental disabilities should meet standards—
that are designed to assure the most favorable possible outcome for those served; and
in the case of residential programs serving individuals in need of comprehensive health-related, habilitative, assistive technology or rehabilitative services, that are at least equivalent to those standards applicable to intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded, promulgated in regulations of the Secretary* on June 3, 1988, as appropriate, taking into account the size of the institutions and the service delivery arrangements of the facilities of the programs;
in the case of other residential programs for individuals with developmental disabilities, that assure that—
care is appropriate to the needs of the individuals being served by such programs;
the individuals admitted to facilities of such programs are individuals whose needs can be met through services provided by such facilities; and
the facilities of such programs provide for the humane care of the residents of the facilities, are sanitary, and protect their rights; and
in the case of nonresidential programs, that assure that the care provided by such programs is appropriate to the individuals served by the programs.
The rights of individuals with developmental disabilities described in findings made in this section shall be considered to be in addition to any constitutional or other rights otherwise afforded to all individuals.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 106–402, title I, § 109, Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1692.)
- 2000Enacted · Pub. L. 106-402 · 114 Stat. 1692
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 106-402 on 2000-10-30.
all 0 arguments · sorted by: best
no arguments yet — make the first case