CLIENT’S RIGHTS

It is the policy of the State of North Carolina to assure basic human rights to each client. These rights include:

1. The right to dignity, privacy, humane care, and freedom from mental and physical abuse, neglect and exploitation.
    
2. The right to treatment regardless of age or degree of mental illness, developmental disability or substance abuse.
    
3. The right to a written treatment plan.
    
4. The right to confidentiality except when the client (or legally responsible person) consents in writing to the release of information or a court compels disclosure or a clinician believes there is an imminent danger to the health or safety of a client or another individual.  A responsible professional involved in the client’s treatment may deem that a disclosure is warranted and permitted or required under the provisions of NCGS 122C, Article
    
5. The right to request and receive information in one’s record as specified in NCGS 122C, Article 3.
    
6. The right to be informed of the potential risks and alleged benefits of the treatment choices and to consent or to refuse any treatment.
    
7. The right of any adult client to exercise all civil rights as a citizen of North Carolina.
    
8. The right to be free of corporal punishment. Physical restraint or seclusion may be imposed only when there is imminent danger of abuse or injury to oneself or to others.  Search or seizure may be conducted only by a person legally responsible for the client or a law enforcement officer.
    
9. The right to contact the Governor’s Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities (GAPCD), the statewide agency to protect and advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities.
    
10. The right to file a grievance by informing one’s clinician, or area program case manager, or the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, or the North Carolina Board of Licensed Psychologists. The right to have the grievance and response documented in the record and submitted to the area program.