2005 Montana Code Annotated - 53-20-148 — Right to habilitation.

     53-20-148. Right to habilitation. (1) Persons admitted to residential facilities have a right to habilitation, including medical treatment, education, and care suited to their needs, regardless of age, degree of retardation, or disabling condition. Each resident has a right to a habilitation program that will maximize the resident's human abilities and enhance the resident's ability to cope with the environment. Every residential facility shall recognize that each resident, regardless of ability or status, is entitled to develop and realize the resident's fullest potential. The facility shall implement the principle of normalization so that each resident may live as normally as possible.
     (2) Residents have a right to the least restrictive conditions necessary to achieve the purposes of habilitation. To this end, the facility shall make every attempt to move residents from:
     (a) more to less structured living;
     (b) larger to smaller facilities;
     (c) larger to smaller living units;
     (d) group to individual residences;
     (e) segregated from the community to integrated into the community living;
     (f) dependent to independent living.
     (3) Within 30 days of admission to a residential facility, each resident must have an evaluation by appropriate specialists for programming purposes.
     (4) Each resident must have an individualized habilitation plan formulated by an individual treatment planning team. This plan must be implemented as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after the resident's admission to the facility. An interim program of habilitation, based on the preadmission evaluation conducted pursuant to this part, must commence promptly upon the resident's admission. Each individualized habilitation plan must contain:
     (a) a statement of the nature of the specific limitations and the needs of the resident;
     (b) a description of intermediate and long-range habilitation goals, with a projected timetable for their attainment;
     (c) a statement of and an explanation for the plan of habilitation for achieving these intermediate and long-range goals;
     (d) a statement of the least restrictive setting for habilitation necessary to achieve the habilitation goals of the resident;
     (e) a specification of the professionals and other staff members who are responsible for the particular resident's attaining these habilitation goals;
     (f) criteria for release to less restrictive settings for habilitation, based on the resident's needs, including criteria for discharge and a projected date for discharge.
     (5) As part of the habilitation plan, each resident must have an individualized postinstitutionalization plan that includes an identification of services needed to make a satisfactory community placement possible. This plan must be developed by the individual treatment planning team that shall begin preparation of the plan upon the resident's admission to the facility and shall complete the plan as soon as practicable. The parents or guardian or next of kin of the resident, the responsible person appointed by the court, if any, and the resident, if able to give informed consent, must be consulted in the development of the plan and must be informed of the content of the plan.
     (6) In the interests of continuity of care, one qualified mental retardation professional shall whenever possible be responsible for supervising the implementation of the habilitation plan, integrating the various aspects of the habilitation program, and recording the resident's progress as measured by objective indicators. The qualified mental retardation professional is also responsible for ensuring that the resident is released when appropriate to a less restrictive habilitation setting.
     (7) The habilitation plan must be reviewed monthly by the qualified mental retardation professional responsible for supervising the implementation of the plan and must be modified if necessary. In addition, 6 months after admission and at least annually thereafter, each resident must receive a comprehensive psychological, social, habilitative, and medical diagnosis and evaluation and the resident's habilitation plan must be reviewed and revised accordingly by the individual treatment planning team. A habilitation plan must be reviewed monthly.
     (8) Each resident placed in the community must receive transitional habilitation assistance.
     (9) The superintendent of the residential facility, or the superintendent's designee, shall report in writing to the parents or guardian of the resident or the responsible person at least every 6 months on the resident's habilitation and medical condition. The report must also state any appropriate habilitation program that has not been afforded to the resident because of inadequate habilitation resources.
     (10) Each resident, the parents or guardian of each resident, and the responsible person appointed by the court must promptly upon the resident's admission receive a written copy of and be orally informed of all the above standards for adequate habilitation, the rights accorded by 53-20-142, and other information concerning the care and habilitation of the resident that may be available to assist them in understanding the situation of the resident and the rights of the resident in the facility.

     History: En. 38-1222 by Sec. 22, Ch. 468, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 37, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 38-1222; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 485, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 20, Ch. 381, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 69, Ch. 472, L. 1997.