Bill of Rights for the Mentally Retarded

Bill of Rights for the Mentally Retarded - States that the purpose of this Act is to establish standards which assure the humane care, treatment, habilitation, and protection of the mentally retarded in residential facilities, and to improve the system for the provision of services to the mentally retarded through the encouragement of and support for the planning and development of strategies to implement such standards, minimize inappropriate admissions to residential facilities and stimulate the development of regional and community programs integrating such residential facilities which conform to such standards.

Provides for a new title to the Public Health Service Act: Title XI: Support of Residential Facilities for the Mentally Retarded - Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants to States to aid them with the cost of bringing existing residential facilities into compliance with the standards established under this Act, and to improve existing residential facilities for the mentally retarded.

Authorizes to be appropriated $30,000,000 ($15,000,000 for each program) for fiscal year 1974, and for each of the next two succeeding fiscal years, for such grants.

Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to enable the Secretary to make grants to States for the purpose of assisting States in meeting the expenses for bringing publicly operated facilities and publicly assisted facilities into conformity with the standards established by this Act.

Stipulates that any State desiring to receive such a grant shall submit a plan to the Secretary setting forth a schedule for compliance with such standards.

Provides that the total of the grants with respect to any such project bringing facilities into conformity with the standards imposed by this Act may not exceed 75 percent of the necessary cost thereof as determined by the Secretary.

Requires, within five years after the date of enactment of this Act, that no residential facility for the mentally retarded shall be eligible to receive payments either directly or indirectly under any Federal law, unless such facility meets the standards promulgated under this Act.

Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to any public or private non-profit agency, organization or institution to meet the costs of development, improvement, extension, or expansion of community resources and community living situations for the mentally retarded other than live-in-residential facilities for the mentally retarded.

Establishes a National Advisory Council on Standards for Residential Facilities for the Mentally Retarded to: (1) advise the Secretary with respect to any regulations promulgated or proposed in the implementation of the standards established under this Act; (2) study and evaluate such standards authorized by this Act; and (3) recommend to the Secretary any changes, revisions, modifications, or improvements in the standards established under this Act.

Provides that the ultimate aim of the residential facility shall be to foster those behaviors that maximize the human qualities of the resident, increase the complexity of his behavior, and enhance his ability to cope with his environment.

Requires such facilities to be located within, and conveniently accessible to, the population served, so as to have access to necessary generic community services.

Provides that the facility and the surrounding community should be encouraged to share their services and resources on a reciprocal basis. Provides that residents of the facility should be integrated to the greatest possible extent with the general population. Provides that the facility shall have a written outline of the philosophy, objectives, and goals it is striving to achieve. Requires such outline to be available for distribution to staff, consumer representatives, and the interested public.

Provides that the governing body of the facility shall exercise general direction and shall establish policies concerning the operation of the individuals served. Provides that the administration of the facility shall provide for effective staff and resident participation and communication.

Requires the facility to designate a percentage of its operating budget for self-renewal purposes. Provides that the facility shall have a description of services for residents that is available to the public. Provides that the facility shall provide for meaningful and extensive consumer-representative and public participation.

Provides that a public education and information program should be established that utilizes all communications media, and all service, religious and civil groups, to develop attitudes of understanding and acceptance of mentally retarded persons in all aspects of community living.

Provides that admission and release procedures shall: (1) encourage voluntary admission; (2) give equal priority to persons of comparable need; (3) facilitate emergency, partial, and short-term residential care; and (4) utilize the maximum feasible amount of voluntariness in each individual case.

Authorizes the residential facility to admit only residents who have had a comprehensive evaluation. Provides that all admissions to the residential facility shall be considered temporary.

Provides that there shall be a regular, at least annual, joint review of the status of each resident by all relevant personnel. Provides that at the time of permanent release or transfer there shall be recorded a summary of findings, progress, and plans for protective supervision and other followup services in the resident's new environment. Provides that the performance of each employee of the facility shall be evaluated at least annually.

Provides that staffing shall be sufficient so that the facility is not dependent upon the use of residents or volunteers for productive services.

Provides that food services shall recognize and provide for the physiological, emotional, and cultural needs of each resident, through provision of a planned, nutritionally adequate diet.

Provides that each resident shall have an adequate allowance of neat, clean, fashionable, and seasonable clothing.

Provides that residents shall be trained to exercise maximum independence in health, hygiene, and grooming practices. Provides that living unit components or groupings shall be small enough to insure the development of meaningful interpersonal relationships among residents and between residents and staff.

Requires dental services to be provided all residents in order to maximize their general health by maintaining an optimal level of daily oral health, through preventive measures and correcting existing oral diseases.

Provides that educational services, defined as deliberate attempts to facilitate the intellectual, sensorimotor, and affective development of the individual, shall be available to all residents, regardless of chronological age, degree of retardation, or accompanying disabilities or handicaps.

Provides that food and nutrition services shall be provided in order to: (1) insure optimal nutritional status of each resident, thereby enhancing his physical, emotional, and social well-being; and (2) provide a nutritionally adequate diet, in a form consistent with developmental level, to meet the dietary needs of each resident.

Makes library services, which include the location, acquisition, organization, utilization, retrieval, and delivery of materials in a variety of media, available to the facility, in order to support and strengthen its total habilitation program by providing complete and integrated multimedia information services to both staff and residents.

Provides that medical services shall be provided in order to: (1) achieve and maintain an optimal level of general health for each resident; (2) maximize normal function and prevent disability; and (3) facilitate the optimal development of each resident.

Provides that residents shall be provided with nursing services, in accordance with their needs, in order to: (1) develop and maintain an environment that will meet their total health needs; (2) foster optimal health; (3) encourage maximum self-care and independence; and (4) provide skilled nursing care.

Provides that, where appropriate to the facility, there shall be a pharmacy and therapeutics committee, that includes one or more pharmacists, to develop policy on drug usage in the facility, and to develop and maintain a current formulary.

Provides that physical and occupational therapy services shall be provided in order to: (1) prevent abnormal development and further disability; (2) facilitate the optimal development of each resident; and (3) enable the resident to be a contributing and participating member of the community in which he resides.

Requires psychological services to be provided in order to facilitate, through the application of psychological principles, techniques, and skills, the optimal development of each resident.

Provides that recreation services should provide each resident with a program of activities that: (1) promotes physical and mental health; (2) promotes optimal sensorimotor, cognitive, affective, and social development; (3) encourages movement from dependent to independent and interdependent functioning; and (4) provides for the enjoyable use of leisure time.

Makes religious services available to residents, in accordance with their basic right to freedom of religion.

Provides that all social services shall be available to all residents and their families in order to foster and facilitate: (1) maximum personal and social development of the resident; (2) positive family functioning; and (3) effective and satisfying social and community relationships.

Provides that speech pathology and audiology services shall be available, in order to: (1) maximize the communications skills of all residents; and (2) provide for the evaluation, counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation of those residents with speech, hearing and/or language handicaps.

Requires each facility to provide all its residents with rehabilitation services, which include the establishment, maintenance, and implementation of those programs that will ensure the optimal development or restoration of each resident physically, psychologically, socially and vocationally.

Provides that volunteer services shall be provided in order to enhance opportunities for the fullest realization of the potential of each resident by: (1) increasing the amount, and improving the quality, of services and programs; and (2) facilitating positive relationships between the facility and the community which it serves.

Provides that a record shall be maintained for each resident that is adequate for: (1) planning and continuous evaluating of the resident's habilitation program; (2) providing a means of communication among all persons contributing to the resident's habilitation program; (3) furnishing documentary evidence of the resident's progress and of his response to his habilitation program; (4) serving as a basis for review, study, and evaluation of the overall programs provided by the facility for its residents; (5) protecting the legal rights of the residents, facility, and staff; and (6) providing data for use in research and education.

Provides that the administration of the facility shall make provision for the design and conduct, or the supervision, of research that will objectively evaluate the effectiveness of program components and contribute to informed decisionmaking in the facility.

Provides that the requirements of the Secretary shall be met, with specific reference to the following: (1) provision of adequate and alternate exits and doors; and (2) provision of exit ramps, with nonskid surface and slope not exceeding one foot in twelve; and (3) provision for handrails on stairways.

Provides that there shall be records that document strict compliance with the sanitation, health, and environmental safety codes of the State or local authorities having primary jurisdiction over the facility.

Provides that adequate, modern administrative support shall be provided to efficiently meet the needs of, and contribute to, program services for residents, and to facilitate attainment of the goals and objectives of the facility.

Provides that funds shall be budgeted and spent in accordance with the principles and procedures of program budgeting.

Provides that there shall be written purchasing policies regarding authority and approvals for supplies, services, and equipment.