Bill of Rights for CAP

Each individual practitioner is responsible for complying with the law. Even if your organization has policies that conflict with the law, as a regulatee, you are still responsible for your conduct.

Client bill of rights requirement

The last section of the new law requires each practitioner to provide each client with a client bill of rights prior to service (Minn. Stat. Sec. 146A.11). A client bill of rights must also be posted in a prominent location in the office. The purpose of the client bill of rights is to give all clients access to relevant information about the complementary and/or alternative service they will receive, and information about how to file a complaint if they are dissatisfied. There is specific statutory language which must be copied identically from the statute. This language is in quotations. Also, each client must sign a statement showing that s/he received the bill of rights.

See: Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 146A.11 Bill of Rights

Is there a bill of rights form?

No, MDH will not be providing a form. The language in the statute states what information needs to be provided and how it is provided to each client. It would be impossible for MDH to anticipate all possible practice types and develop a form that would fit everyone. Without a form, practitioners can fit the statutory requirements to their practice. Some practitioners work in organizations with over 100 employees and their format will probably be different from a solo practitioner. You can change the order of the information required in the bill of rights from what appears in the statute. If you change the order, make sure to include all the required statements and information as required in statute.

Repeat clients

Do you have to keep giving the client the bill of rights each time a repeat client comes in, even if it is several times a week?

The statute does not address this issue. MDH informs callers that it is not necessary to keep giving the same client the client bill of rights every time they come in. However, if the information on the client bill of rights changes or some period of time has passed since the client last received a bill of rights, you should hand it out again. The purpose is to make sure every one of your clients has easy and direct access to this information. Giving a client bill of rights to every client even if they are repeat clients is the safest course of action. If MDH were reviewing your compliance with the bill of rights requirement, we would consider whether all of your clients were treated the same, had the same easy access to the bill of rights, whether the posted bill of rights was located in a prominent location, whether repeat clients would feel free to ask for another client bill of rights if they had misplaced their original one, and other issues related to client rights to information about your services.