Legal Rights of Persons With Disabilities - Ossh.com

institution; an adult with a developmental disability has a legal right to make choices, including with whom and
where he or she will live. (Welf. & Inst. Code, ' 4502.) A person who has a developmental disability may be
involuntarily placed in an institution only if he or she is a danger to himself or herself, or to others, and if
evidence of such danger is proven in court. (Welf. & Inst. Code, ' 6500.) The following persons may request
the filing of a petition for commitment: (a) the parent, guardian, conservator, or other person charged with the
support of the person with a developmental disability; (b) the probation officer; (c) the Youth Authority; (d) any
person designated for that purpose by the judge of the court; (e) the Director of Corrections; or (f) the regional
center director or his or her designee. (Welf. & Inst. Code, ' 6502.)
A person may be judicially committed to an institution only after court proceedings to determine
whether they constitute a danger to themselves or others. At these proceedings, a person has a right to
representation by an attorney and a right to a jury trial. If a person is judicially committed, the commitment
order expires after one year unless further court proceedings are started to extend the period of commitment.
(Welf. & Inst. Code, ' 6500.) A person must be judicially committed to the least restrictive residential setting
necessary to achieve the purposes of treatment. (Welf. & Inst. Code, '' 4502, subd. (a), and 6509.)
A person may be voluntarily placed in an institution only upon referral from a regional center. (Welf. &
Inst. Code, '' 4653 and 4803.)
In 1981, the California Supreme Court ruled that persons with developmental disabilities who are
unable to provide informed consent regarding their placement in a state developmental center are entitled to a
judicial review regarding the need for, and appropriateness of their placement. (In re Hop (1981) 29 Cal.3d 82.)
An adult with a developmental disability placed in a state hospital at the request of a family member is not
considered a voluntary admittee merely because the person neither protests nor knowingly agrees to the
placement. (Ibid.) A person must give a knowing and intelligent waiver of rights or participate in a judicial
hearing with representation by counsel. (Ibid.)
C. Rights of Persons With Developmental Disabilities in Institutions
Federal law guarantees that persons with developmental disabilities placed in institutions have a right
to safety, to provision of care that is free of abuse, neglect, sexual and financial exploitation, and violations of
legal and human rights, to freedom from bodily or chemical restraint, and to reasonable training necessary to
protect those interests. (42 U.S.C. ' 15009; Youngberg v. Romeo (1982) 457 U.S. 307.) In California,
residents of state hospitals or community care facilities also have the following rights:
$ to treatment and habilitation services and support in the least restrictive environment;
$ to wear their own clothes, to keep and use personal possessions, and to keep and spend a reasonable
sum of money for small purchases;
$ to have access to individual storage space for private use;
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