(B) The agency shall have access to all mental health facilities as
defined in Sections 1-107 and 1-114 of the Mental Health and Developmental
Disabilities Code, all facilities as defined in Section 1-113 of the
Nursing Home Care Act, all facilities as defined in Section 1-102 of the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, all facilities as defined in Section 1-113 of the
ID/DD Community Care Act, all facilities as defined in Section 1-113 of the MC/DD Act, all facilities as defined in Section 2.06 of the Child
Care Act of 1969, as now or hereafter amended, and all other facilities
providing care or treatment to mentally ill persons. Such access shall be
granted for the purposes of meeting with residents and staff, informing
them of services available from the agency, distributing written
information about the agency and the rights of persons who are mentally
ill, conducting scheduled and unscheduled visits, and performing other
activities designed to protect the rights of mentally ill persons.
(C) The agency shall have access to all records of mentally ill
persons who are receiving care or treatment from a facility, subject to the
limitations of this Act, the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
Confidentiality Act, the Nursing Home Care Act and the Child Care Act of
1969, as now or hereafter amended. If the mentally ill person has a legal
guardian other than the State or a designee of the State, the facility
director shall disclose the guardian's name, address and telephone number
to the agency upon its request. In cases of conflict with provisions of
the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act and the Nursing Home Care Act,
the provisions of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act and the
Nursing Home Care Act shall apply. The agency shall also have access, for
the purpose of inspection and copying, to the records of a mentally ill
person (i) who by reason of his or her mental or physical condition is
unable to authorize the agency to have such access; (ii) who does not have
a legal guardian or for whom the State or a designee of the State is the
legal guardian; and (iii) with respect to whom a complaint has been
received by the agency or with respect to whom there is probable cause to
believe that such person has been subjected to abuse or neglect.
The agency shall provide written notice
to the mentally ill person and the State guardian of the nature of the
complaint based upon which the agency has gained access to
the records. No record or the contents of the record shall be redisclosed
by the agency unless the person who is mentally ill and the State guardian
are provided 7 days advance written notice, except in emergency situations,
of the agency's intent to redisclose such record. Within such 7-day
period, the mentally ill person or the State guardian may seek an
injunction prohibiting the agency's redisclosure of such record on the
grounds that such redisclosure is contrary to the interests of the mentally
ill person.
Upon request, the authorized agency shall be entitled to inspect and copy
any clinical or trust fund records of mentally ill persons which may further
the agency's investigation
of alleged problems affecting numbers of mentally ill persons. When
required by law, any personally identifiable information of mentally ill
persons shall be removed from the records. However, the agency may not
inspect or copy any records or other materials when the removal of
personally identifiable information imposes an unreasonable burden on any
facility as defined by the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
Code, the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, or the Child Care Act of 1969, or any other
facility providing care or treatment to mentally ill persons.
(D) Prior to instituting any legal action in a federal or State
court on behalf of a mentally ill individual, an eligible protection and
advocacy system, or a State agency or nonprofit
organization which entered into a contract with such an eligible system under
Section 104(a) of the federal Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill
Individuals Act of 1986, shall exhaust in a timely manner all
administrative remedies where appropriate. If, in pursuing administrative
remedies, the system, State agency or organization determines that any
matter with respect to such individual will not be resolved within a
reasonable time, the system, State agency or organization may pursue
alternative remedies, including the initiation of appropriate legal action.
(Source: P.A. 98-104, eff. 7-22-13; 99-180, eff. 7-29-15.)
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