Section 171-A:14 Rights of Developmentally Disabled Persons. - New Hampshire Statutes

   I. No person shall be deemed incompetent to manage his or her affairs, to contract, to hold professional, occupational or vehicle operator's licenses, to vote, to marry or to make a will solely by reason of his or her developmental disability or of his or her participation in the service delivery system, nor shall department rules restrict such rights. The client's right to individual dignity shall be respected at all times and upon all occasions.
   II. A client in a residential service shall be provided with stationery and postage in reasonable amounts and shall have free and unrestricted mailing privileges.
   III. A client shall have the right to be visited at all reasonable times unless the administrator determines that such a visit would adversely affect the client. Any denial of visiting rights and the reasons for such denial shall be entered in the client's record and may be subject to the review of the human rights committee established under RSA 171-A:17.
   IV. A client in a residential service shall have the right to wear his or her own clothes, to keep and use his or her own personal possessions including toilet articles, to keep and be allowed to spend his or her own money, to have access to individual storage space for private use, to have reasonable access to telephones to make and receive confidential calls and any other rights specified by rules of the department; provided, however, that any of these rights may be denied for good cause by the administrator or designee. Any denial of these rights and the reasons for such denial shall be entered in the client's record and may be subject to the review of the human rights committee established under RSA 171-A:17.
   V. The commissioner may adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A relative to the protection of the rights, dignity, autonomy and integrity of clients, including specific procedures to protect the rights established in this chapter.

Source. 1975, 242:1. 1979, 322:2, I. 1981, 492:27. 1987, 206:2. 1995, 310:172, 175. 2001, 101:13, eff. Aug. 20, 2001.