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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 12. Health
Agency 35. Department of Behavioral Health And Developmental Services
Chapter 115. Regulations to Assure the Rights of Individuals Receiving Services from Providers Licensed, Funded, or Operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
11/21/2024

12VAC35-115-180. Local human rights committee hearing and review procedures.

A. Any individual or his authorized representative who disagrees with a director's final decision or action plan resulting from any complaint resolution process under this chapter may request an LHRC hearing by following the process described in this section.

B. The individual or his authorized representative shall file the petition for a hearing with the chairperson of the LHRC within 10 working days from receipt of the director's action plan or final decision on the complaint.

1. The petition for hearing shall be in writing. It shall contain all facts and arguments surrounding the complaint and reference any section of this chapter that the individual believes the provider violated.

2. The human rights advocate or any person the individual chooses may help the individual in filing the petition. If the individual chooses a person other than the human rights advocate to help him, he and his chosen representative may request the human rights advocate's assistance in filing the petition.

C. The LHRC chair shall forward a copy of the petition to the director and the human rights advocate as soon as he receives it. A copy of the petition shall also be forwarded to the provider's governing body.

D. Within five working days, the director shall submit to the LHRC:

1. A written response to everything contained in the petition; and

2. A copy of the entire written record of the complaint.

E. LHRC hearing procedures:

1. The LHRC shall hold a hearing within 20 working days of receiving the petition.

2. The parties shall have at least five working days' notice of the hearing.

3. The director or his designee shall attend the hearing.

4. The individual or his authorized representative making the complaint shall attend the hearing.

5. The hearing is an informal process and, as such, the rules of evidence are not applicable.

6. At the hearing, the parties and chosen representatives and designees have the right to present witnesses and other evidence and the opportunity to be heard.

7. The hearing shall be conducted in a nonadversarial manner.

a. Each party shall be provided the opportunity to present its facts.

b. Each party shall direct questions to the LHRC rather than to the other party.

c. The LHRC shall ask questions, as appropriate, to each party.

F. Within 10 working days after the hearing ends, the LHRC shall give its written findings of fact and recommendations to the parties and their representatives. Whenever appropriate, the LHRC shall identify information that it believes the director shall take into account in making decisions concerning discipline or termination of personnel.

G. Within five working days of receiving the LHRC's findings and recommendations, the director shall give the individual, the individual's chosen representative, the human rights advocate, the governing body, and the LHRC a written action plan he intends to implement to respond to the LHRC's findings and recommendations. Along with the action plan, the director shall provide written notice to the individual about the timeframe for the individual's response and a statement that if the individual does not respond, then the complaint will be closed. The plan shall not be implemented for five working days after it is submitted, unless the individual agrees to its implementation sooner.

H. The individual, his chosen representative, the human rights advocate, or the LHRC may object to the action plan within five working days by stating the objection and what the director can do to resolve the objection.

1. If an objection is made, the director may not implement the action plan until the objection is resolved. The provider may, however, implement any portion of the plan to which the individual making the complaint agrees.

2. If no one objects to the action plan, the director shall begin to implement the plan on the sixth working day after he submitted it, or as otherwise provided in the plan.

I. If an objection to the action plan is made and the director does not resolve the objection to the action plan to the individual's satisfaction within two working days following its receipt by the director, the individual may appeal to the SHRC under 12VAC35-115-210.

Statutory Authority

§§ 37.2-203 and 37.2-400 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 3, eff. November 21, 2001; amended, Virginia Register Volume 23, Issue 25, eff. September 19, 2007; Volume 33, Issue 10, eff. February 9, 2017.

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