Client Rights

As a client of Willowbridge Community Services  you have the following rights:

• To receive services that are inclusive and non-discriminatory
• To be treated with dignity and respect.
• To receive service in a safe and secure environment.
• To receive an orientation to the services available, any fees you may be charged, and orientation to your rights.
• To receive assessment and treatment services that are mutually agreed upon between you and this agency and to be part of ongoing reviews of your treatment successes.
• To participate in significant decisions affecting you and your treatment, ensuring your strengths, needs, and preferences are identified.
• To understand the likely benefits and possible risks of any recommended treatment.
• To understand that your participation in services is voluntary and that you may choose to discontinue your participation at any time.
• To review your client file according to our agency’s Policies and Procedures.  Files/records are both paper and electronic and are maintained by the agency according to provincial legislation.
• To understand that from time to time your file may be reviewed by representatives of the Canadian Centre for Accreditation, Credit Counselling Canada or the Ministry of Community and Social Services, as part of this agency’s accreditation or compliance processes. This review will only be used to assess our agency’s practices in accordance with Accreditation and Compliance Standards, in order to ensure that Willowbridge Community Services maintains the highest standards of quality service.  No information contained in your file will be copied or removed as a part of this process.
• If dissatisfied with the service you or someone in your family receives, you are encouraged to discuss this openly and directly with the staff member working with you or your family.  If you don’t feel comfortable discussing this with the staff member providing you with service, you may file a complaint, by contacting the employee’s  Manager, or by completing Willowbridge Community Services’s satisfaction and feedback form. You may also file a formal complaint in writing to the attention of the Executive Director.
• To have the opportunity to consent to college/university placement participation in your services and to understand you can refuse consent and still receive services.
• To provide consent for Willowbridge Community Services to obtain information needed to assist in your treatment from other service providers you have had contact with.
• To receive services that are confidential. Willowbridge Community Services will not release information about you or a family member without prior written consent.

• To understand that there are certain times when your information may be released to others without your consent:
  • If you or your child is in danger of harming yourself or someone else, we are obligated  to take actions necessary to protect you or others from harm.
  • Professionals who work with children must promptly report any suspicions that a child is, or may be in need of, protection to a Children’s Aid Society.
  • If you are involved in legal proceedings of any kind (custody, child welfare, separation/divorce, or criminal) the court can subpoena your file.
• To know that Willowbridge Community Services will work with you to accommodate any diverse needs/interest, cultural or language/communication needs you have.

If you are a person with developmental disabilities who is receiving supports from Willowbridge Community Services, you have all of the rights listed above, in addition to those listed above:

• Services that protect individual autonomy and are provided in the least restrictive, most integrated manner;
• Treatment, services and supports in natural community settings, to the greatest extent possible;
• Participation in an appropriate program of publicly-supported education, regardless of the degree of disability;
• To work and earn an income to the greatest extent possible;
• Prompt medical care and treatment;
• Social interaction and participation in community activities;
• Physical exercise and recreation;
• Freedom from hazardous procedures;
• Freedom from harm, including unnecessary physical restraints, isolation, excessive medication, abuse or neglect;
• Choices in your own life, including where and with whom you choose to live, relationships with people in the community, how to spend time, the pursuit of your chosen personal future, and the planning and implementation of a plan that fits your needs and desires;
• The opportunity to make decisions and to have information to help make informed choices.