Ohio Code 5123.69 – Voluntary admission
(A) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, any person who is eighteen years of age or older and who is or believes self to be a person with an intellectual disability may make written application to the managing officer of any institution for voluntary admission. Except as provided in division (D) of this section, the application may be made on behalf of a minor by a parent or guardian, and on behalf of an adult adjudicated mentally incompetent by a guardian.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5123.69
- Chief program director: means a person with special training and experience in the diagnosis and management of persons with developmental disabilities, certified according to division (C) of this section in at least one of the designated fields, and appointed by the managing officer of an institution for persons with intellectual disabilities with the approval of the director to provide habilitation and care for residents of the institution. See Ohio Code 5123.01
- Comprehensive evaluation: means a study, including a sequence of observations and examinations, of a person leading to conclusions and recommendations formulated jointly, with dissenting opinions if any, by a group of persons with special training and experience in the diagnosis and management of persons with developmental disabilities, which group shall include individuals who are professionally qualified in the fields of medicine, psychology, and social work, together with such other specialists as the individual case may require. See Ohio Code 5123.01
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Habilitation: means the process by which the staff of the institution assists the resident in acquiring and maintaining those life skills that enable the resident to cope more effectively with the demands of the resident's own person and of the resident's environment and in raising the level of the resident's physical, mental, social, and vocational efficiency. See Ohio Code 5123.01
- Institution: means a public or private facility, or a part of a public or private facility, that is licensed by the appropriate state department and is equipped to provide residential habilitation, care, and treatment for persons with intellectual disabilities. See Ohio Code 5123.01
- Intellectual disability: means a disability characterized by having significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficiencies in adaptive behavior, manifested during the developmental period. See Ohio Code 5123.01
- Managing officer: means a person who is appointed by the director of developmental disabilities to be in executive control of an institution under the jurisdiction of the department of developmental disabilities. See Ohio Code 5123.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Resident: means , subject to division (T)(2) of this section, a person who is admitted either voluntarily or involuntarily to an institution or other facility pursuant to section 2945. See Ohio Code 5123.01
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(B) The managing officer of an institution, with the concurrence of the chief program director, may admit a person applying pursuant to this section only after a comprehensive evaluation has been made of the person and only if the comprehensive evaluation concludes that the person has an intellectual disability and would benefit significantly from admission.
(C) The managing officer shall discharge any voluntary resident if, in the judgment of the chief program director, the results of a comprehensive examination indicate that institutionalization no longer is advisable. In light of the results of the comprehensive evaluation, the managing officer also may discharge any voluntary resident if, in the judgment of the chief program director, the discharge would contribute to the most effective use of the institution in the habilitation and care of persons with developmental disabilities.
(D) A person who is found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity and who is committed pursuant to section 2945.39, 2945.40, 2945.401, or 2945.402 of the Revised Code shall not voluntarily commit self pursuant to this section until after the final termination of the commitment, as described in division (J) of section 2945.401 of the Revised Code.