Workplace Essentials (WE) Introduction to Recipient Rights
Understanding recipient rights is essential for anyone working in Michigan’s public behavioral health system. This course lays the groundwork for what those rights are, why they matter, and how they shape quality care. You’ll explore the Michigan Mental Health Code (Public Act 258 of 1974) and what it means in everyday practice, from community programs and hospitals to residential and outpatient settings. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of your responsibility to uphold each individual’s right to dignity, respect, safety, and confidentiality in every interaction.
This module covers key foundational areas of recipient rights, including:
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Overview of Recipient Rights under Michigan and federal law
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Limiting Rights: when and how limitations may be applied
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Civil Rights as they apply to individuals receiving behavioral health services
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Core Individual Rights, including:
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Services suited to individual need
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Safe, sanitary, and humane environments
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Freedom from abuse and neglect
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Confidentiality and access to records
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Informed consent and treatment in the least restrictive setting
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Person-centered planning and individualized plans of service (IPOS)
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Dignity and respect
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Rights of family members and communication boundaries
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Use of fingerprints, photographs, and audio recordings
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This course is intended for all professionals who deliver or support public behavioral health services, including direct-care staff, supervisors, clinicians, and administrative personnel. It is especially relevant for employees new to Michigan’s public behavioral health system or those requiring annual Recipient Rights training.
After completing this module, learners will be able to:
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Describe the rights guaranteed to all individuals receiving behavioral health services under the Michigan Mental Health Code.
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Explain the requirements and processes for limiting a right, whether applied to a group or to an individual.
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Recognize their own role in protecting and promoting recipient rights within their agency.
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Identify who to contact for clarification, reporting, or assistance regarding rights concerns.
Beverly Sobolewski
Beverly Sobolewski is one of ORR’s four Community Rights Specialists, at MDHHS-ORR. Her focus is on the Rights system in the private hospitals, which includes the psychiatric units.
Ms. Sobolewski has more than 39 years of diversified experience in the Behavioral Health Services and Recipient Rights fields. She been in state government service 2000, serving in the Office of Recipient Rights. She is resource for rights officers in both the licensed hospital and CMH offices. Ms. Sobolewski trains new rights officers and advisors and assists consumers and rights staff in accessing and understanding the rights system. She trains advocates and recipients in the community on the rights process and how to successfully navigate the system, from complaint through appeal.
Previously, she was a recipient rights advisor at Mercy Hospital-Detroit, Southwest Counseling and Development Services (a part of DWMHA) and St. John Northeast Hospital in Detroit.
Ms. Sobolewski holds a Master’s degree in Administration with a concentration in education and training from Madonna University, in Livonia, Michigan and a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
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I felt that this module not only solidified that knowledge that I have obtained, but the information was presented in a way that it added to my knowledge of and about this subject matter."
