You should not be forced to enter a mental health facility except in a few situations. Involuntary admission is a serious invasion to your right to control your life. There are court proceedings to make sure that the admission is necessary.

If you agree to enter a mental health facility, you can ask for informal or voluntary admission. You can make this request at any time before a final court order is entered. The judge or facility may reject the request. For example, they may reject the request if they felt that a court order is needed to give certain treatment.

Place of the hearing

If you have already been admitted to a facility after an emergency certification, the hearing will be held at that facility, if possible. You or anyone involved may request the hearing to be held somewhere else. You could request it to be held in your home county.

Time of the hearing

The hearing is scheduled to be held within 5 days of the filing of the second certificate. You or anyone involved may request the hearing to be postponed. The hearing cannot be postponed more than 15 days, except upon your request.

Public access to the hearing

Mental health hearings are open to the public. It can be closed only if all parties involved agree to close the hearing.

If the hearing is closed to the public, then all of the court documents and transcripts are sealed.

Representation at the hearing

You are entitled to be represented by a lawyer at this hearing. If you cannot afford a lawyer, or if you are unable to hire a lawyer, the judge must appoint a lawyer for you.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, the judge will appoint someone who is employed by the Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, if one is available. If not, the judge may appoint a lawyer from the county Public Defender. If none are available, the judge may appoint a private attorney. The hearing may be postponed to give your lawyer time to prepare.

The judge will not allow you to represent yourself at the hearing unless you have first consulted with a lawyer. The judge will let you proceed without a lawyer only if the judge decides you are able to make an informed decision about how to handle the case.

Independent psychiatric evaluation before the hearing

You are entitled to be examined by a psychiatrist or medical expert of your choice. This person can then submit a report to the court. The report will state his opinion about whether you are "a person subject to involuntary admission." The state may pay for this exam if you are low-income. If you cannot find a medical expert to perform the exam, the judge can appoint one.

The judge can order you to submit to further exams by other mental health professionals selected by the judge. If this is done, they must file a report of their findings. You are entitled to a copy of the report.

Hearing procedures

You must personally attend the hearing unless all of the following are true:

• Your lawyer waives this right,
• The judge determines that you are able to understand and rationally decide whether to attend, and
• The judge decides that attending the hearing could cause you serious physical or emotional harm.

If you refuse to attend the hearing, the hearing will be held without you.

You are entitled to have the case decided by a 6 person jury. You can also choose to have the case decided by a judge.

A transcript must be made of everything said at the hearing.

You could be found to be "a person subject to involuntary admission." This can happen only if the judge or jury decides that there is clear and convincing evidence to support that.

The court order

If the judge or jury finds that you are "a person subject to involuntary admission," the judge must enter a court order. This is called a disposition. This order indicates the type of treatment you should get. It also states where it will be provided. The order must provide for the least drastic form of treatment that is enough for your needs.

The judge must consider whether it is possible to provide you with appropriate treatment in a setting other than a facility. This is called "alternative treatment."

The judge could order you to:

• Attend intensive out-patient counseling,
• Take certain medications, or
• Require that you live in a relative's home or another supervised setting.

The judge can stop the alternative treatment, if

• You do not follow it, or
• You are not getting the level of care you need.

They can then require that you be admitted to a facility. You are entitled to advance notice and a chance to respond.

If you are not satisfied with the alternative treatment, you can file a motion in court at any time. The motion will ask the the judge to change your treatment program.

You could ask the judge to:

• Place you in a different treatment program,
• Place you in the custody of a different person, or
• Admit you to a facility.

How long the court order will remain in effect

The court order can require you to be admitted or get alternative treatment for up to 90 days.

If the facility director believes that you need treatment for more than 90 days, the facility must file a new court petition and two new certificates. You will be entitled to another hearing under the procedures explained above. The court can then authorize an additional 90 day period of involuntary treatment.

After the first two 90 days periods of involuntary treatment, the court can order 180 day periods of involuntary treatment. They can order these as many times as necessary. Before each order for further treatment is entered, the facility must file a new court petition and two new certificates. You are entitled to another court hearing under the procedures explained above.

If the facility does not file a new petition before the the court order expires, they must release you.

The treatment plan

At your admission, the facility must prepare your treatment plan. This plan must contain the following:

• An assessment of your treatment needs,
• A description of the services you will receive,
• The goals for each service,
• The role of your family,
• The amount of time that you will need the services to meet your goals,
• The name of the person responsible for providing the services,
• An evaluation of your progress since you entered treatment,
• A description of your behaviors or conditions, and
• Any other reasons that the facility believes show that you continue to be in need of involuntary treatment.

If the facility director is unable to give any of the information required in the treatment plan, the facility must provide a written explanation of:

• Why the information is not provided,
• What steps are being taken to obtain the information, and
• When it is expected to be available.

Within 30 days after your admission, the facility director must file a copy of the treatment plan with the court. The facility must send a copy to you and your attorney, your guardian, and the State's Attorney.
The purpose is to allow all involved to determine that you are receiving proper care and that you are not there without reason.

Review of the treatment plan

If you believe that your treatment plan is missing any of the required information, you or anyone acting on your behalf may file a request. The request should ask the judge to review the plan. Such a request can be made:

• 30 days after the date of your commitment,
• 90 days after the date of your commitment, and
• 90 days after the date of any extension.

If the judge decides that the plan is missing any information, they will order the facility to revise the plan to include it.

Court hearing to [no-lexicon]change[/no-lexicon] the treatment plan

If you disagree with your treatment plan in any way, you are entitled to have a court hearing to review it.

At the hearing:

• You can ask the judge to order that you receive other forms of treatment,
• You may present evidence and have witnesses testify on your behalf at the hearing, and
• You can ask the judge to order that an independent exam be performed on you by a medical expert of your choice. This person can then testify about whether he or she believes that the treatment plan is appropriate. However, the judge is not required to order that this independent exam be performed. You must convince the judge that it is not possible to properly evaluate the treatment plan without the additional information.

Right to request a transfer

You, or your representative, have the right to request a transfer to another facility. You must show that the other facility will provide more appropriate care. The facility director must hold a hearing within 7 days of receiving the request. If approved, the hearing committee should recommend transfer within 30 days. If you are denied, you may not apply again for 180 days. However, you may appeal the decision.

Discharge

There are two different ways that you can be discharged after a court order requires you to be hospitalized. First, a court can order that you be discharged. Second, you can be discharged by the facility director at any time that he or she determines you no longer require care. IDHS must give you a standard state ID when you are released. They also must provide you a written aftercare plan.

Discharge By Court Order

You may file a petition for discharge at any time.

You may file the petition in the county where you now live.

The petition must explain when and why the initial disposition order was entered. It also must explain the reasons why you believe you should be discharged.

You are entitled to have a court hearing within 5 days after the filing of your petition. This excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The same rules described above also apply to court proceedings for discharge.

You have the right to be represented, have an independent evaluation, and have a trial by jury.

If the judge or jury finds that you are no longer "a person subject to involuntary admission," then the facility must release you. If you have a guardian, the judge also has the authority to end the guardianship if he or she finds that you no longer need one.

If the judge or jury finds that you continue to be "a person subject to involuntary admission," then the judge can require you to remain hospitalized. The judge can also require changes in your treatment plan. The judge can require you to enter a different form of alternative treatment.

Discharge by Facility Director

The director of the facility may discharge you from treatment at any time that he or she determines that you are no longer "a person subject to involuntary admission."

If the director believes that you could still benefit from treatment, the director must inform you of your right to remain in treatment as an informal or voluntary recipient of care.

The facility director must give you written notice of any decision to discharge you at least 7 days in advance.

The director also must give notice to your lawyer, guardian, and parents if you are under 18.

If the facility director decides to discharge you, he or she may notify the State's Attorney of your county. Those state's attorneys may take legal action to keep you hospitalized if they disagree with the decision to discharge you.

Involuntary admission if living in northern Illinois

You may have more protections if:

• You are involuntarily admitted,

• You are being treated for mental health or substance abuse, and

• You live in northern Illinois.

If you live in northern Illinois, you are entitled to appropriate treatment in Wisconsin if the facility would be closer to your home. This option is only available for private facilities.

In this case, the receiving state handles your treatment records.