Client Rights
Conifer Play Therapy ensures that each client or, when applicable, the client’s parent, legal guardian, or designated representative, has the right to:
● Participate in all decisions involving the client’s care or treatment.
● Be informed about whether Conifer Play Therapy is participating in teaching programs, and to provide informed consent prior to being included in any clinical trials relating to the client’s care.
● Refuse any drug, test, procedure, service, or treatment, and to be informed of risks and benefits of this action.
● Receive care and treatment, in compliance with state statute, that is free from discrimination based on physical or mental disability, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religion, gender expression, gender identity, sex, sexuality, culture, and/or languages spoken
- Conifer Play Therapy recognizes a client's dignity, cultural values, and religious beliefs, and provides for personal privacy to the extent possible during treatment.
● Be informed of, at a minimum, the first names and credentials of the staff who are providing services to the client. Full names and qualifications of the service providers must be provided upon request to the client or the client’s designated representative or when required by the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).
● Give informed consent for all treatment and services. Conifer Play Therapy staff must obtain informed consent for the treatment they provide to the client.
● Register disputes with Conifer Play Therapy and grievances with the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) and be informed of the procedures for registering disputes and grievances, including contact information (see dispute/grievance section below).
● Be free of abuse and neglect.
- Conifer Play Therapy investigates all allegations of abuse or neglect against Conifer Play Therapy’s personnel or those made against a client when the allegation occurs during service provision or on any premises. Conifer Play Therapy implements corrective actions in accordance with such investigations.
● Be free from the improper application of restraints or seclusion. Conifer Play Therapy does not utilize any form of restraint or seclusion.
● Expect that the agency in which the client is admitted can meet the identified and reasonably anticipated care, treatment, and service needs of the client.
● Receive care from Conifer Play Therapy in accordance with the client’s needs.
● Have the confidentiality of their client records maintained as required by applicable federal and state law.
● Receive care in a safe setting.
● Be notified if referrals to other providers are to entities in which Conifer Play Therapy has a direct or indirect financial benefit, including a benefit that has financial value, but is not a direct monetary payment.
● Formulate medical and psychiatric advance directives and have Conifer Play Therapy comply with such directives, as applicable, and in compliance with applicable state statute.
Children & Family Services: Rights of Children
1. It is the practice of Conifer Play Therapy to obtain parental or legal guardian consent for children under fifteen (15) years of age, with the following exception:
· Section 12-245-203.5(2), C.R.S., allows psychotherapy services, as defined in Section 12-245-202(14)(a), C.R.S., to be provided to a child who is twelve (12) years of age or older, with or without the consent of the child’s parent or legal guardian**, if the child is knowingly and voluntarily seeking such services and the provision of psychotherapy services is clinically indicated and necessary to the child’s well-being.** The following mental health professionals are the only professionals within an agency allowed to provide outpatient psychotherapy services in an outpatient setting to a child who is twelve (12) years of age or older, without the consent of the child’s parent or legal guardian:
A person licensed to practice medicine in the state of Colorado
A psychologist licensed to practice in the state of Colorado
A Colorado licensed psychologist or psychologist candidate
A Colorado licensed clinical social worker or licensed social worker candidate
A Colorado marriage and family therapist or a licensed marriage and family therapist candidate
A Colorado licensed professional counselor or a licensed professional candidate
A licensed addiction counselor or an addiction counselor candidate
2. A child may not refuse psychotherapy services when a mental health professional and the child’s parent or legal guardian agree psychotherapy services are in the best interest of the child.
3. If the child voluntarily seeks psychotherapy services on their own behalf pursuant to Section 12-245-203.5(2)(a), C.R.S.:
a. The mental health professional may notify the child’s parent or legal guardian of the psychotherapy services given or needed, with the child’s consent, unless notifying the parent or legal guardian would be inappropriate or detrimental to the child’s care and treatment.
b. The mental health professional shall engage the child in a discussion about the importance of involving and notifying the child’s parent or legal guardian and shall encourage such notification to help support the child’s care and treatment; and,
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 12-245-203.5(3)(a), C.R.S., a mental health professional may notify the child’s parent or legal guardian of the psychotherapy services given or needed, without the child’s consent, if, in the professional opinion of the mental health professional, the child is unable to manage the child’s care or treatment.
4. A Conifer Play Therapy mental health professional shall fully document in the child’s individual record, when the mental health professional attempts to contact or notify the child’s parent or legal guardian and whether the attempt was successful or unsuccessful, or the reason why, in the mental health professional’s opinion, it would be inappropriate to contact or notify the child’s parent or legal guardian.
a. If the child seeks psychotherapy services on their own behalf pursuant to Section 12-245-203.5(2)(a), C.R.S., documentation must be included in the child’s individual record, along with a written statement signed by the child, indicating the child is voluntarily seeking psychotherapy services.
b. In addition to the individual rights specified in the Individual Rights (2.7) section of this manual, children who meet the requirements of #1 described above, without the consent of a parent or legal guardian, have the right to consent to release of information
Rights of Children in Hospitalization
A child who is fifteen (15) years of age or older, with or without the consent of a parent or legal guardian, has the right to consent to receive behavioral health services to be rendered by an agency, a professional person, or a mental health professional pursuant to Section 27-65-104(1), C.R.S., in any practice setting;
· Consent to voluntary hospitalization for mental health services;
· Object to hospitalization and to have that objection reviewed by the court under the provision of Section 27-65-104(6), C.R.S.; and
· Consent to release of information.
Children who are under the age of fifteen (15), have the right to object to hospitalization and to have a guardian ad litem appointed pursuant to Section 27-65-104(6)(b),(c), C.R.S.
Requesting copies of your/your child’s records:
Clients of Conifer Play therapy have the right to view and obtain copies of their records. Conifer Play Therapy does not charge the client, or parent/legal guardian, for inspection of the client record. If a client needs a copy of those records, a fee of $25 is required.
o Clients/parents requesting to inspect their records must make an appointment to do so with their treatment counselor.
o There are some instances where a written summary of the client’s treatment may be more appropriate than the entire client record. This can be provided upon request. These requests may be subject to separate fees and may require an up-front deposit; please speak with your treatment provider.
o Conifer Play Therapy reserves the right to deny access to information judged to be potentially damaging to clients and shall document such decisions in client records. If decisions to deny access to information contained in client records are challenged, Conifer Play Therapy treatment providers shall cooperate in providing the disputed information (with written client permission) to independent treatment professionals qualified to evaluate potential damage.
o Any client, whether currently receiving services or discharged from Conifer Play Therapy, may inspect or obtain a copy of their record. Conifer Play Therapy must act on its request to review the client’s record within a reasonable time, which must not exceed 30 days, except when an extension is allowable in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 164.524(b)(2).
Disputes/Grievances:
Conifer Play Therapy has a uniform procedure for prompt management of disputes brought by clients accessing, receiving, or being evaluated for services and their family members. Conifer Play Therapy provides a fair dispute resolution process that allows options for submitting both verbal and written disputes.
o If you have a dispute or complaint about Conifer Play Therapy, we encourage you to communicate your concerns to your treatment provider, so that we might work together to resolve the situation and benefit the therapeutic relationship.
o If you do not feel satisfied with that communication or feel that your issue is not resolved, you may express your dispute either verbally or in writing with Conifer Play Therapy’s Director, Lauren Ferguson (contact information: 720-281-9789 or lauren@coniferplaytherapy.com). Lauren will investigate and then correspond with you no later than thirty business days of the initial complaint with a resolution she feels may be appropriate.
o You may also submit a grievance to the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration. Their contact information is 303-866-7191 or CDHS_BHA_complaint@state.co.us.
o If you are not satisfied with the dispute resolution that Conifer Play Therapy offers you in response to your dispute, you may appeal with any of the following organizations:
o Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (303-866-7191 or CDHS_BHA_complaint@state.co.us)
o Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (303-894-7855)
o Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (303-692-2000)
o Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (1-800-221-3943)
o Governor’s designated Protection and Advocacy System for Individuals with Mental Illness (Disability Law Colorado: 303-722-0300)
o For clients WITHOUT Medicaid, the process stops with a decision from the BHA.
o For those clients WITH Medicaid, an appeal can be made through an administrative law judge with the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.
o Other options in the appeal process are:
o The Behavioral Health Ombudsman of Colorado (BHOCO) serves as a neutral party to help individuals and healthcare providers navigate and resolve issues and ensure compliance regarding consumer access to behavioral health care (303-866-2789 or email us at ombuds@bhoco.org).
o If you believe your privacy rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) have been violated, you also may complain to:
The Office for Civil Rights Regional Manager
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
1961 Stout Street - Room 1426
Denver, CO 80294