Is Recipient Rights Friend or Foe to an AFC?
Is Recipient Rights Friend or Foe to an AFC

Recipient Rights - Friend or Foe?

Are you kidding me? Friend? It seems more like a foe that bullies and batters an AFC Home owner. One that creates confusion and frustration.

But what if I told you there is a way for Recipient Rights to become a friend? What if they could be an extension of your residential assisted living team, instead of a thorn in your side?

After speaking with Angie, the Recipient Rights Officer at Montcalm Care Network, she reviewed the State standards of Recipient Rights. She outlined the following 3 steps to make Recipient Rights the friend your adult foster care home didn’t know you have:

1.  Build relationships

Whether you are contracted with different Community of mental Health (CMH) agencies or take private pay, introduce yourself to your Rights Officer. Within 10 days of placement with a CMH agency, you should receive your posters, booklets, and incident reporting process.

Call them if they don’t contact you first. Not sure who to call, here’s the link to find out: Recipient Rights Contacts.

Also, consider inviting them to fun events with your staff to get to know the recipients at your adult foster care community and staff in a casual way.

2.  Communicate

Eliminate the hard conversations that occur because “I didn’t know”.  Ask your Rights Officer questions about your AFC licensed home contract and situations you are encountering.

A good rights officer will help advocate and protect your residents instead of creating trouble. Reach out to them for help to accomplish this goal at your adult foster care community.

Prevent unexpected conversations with Recipient Rights by following the incident report cheat sheet protocol for your senior living or group hones for disabled adults.

 3. Support

Have you ever had a Case Manager who refuses to communicate, refuses to provide goal sheets to track resident care, or is difficult when asked to complete an addendum to reflect the AFC resident care provided?

Your Recipient Rights Officer can help. As an advocate for your residents, they can assist with getting the ball rolling to get the support you need to support your residents well.

In summary, by taking the action steps of building relationships, communicating, and reaching out for support, Recipient Rights can become the friend you didn’t know you had. 

Additional Support

Maybe you already have a good relationship with your Recipient Rights Officers but you struggle with:

  • Finding, hiring, and retaining good staff so you can take a vacation.
  • Money to pay yourself, your staff, your overhead with some left over.
  • Losing sleep when an audit is scheduled.
  • Frustration of resident admissions due to lack of information.
  • Or more…

If any of these concerns plague you and keep you up at night, Care Provider Solutions can provide the support and expertise you need. As an Adult Foster Care System Specialist, we will walk alongside you. We provide  mentoring for adult foster care providers to re-energize you and take you to the next level.

Take the first step by completing our assessment for personalized support

  • Develop clarity
  • Regain your sanity
  • Create an action plan

As an assisted living consultant, you can also stay up to date on new content Care Provider Solutions has published here: