A One-Year Report on Rights Violations Under Michigan's New Protection System

A total of 1034 complaints were received in the first 11 months after the implementation of Michigan's new system to safeguard the rights of recipients of services from state institutions. Twenty-eight per cent of the complaints resolved during that period were substantiated as violations of statutorily protected rights. Both the volume of complaints and the number of substantiated violations were far higher in hospitals for the mentally ill than in facilities for the mentally retarded; however, facilities for the retarded had twice the percentage of substantiated complaints. There were significant differences in the numbers and categories of complaints and substantiated violations both between the two types of institutions and between large and small institutions. The findings suggest directions for further action by the institutions and by the state office of recipient rights, which was established to oversee the system.