§ 40.1-21-4.2. Declaration of purpose. There is presently no single state agency, which provides or secures services that many developmentally disabled citizens may require. Therefore, the purposes of this chapter are as follows:

(1) To establish a division of developmental disabilities within the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals;

(2) To advance the public interest, to promote, safeguard, and protect the human dignity, constitutional and statutory rights and liberties, social well being, and general welfare of all developmentally disabled citizens of the state;

(3) To provide or to secure certain social, protective, and other types of appropriate services for all developmentally disabled citizens;

(4) To promote the coordination of all available services, both generic and specialized, for all developmentally disabled citizens under public and private auspices;

(5) To ensure that all developmentally disabled adults in this state receive such developmental, supportive, and ancillary services as prescribed in an individualized program plan, developed with the participation of the developmentally disabled person and his or her family or guardian or advocate; and

(6) To promote a comprehensive system to support the families of developmentally disabled adults in their own homes and environments, and to encourage families to maintain their developmentally disabled relatives in their own homes when appropriate.

History of Section. (P.L. 1987, ch. 181, § 4; P.L. 1993, ch. 120, § 4; P.L. 1995, ch. 122, § 1.)