(a) Persons shall have a right to the least restrictive conditions necessary and available to achieve the purposes of habilitation. To this end, the residential facility shall move persons from:

(1) More to less structured living;

(2) Larger to smaller facilities;

(3) Larger to smaller living units;

(4) Group to person residence;

(5) Segregated to integrated community living; or

(6) Dependent to independent living.

(b) If at any time the Director decides that a person should be transferred out of the facility to a less restrictive environment, he or she shall immediately notify the Court pursuant to section 309. Notice shall be provided to the person, the person’s counsel, the person’s advocate for a person with an intellectual disability, if one has been appointed, and the person’s parent or guardian who petitioned for the commitment.

(Mar. 3, 1979, D.C. Law 2-137, § 503, 25 DCR 5094; Sept. 26, 1995, D.C. Law 11-52, § 506(o), 42 DCR 3684; Sept. 26, 2012, D.C. Law 19-169, § 17(ff), 59 DCR 5567; May 5, 2018, D.C. Law 22-93, § 201(c)(30), 65 DCR 2823.)

1981 Ed., § 6-1963.

1973 Ed., § 6-1683.

The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-169 rewrote the section.

For temporary amendment of section, see § 505(o) of the Multiyear Budget Spending Reduction and Support Emergency Act of 1994 (D.C. Act 10-389, December 29, 1994, 42 DCR 197).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 4(f) of the Human Services Spending Reduction Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-35, April 11, 1995, 42 DCR 1834) and § 4(f) of the Human Services Spending Reduction Congressional Recess Emergency Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-104, July 21, 1995, 42 DCR 4014).

For temporary amendment of section, see § 402(c) of the Omnibus Budget Support Emergency Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-44, April 28, 1995, 42 DCR 2217) and § 506(o) of the Omnibus Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 1995 (D.C. Act 11-124, July 27, 1995, 42 DCR 4160).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 505(o) of Multiyear Budget Spending Reduction and Support Temporary Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 10-253, March 23, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 1652).

For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 4(f) of Human Services Spending Reduction Temporary Amendment Act of 1995 (D.C. Law 11-29, July 25, 1995, law notification 42 DCR 4002).

Section 35 of D.C. Law 19-169 provided that no provision of the act shall impair any right or obligation existing under law.