Yellowbrick Policy on Professional, Community, and Individual Responsibility For Safety

Membership in the Yellowbrick community is a responsibility and privilege for each Emerging Adult, their Families and Staff. Personal safety is considered an individual responsibility with the role of professionals and the community being to provide support for the Emerging Adults’ struggle to maintain their self-management. The treatment community, involving peers, families and staff, is available as a supportive but not supervisory resource. This means that it is not staff’s role or responsibility to keep Emerging Adults safe or to control their behavior. Staff’s role is to assist the Emerging Adults in their responsibility to self for maintaining their safety and the integrity of their relationship to the community and treatment. Admission is entirely voluntary and adequate motivation and capacity to make use of the treatment is assessed within the initial assessment and throughout the treatment process. Agreement to be admitted to Yellowbrick is a personal agreement and commitment to accept responsibility for individual safety within the course of treatment. Emerging Adults are expected to report to staff any change in their condition or issues in the Yellowbrick community involving others which represents a risk to personal safety. Emerging Adults are expected to attend all treatments, and to learn how to accept help and to invite assistance from others to diminish symptoms. The Yellowbrick staff and treatment community does not assume responsibility for Emerging Adults’ choices. It is accepted that residents may have periods of symptomatic behavior and place themselves at varying degrees of risk for self-harm. Symptomatic behaviors are anticipated and will be active as a focus in treatment. It is required that these behaviors do not place the Emerging Adult or others at risk for personal or medical safety. If PATIENT requires crisis intervention for safety, they may be referred to Evanston’s NorthShore Hospital for assessment on an urgent or emergency basis. Through periodic treatment review and Peer and Professional Staff consultation it will be determined if persistent symptomatic behavior represents an undue risk or an inability to further benefit from Yellowbrick at that time. Acknowledgement of this and parting with referral is preferable to efforts at coercive control of behavior and personal choice as these are incompatible with in-depth psychotherapy, personal growth and healing. The Emerging Adults who leave treatment against the explicit recommendation of the Medical Director who are assessed not to be an imminent risk to themselves or others (and therefore not legally subject to restriction of rights) assume any and all risks which may result from the decision to interrupt their treatment.

Yellowbrick is not licensed as a hospital and is not an acute psychiatric care setting. Yellowbrick is not indicated for individuals whose psychiatric or medical condition requires skilled or nursing supervision for behavioral control or safety. Medications may be available through supported self-management, or held in PATIENT’s apartment stored in a secure individual safe. Signature below represents that I am fully informed, understand and agree to the above conditions and commitments regarding the responsibility for my safety during my treatment within Yellowbrick life Strategies Program or The Residence.

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental illness, please use our confidential contact form to send us a message. Our Assessment Center will respond to you as promptly as possible.