Questions Regarding Justice Center. Jacqueline Harnett Incident Management Unit Office of Special Education New York State Education Department

Transcription

1 Questions Regarding Justice Center Jacqueline Harnett Incident Management Unit Office of Special Education New York State Education Department

2 Chapter 501 O Do the definitions of abuse/neglect as defined in Justice Center guidance replace the Chapter 323 Law definitions? O Yes, Chapter 501 standardizes definitions of abuse/neglect and significant incidents in covered facilities and programs.

3 Chapter 501 O Prior to this law, inconsistent definitions of abuse and neglect existed in various law and regulations. This law replaces those definitions with a single consistent standard applicable to human service systems and also creates a new definition for significant incidents (an incident that does not meet the standards for abuse or neglect but may result in harm to the health, safety or welfare of a vulnerable person receiving services).

4 Reporting O Does reporting alleged abuse to the JC replace the reporting requirements to the SED Commissioner under Article 23-B Title? O No, schools still need to fulfill their reporting requirements to the Commissioner.

5 Types of Incidents JC Definitions

6 Category Physical Abuse Psychological Abuse Examples of Abuse/Neglect Incidents Examples Intentional contact, (hitting, kicking, shoving, etc.) corporal punishment, injury which cannot be explained and is suspicious due to the extent or location, the number of injuries at one time, or the frequency over time Taunting, name calling, using threatening words or gestures Sexual Abuse Neglect Deliberate Misuse of Restraint or Seclusion Controlled Substances Obstruction Inappropriate touching, indecent exposure, sexual assault, taking or distributing sexually explicit pictures; voyeurism or other sexual exploitation Failure to provide supervision, or adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care; or access to an educational entitlement Use of these interventions with excessive force, as a punishment, or for the convenience of staff Using, administering, or providing any controlled substances contrary to law and professional ethical standards Interfering with the discovery, reporting or investigation of abuse/neglect, falsifying records, intentionally making false statements

7 Category Examples of Significant Incidents Examples Abuse Between People Receiving Services Adverse Drug Reaction, Severe Act committed by a person receiving services against another person receiving services that constitutes Justice Center criteria for abuse Serious adverse event (events relating to drugs or devices) Injury Accidental Suicide Attempt Injury that cannot be explained/ investigation is needed because of the (a) extent/location of the injury, (b) number of injuries at one time, or (c) frequency of injuries over time A non-fatal, self-directed potentially injurious behavior with any intent to die as a result of the behavior. A suicide attempt may not result in an injury

8 Significant Incident O Significant Incident means an incident, other than an incident of abuse or neglect that because of its severity or the sensitivity of the situation may result in, or has the reasonably foreseeable potential to result in, harm to the health, safety or welfare of a person receiving services. Also, includes any other conduct identified in SOA regulations.

9 SI cont O conduct between persons receiving services that would constitute abuse as described above if committed by a custodian O conduct on the part of a custodian, which is inconsistent with a service recipient's individual treatment plan or individualized educational program, generally accepted treatment practices and/or applicable federal or state laws, regulations or policies and which impairs or creates a reasonably foreseeable potential to impair the health, safety or welfare of a person receiving services

10 SI cont O Inappropriate Use of Restraints O Unauthorized Seclusion O Unauthorized Use of Time-Out O Inconsistent Administration of Medication O Missing Person/ elopement O Choking on Food or other Foreign Object O Attempted Suicide O Self-Injury O Financial exploitation/theft

11 Code of Conduct O The Code of Conduct governs the conduct of custodians who have regular and direct contact with vulnerable persons who reside in or receive services from facilities or provider agencies including students attending in-state residential schools under the NYSED s oversight

12 Staff Exclusion List O All approved in-state residential schools will be required to first check the SEL before determining whether to hire or otherwise allow any person as an employee, administrator, consultant, intern, volunteer or contractor who will have the potential for regular and substantial contact with a service recipient or before approving an applicant for a license, certificate, permit or other approval to provide care to a service recipient. -

13 SEL O Does getting on the SEL trump tenure rights and civil service law? O No, schools still need to go through legal procedures (i.e a process to dismiss tenured teachers). O Employers can make employment decisions concerning their staff, up to and including termination, in accordance with their own collective bargaining agreements and human resources policies.

14 SEL O Individuals that have been found to have committed serious acts of abuse or neglect will be placed on the Justice Center s centralized register and, pursuant to the law, residential schools and other facilities will be prohibited from hiring these individuals in any position where they would have contact with people with disabilities or special needs.

15 Incident Review Committee O What is the status of including students or service recipients on the committee? O Members include: O Representative of the governing body of the residential school, O Direct support staff, O Licensed health care practitioner, O Student or service recipient, O Representative of family, consumer or other advocacy group

16 Incident Review Committee O The incident review committee meets regularly to: O review a school s response to reportable incidents; O review patterns and trends; and O make recommendations for opportunities for improvement to the timeliness, thoroughness and appropriateness of the school s response.

17 Investigation Timelines O Schools are still waiting for the disposition of several cases. What are the timelines for investigation and resolution? O The Justice Center has 60 days to enter abuse/neglect findings into the VPCR. O SED also has 60 days to enter significant incident findings into the VPCR.

18 SED Investigation Criteria O SED would usually investigate if: O SED has concerns regarding the school s ability to conduct an investigation, O There is a severity of the significant incident, O There is a continued health and safety concern with the program, O The incident represents a violation of a special education law and/or regulation, and O A Pattern or number of incidents is established.

19 Delegation Criteria O When appropriate, the SED will ask a school to conduct an investigation into a significant incident that has been reported. O Procedures that must be followed for conducting investigations will be forwarded to school providers after an initial phone call alerting the school of the received JC significant incident. O This usually takes place within 24 hours.

20 Internal Investigation O What is the guidance as to when to start an internal investigation? O Please wait till you have been contacted by the JC or SED as to the classification of the incident and whether you can proceed with an internal investigation. Avoid internal investigations for incidents that are not delegated to your school.

21 Requirements Residential schools: O immediately notify the Justice Center, NYSED and any local social services district and/or school district who placed the student when there is an allegation of abuse or neglect; O comply with the procedures for the protection of students and cooperate with any investigation conducted by the Justice Center and/or SED.

22 NYSED Responsibilities O Develop and implement revised regulations- updated Part lawsregs/part200.htm

23 NYSED Responsibilities O Monitor corrective actions of abuse and neglect findings O Health & Safety issues: develop plan within 10 days O Compliance issues: develop plan within 30 days O Investigate and monitor corrective action plans for significant incidents in residential schools O Findings issues develop plan within 30 days

24 Incident Management Unit O Monitoring all Abuse/Neglect Cases that the Justice Center investigates. O Investigate significant incidents in residential schools or delegate investigation to school program and monitor the corrective action plans

25 Incident Management Unit The IMU participates on the following Committees: O Interagency Restraint Workgroup (Governor s Workgroup) O Justice Center Abuse Prevention Workgroup O Justice Center Agency Implementation Workgroup O Justice Center Steering Committee O Justice Center Business Process Advisory

26 Incident Management Unit O IMU would like to be able to provide trainings to school providers. O Please send topic suggestions, venue types, etc to my attention jharnett@mail.nysed.gov

27 Further questions can be directed to: Jacqueline Harnett, Supervisor Incident Management Unit New York State Education Department Office of Special Education 89 Washington Ave., Room 309EB Albany, NY (518) / (518) Fax: (518)