Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 290 - RULES OF DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 290-2 - FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES › Subject 290-2-6 - RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR CHILDREN'S TRANSITION CARE CENTERS › Rule 290-2-6-.18 - Behavior Management and Emergency Safety Interventions

Current
				through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1)
Behavior Management.
(a) Every center shall develop and implement
				policies and procedures on behavior management. Such policies and procedures
				shall set forth the types of children served and the center's capacities in
				accordance with its program purpose, the anticipated behavioral problems of the
				children, and acceptable methods of managing such problems.
(b) Such behavior management policies and
				procedures shall incorporate the following minimum requirements:
1. Behavior management principles and
				techniques shall be used in accordance with the individual comprehensive
				service plan and written policies and procedures governing service
				expectations, service plan goals, safety, security, and these rules and
				regulations.
2. Acceptable behavior
				management methods shall be limited to the least restrictive appropriate
				method, as described in the child's comprehensive service plan pursuant to Rule
				.12(2) and in
				accordance with the prohibitions as specified in these rules and
				regulations.
(c) The
				following forms of behavior management shall not be used:
1. Assignment of excessive or unreasonable
				work tasks beyond that which is identified as a learning need in the
				comprehensive service plan;
2.
				Denial of meals and hydration;
3.
				Denial of sleep;
4. Denial of
				shelter, clothing, or essential personal needs;
5. Denial of essential program
				services;
6. Verbal abuse,
				ridicule, or humiliation;
7.
				Chemical or mechanical restraint, manual holds, and seclusion used as a means
				of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation;
8. Denial of communication and visits unless
				restricted in accordance with Rule
				.12(2);
9. Corporal punishment;
(d) When there is a need for a chemical
				restraint, there shall be a verbal doctor's order authorizing the chemical
				restraint followed by a written doctor's order within one (1) business day
				thereafter.
1. The child's care must be
				monitored by a doctor for as long as the chemical restraint is
				ongoing.
2. There shall be no
				standing orders for chemical restraints.
(e) Restraints for positioning during
				physical therapy shall not be used as a form of behavior management.
(f) Time out. A child may be placed in a
				separate room or area, from which egress is prevented only if the following
				conditions are met:
1. If the room in which
				the child is to be placed has a door, the door must remain open at all times;
				and
2. The child is under the
				direct constant supervision of a designated staff member.
(g) Residents shall not be permitted to
				participate in the behavior management of other residents or to discipline
				other residents, except as part of an organized therapeutic self-governing
				program in accordance with accepted standards of practice that is conducted in
				accordance with written policy and is supervised directly by designated
				staff.
(h) Centers shall submit to
				the Department electronically or by facsimile a report within 24 hours whenever
				an unusual incident occurs regarding behavior management, including any injury
				requiring medical treatment beyond first aid that is received by a child as a
				result of any behavior management.
(i) All forms of behavior management used by
				direct care staff shall also be documented in case records in order to ensure
				that such records reflect behavior management problems.
(j) A positioning or securing device used to
				maintain the position, limit mobility, or temporarily immobilize a child during
				medical, dental, diagnostic, or surgical procedures is permissible if ordered
				by a physician and removed upon the completion of the procedure.