New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 31 - SCREENING AND SCREENING OUTREACH PROGRAM › Subchapter 2 - PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS › Section 10:31-2.6 - Written policies and procedures

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Written
				policies and procedures shall be developed to ensure that the screening
				service/affiliated emergency service system complies with Federal and State law
				(30:4-27.1 et seq.) and rules and regulations governing these services for
				persons with mental illness.
(b)
				Each policy and/or procedure shall be designed to ensure accessibility to
				services and to ensure that consumers receive treatment in the least
				restrictive, clinically appropriate setting, as close to their own community as
				possible, with the achievement of wellness and recovery as its goal. Service
				provision shall balance the value of liberty with the need for safety or
				treatment.
1. The policy and procedures
				manual shall be reviewed and revised annually, and updated as necessary. The
				review and revision process shall be documented.
2. Provider policy and procedures shall
				require attempts to obtain informed patient consent to receive treatment,
				except where involuntary treatment is legally authorized and consistent with
				State law.
3. The policy and
				procedure manual shall include policies and procedures setting forth
				confidentiality standards and procedures that are to be followed in all aspects
				of the screening services or AES's provision of services to consumers that are
				consistent with all applicable Federal and State law, including, but not
				limited to, the Privacy Rule implementing the Federal Health Insurance
				Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164,
N.J.S.A. 30:4-24
.3, and
N.J.A.C.
				10:37-6.79
.
4. The policies shall require, to the extent
				permitted under applicable confidentiality laws, contact with the consumer's
				family, spouse, civil union partner, or significant other and current or
				previous service providers to determine what the clinical needs of the consumer
				and what services would best meet those needs in the best interest of the
				consumer. Agency policy shall require that the extent of these efforts be
				documented in the consumer's record.
5. The screening service shall develop
				written protocols that describe the role of the screening service staff with
				police at the scene of an outreach.
6. The screening service shall have written
				policies and procedures for providing outreach services.
7. Written policies and procedures regarding
				the provision of extended crisis evaluation services shall include, but not be
				limited to, the following: admission criteria, intensive observation and
				continuous monitoring of consumers, use of physical restraints, administration
				and monitoring of medication, and documentation of all treatment interventions
				provided to consumers while in extended crisis evaluation beds.
i. Policies and procedures for the use of
				physical restraints and the administration and monitoring of medication shall
				be consistent with Division and Department of Health requirements, and any
				other applicable Federal and State laws.
ii. Screening services shall submit aggregate
				data on restraint use to the Division on a quarterly basis.
8. The screening service shall develop and
				maintain written protocol and procedures for use of various medication
				techniques, including emergency stabilization regimes.
9. Interventions on behalf of the consumer
				shall be documented in a clinical record.
10. The screening service shall develop and
				maintain policies and procedures that address clinical supervision of screeners
				possessing temporary certification in the completion of their assessment
				process.
11. All duties to be
				performed by psychiatrists shall be described in the screening service's
				policies and procedures.
12.
				Records of the certification of screeners and completion or fulfillment of
				recertification requirements shall be maintained in the screening
				service.