New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 10 - HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 77 - REHABILITATIVE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN › Subchapter 4 - BEHAVIORAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES › Section 10:77-4.9 - Staffing requirements

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) Behavioral
				assistance services shall be provided directly by, or under the supervision of,
				individuals who are licensed clinicians, who, at a minimum, are licensed in a
				behavioral health field including, but not limited to, social work, counseling,
				psychology or psychiatric nursing and are authorized, within the scope of their
				practice, to assume responsibility for the provision or supervision of these
				services.
(b) Agencies providing
				behavioral assistance services shall designate an individual to function as the
				program supervisor. The program supervisor shall have, at a minimum, a Master's
				degree in an appropriate behavioral health field, two years post-graduate
				experience working directly with emotionally disturbed children and their
				families and one year of post-graduate administrative experience in an agency
				providing services to children.
(c)
				Agencies, group practices and other service providers providing behavioral
				assistance services shall assure that the individual rendering the service is
				provided with appropriate clinical supervision. The individual providing
				clinical supervision shall be employed by the provider entity and shall be a
				licensed mental health professional, who shall have, at a minimum, a Master's
				degree in an appropriate behavioral health field and one year of experience in
				child welfare, children's mental health, special education, or a related public
				sector human services or behavioral health field working with at risk children
				and families. The person providing the clinical supervision must be clinically
				and culturally competent/responsive with training and experience necessary to
				manage complex cases in the community across child serving systems.
(d) The agency, group practice, or other
				service provider entity must ensure that the evaluation of identified
				behavior(s) that includes recommendations for specific interventions with
				definable outcomes and strategies is provided in accordance with the
				requirements at
				N.J.A.C.
				10:77-4.7.
(e) All direct care staff shall, at a
				minimum, have a high school diploma or equivalent, be 21 years old and have a
				minimum of one year relevant experience in a comparable environment and shall
				be supervised by appropriate clinical staff in accordance with this
				subchapter.
(f) All employees shall
				have a valid driver's license if his or her job functions include the operation
				of a vehicle used in the transportation of the children/youth or young adults.
				Transportation is not a covered behavioral assistance service.
1. Agencies shall provide the Children's
				System of Care (CSOC), within the Department of Children and Families (DCF),
				with an attestation of valid driver's licenses for all employees whose job
				responsibilities may require them to transport children/youth or young
				adults.
2. An agency shall complete
				an attestation of a valid driver's license for every employee whose job
				responsibilities may require them to transport children/youth or young adults
				and shall submit the attestation to the CSOC as part of a new provider
				application or change of staff request before the employee can provide services
				to children/youth or young adults.
i. The
				agency shall have a policy requiring all employees whose job responsibilities
				may require them to transport children/youth or young adults to provide proof
				of renewal of an expired license immediately upon renewal.
3. Agencies shall attest annually that those
				staff required to have a valid driver's license pursuant to this subsection
				have a valid driver's license in their possession and that the license was
				physically reviewed and noted to have a future expiration date. Staff with
				license expiration dates within two months of the license examination date
				should present a copy of the renewed license upon renewal. Agencies shall
				provide the attestation by January 31 of each year using the required
				verification available on the DCF website. Completed forms shall be submitted
				electronically to the CSOC Office of Community Services, at
				IICprovider.Communications@dcf.nj.gov.