Opinion ID: 179140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The RMAP and the BPP

Text: The team identified various risks Fallon might encounter in life and approved two plans designed to minimize Fallon's exposure to those risks. Heartland developed Fallon's Risk Management and Assessment Plan (RMAP), and Solutions created Fallon's Behavior Program Protocol (BPP). The RMAP, which detailed Fallon's mental and physical impairments, instructed Fallon's care providers to verbally and physically redirect Fallon as needed to assure her safety. The RMAP elaborated, If Fallon engages in behavior that jeopardizes her safety (i.e. walks away from staff ...) staff may need to physically intervene and if necessary follow ... policies on emergency control procedures. The BPP provided Fallon's care providers with detailed guidance on how to respond if Fallon exhibited certain behaviors. For outbursts in the workplace, the BPP generally advised: When Fallon becomes agitated and argumentative she will be given one verbal prompt to find a quiet place to calm down.... She will be given no longer than 30 minutes to calm and comply with the staff's request to process the incident,[ [3] ] due to vocational time constraints at her job site. If, after 30 minutes, Fallon is not calm and refusing to process, her vocational staff will contact [Aaron Benson, Heartland's Fargo-Moorhead Site Coordinator and Fallon's Qualified Mental Retardation Professional] and [Fallon's] residential Program Coordinator to inform them that Fallon be returned to her apartment. In the event of a physical outburst, including running away or throw[ing]... items, the BPP instructed Fallon's job coach to immediately disengage from Fallon so long as Fallon was not in danger. Christine Bietz, M.S., who authored the BPP for Solutions, believed physical intervention wasn't really appropriate unless there was an extreme health or safety risk. In case of danger, the BPP advised Fallon's job coach to assess whether verbal or physical intervention was appropriate under the circumstances. For example, the job coach might verbally prompt Fallon to calm in a quiet and safe place. If the job coach was uncomfortable attempting to intervene without assistance from other staff members, the BPP recommended the job coach contact Solutions or a supervisor.