Title 42

SECTION 483.430

483.430 Condition of participation: Facility staffing.

§ 483.430 Condition of participation: Facility staffing.

(a) Standard: Qualified intellectual disability professional. Each client's active treatment program must be integrated, coordinated and monitored by a qualified intellectual disability professional who -

(1) Has at least one year of experience working directly with persons with intellectual disability or other developmental disabilities; and

(2) Is one of the following:

(i) A doctor of medicine or osteopathy.

(ii) A registered nurse.

(iii) An individual who holds at least a bachelor's degree in a professional category specified in paragraph (b)(5) of this section.

(b) Standard: Professional program services. (1) Each client must receive the professional program services needed to implement the active treatment program defined by each client's individual program plan. Professional program staff must work directly with clients and with paraprofessional, nonprofessional and other professional program staff who work with clients.

(2) The facility must have available enough qualified professional staff to carry out and monitor the various professional interventions in accordance with the stated goals and objectives of every individual program plan.

(3) Professional program staff must participate as members of the interdisciplinary team in relevant aspects of the active treatment process.

(4) Professional program staff must participate in on-going staff development and training in both formal and informal settings with other professional, paraprofessional, and nonprofessional staff members.

(5) Professional program staff must be licensed, certified, or registered, as applicable, to provide professional services by the State in which he or she practices. Those professional program staff who do not fall under the jurisdiction of State licensure, certification, or registration requirements, specified in § 483.410(b), must meet the following qualifications:

(i) To be designated as an occupational therapist, an individual must be eligible for certification as an occupational therapist by the American Occupational Therapy Association or another comparable body.

(ii) To be designated as an occupational therapy assistant, an individual must be eligible for certification as a certified occupational therapy assistant by the American Occupational Therapy Association or another comparable body.

(iii) To be designated as a physical therapist, an individual must be eligible for certification as a physical therapist by the American Physical Therapy Association or another comparable body.

(iv) To be designated as a physical therapy assistant, an individual must be eligible for registration by the American Physical Therapy Association or be a graduate of a two year college-level program approved by the American Physical Therapy Association or another comparable body.

(v) To be designated as a psychologist, an individual must have at least a master's degree in psychology from an accredited school.

(vi) To be designated as a social worker, an individual must -

(A) Hold a graduate degree from a school of social work accredited or approved by the Council on Social Work Education or another comparable body; or

(B) Hold a Bachelor of Social Work degree from a college or university accredited or approved by the Council on Social Work Education or another comparable body.

(vii) To be designated as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist, an individual must -

(A) Be eligible for a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology granted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association or another comparable body; or

(B) Meet the educational requirements for certification and be in the process of accumulating the supervised experience required for certification.

(viii) To be designated as a professional recreation staff member, an individual must have a bachelor's degree in recreation or in a specialty area such as art, dance, music or physical education.

(ix) To be designated as a professional dietitian, an individual must be eligible for registration by the American Dietetics Association.

(x) To be designated as a human services professional an individual must have at least a bachelor's degree in a human services field (including, but not limited to: sociology, special education, rehabilitation counseling, and psychology).

(xi) If the client's individual program plan is being successfully implemented by facility staff, professional program staff meeting the qualifications of paragraph (b)(5) (i) through (x) of this section are not required -

(A) Except for qualified intellectual disability professionals;

(B) Except for the requirements of paragraph (b)(2) of this section concerning the facility's provision of enough qualified professional program staff; and

(c) Standard: Facility staffing. (1) The facility must not depend upon clients or volunteers to perform direct care services for the facility.

(2) There must be responsible direct care staff on duty and awake on a 24-hour basis, when clients are present, to take prompt, appropriate action in case of injury, illness, fire or other emergency, in each defined residential living unit housing -

(i) Clients for whom a physician has ordered a medical care plan;

(ii) Clients who are aggressive, assaultive or security risks;

(iii) More than 16 clients; or

(iv) Fewer than 16 clients within a multi-unit building.

(3) There must be a responsible direct care staff person on duty on a 24 hour basis (when clients are present) to respond to injuries and symptoms of illness, and to handle emergencies, in each defined residential living unit housing -

(i) Clients for whom a physician has not ordered a medical care plan;

(ii) Clients who are not aggressive, assaultive or security risks; and

(iii) Sixteen or fewer clients,

(4) The facility must provide sufficient support staff so that direct care staff are not required to perform support services to the extent that these duties interfere with the exercise of their primary direct client care duties.

(d) Standard: Direct care (residential living unit) staff. (1) The facility must provide sufficient direct care staff to manage and supervise clients in accordance with their individual program plans.

(2) Direct care staff are defined as the present on-duty staff calculated over all shifts in a 24-hour period for each defined residential living unit.

(3) Direct care staff must be provided by the facility in the following minimum ratios of direct care staff to clients:

(i) For each defined residential living unit serving children under the age of 12, severely and profoundly retarded clients, clients with severe physical disabilities, or clients who are aggressive, assaultive, or security risks, or who manifest severely hyperactive or psychotic-like behavior, the staff to client ratio is 1 to 3.2.

(ii) For each defined residential living unit serving moderately retarded clients, the staff to client ratio is 1 to 4.

(iii) For each defined residential living unit serving clients who function within the range of mild retardation, the staff to client ratio is 1 to 6.4.

(4) When there are no clients present in the living unit, a responsible staff member must be available by telephone.

(e) Standard: Staff training program. (1) The facility must provide each employee with initial and continuing training that enables the employee to perform his or her duties effectively, efficiently, and competently.

(2) For employees who work with clients, training must focus on skills and competencies directed toward clients' developmental, behavioral, and health needs.

(3) Staff must be able to demonstrate the skills and techniques necessary to administer interventions to manage the inappropriate behavior of clients.

(4) Staff must be able to demonstrate the skills and techniques necessary to implement the individual program plans for each client for whom they are responsible.