(a) For each youth in its
care, a residential commitment program shall implement a delinquency
intervention model or strategy that is an evidence-based practice, promising
practice, a practice with demonstrated effectiveness, or any other intervention
approved by the department that addresses a priority need identified for that
youth.
(b) Education and work
experience shall be considered by the program when determining staff delivery
of delinquency intervention services.
(c) A staff person responsible for the
implementation of a specific delinquency intervention model, strategy or
curriculum shall receive training in its effective implementation.
(d) Residential commitment programs shall
assure structured, planned programming or activities at least 60% of a youth's
awake hours. The program shall provide activities or services that include, at
a minimum, the following:
1. Educational
Services and Career and Vocational Programming. Educational services shall be
provided pursuant to section 1003.52, F.S., the cooperative agreement between
the applicable school district and the department, and any applicable
provisions of the residential provider's contract with the department. Career
and vocational programming services shall be provided pursuant to chapter
63B-1, F.A.C., and any applicable provisions of the residential provider's
contract with the department. The program shall make relevant facility training
available to the educational and vocational staff, including program
orientation, facility safety and security procedures, the program's behavior
management system, and other topics that the program deems necessary to promote
coordination of services, as well as safety and security.
2. Life and Social Skill Competency
Development. The program shall provide delinquency interventions or instruction
that focus on developing life and social skill competencies in youth. For
purposes of this rule chapter, life skills are those skills that help youth to
function more responsibly and successfully in everyday life situations,
including social skills that specifically address interpersonal relationships.
Non-clinical staff may implement only non-clinical life and social skills
interventions or instruction. When skill training or instructional materials
are specifically designed for use by clinical staff or the skill training is
delivered in response to a youth's treatment plan, the skill training must be
provided by clinicians.
a. The program shall
provide life and social skills intervention services that address, at a
minimum, identification and avoidance of high-risk situations that could
endanger self or others, communication, interpersonal relationships and
interactions, non-violent conflict resolution, anger management, and critical
thinking, including problem-solving and decision-making.
b. Direct care staff shall model prosocial
behaviors for youth throughout the course of each day in the program, reinforce
delinquency interventions, and guide and re-direct youth toward prosocial
behaviors and positive choices. Additionally, staff shall engage youth in
constructive dialogue to peacefully resolve conflict when it occurs or, if
imminent safety and security issues delay intervention to resolve the conflict,
as a follow-up process after safety and security are
restored.
3. Restorative
Justice. The program shall provide activities or instruction intended to
increase youths' awareness of and empathy for crime victims and survivors and
increase youths' personal accountability for their criminal actions and harm to
others. The department's Impact of Crime (IOC) curriculum can be used to
satisfy the restorative justice requirement. These activities or instruction
shall be planned or designed to:
a. Assist
youth to accept responsibility for harm they have caused by their past criminal
actions, challenging them to recognize and modify their irresponsible thinking,
such as denying, minimizing, rationalizing, and blaming victims;
b. Teach youth about the impact of crime on
victims, their families and their communities;
c. Expose youth to victims' perspectives
through victim speakers, in person or on videotape or audiotape, or through
victim impact statements, and engage youth in follow-up activities to process
their reactions to each victim's accounting of how crime affected his or her
life; and
d. Provide opportunities
for youth to plan and participate in reparation activities intended to restore
victims and communities, such as restitution activities and community service
projects.
4. Community
Projects. The program shall engage youth in community projects as learning
experiences that promote competency development in youth and provide
opportunities for them to give back to the community, such as projects that
benefit less fortunate or victimized persons. If youth are restricted to the
confines of the residential facility grounds, the program shall engage them in
structured activities that can be accomplished on-site at the program while
benefiting the community. Through collaborative community partnerships, the
program shall identify projects that are needed and valued by the community.
Although program staff shall be responsible for the direct supervision of youth
while engaged in a community project, the program shall ensure that any
community member identified to sponsor or oversee a project serves as a
positive role model while providing guidance needed for youth to successfully
complete the project. For youth to understand the value of community
involvement, staff shall allow youth to give input into the selection of a
community project, involve youth in planning the project, and de-brief with
youth after completion of the project to process what they learned and how the
community was benefited.
5.
Recreation and Leisure Activities. The program shall provide a range of
supervised, structured indoor and outdoor recreation and leisure activities for
youth. These activities shall be based on the developmental levels and needs of
youth in the program, as well as youths' input about their preferences and
interests in various activities. The program shall offer recreation and leisure
activities requiring varying degrees of mental and physical exertion, such as
board games, creative arts, sports, and physical fitness activities. Activities
shall be planned for youths' exposure to a variety of leisure and recreation
choices, exploration of interests, constructive use of leisure time, and social
and cognitive skill development, as well as to promote creativity, teamwork,
healthy competition, mental stimulation, and physical fitness.
a. When engaging youth in active recreation
and physical fitness activities, the program shall take the precautionary
measures necessary to prevent over-exertion, heat stress, dehydration,
frostbite, hypothermia, and exacerbation of existing illness or physical
injury.
b. When planning for and
engaging youth in active recreation and physical fitness activities, the
program shall accommodate youths' limitations due to physical
disabilities.
c. The program shall
provide each youth with the opportunity to engage in large muscle exercise at
least one hour daily. However, a youth shall not engage in such exercise when
prohibited by medical contraindications or restrictions documented by a
licensed healthcare professional or when a youth is exhibiting signs and
symptoms of illness or physical injury pending a licensed healthcare
professional's determination as to the necessity for medical restrictions.
Additionally, a youth shall be prohibited from large muscle exercise when he or
she is temporarily separated from the general population, including when placed
on controlled observation or room restriction status. However, if a youth is
restricted to a room, the program shall give the youth an opportunity for large
muscle exercise as soon as is reasonably possible after the youth is
reintegrated into the general population.
d. The program director shall ensure
development and implementation of written procedures that establish the
conditions, content, and supervision necessary for the use of books and other
leisure reading materials, television programming, videos, movies, and video
games in the program. Except for academic classroom materials approved by
educational personnel, program staff shall screen or preview the content of
books and other reading materials, television programming, videos, movies, and
video games to prevent youth's access to content that promotes violence,
criminal activity, sexual activity, or abuse. Program staff shall not allow
youth to view any television program, video, or movie that is rated above PG-13
unless it is previewed and pre-approved by the program director or his or her
designee.
