Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 2024
(1) The licensee
shall employ adequate staff to maintain the facility in a manner that promotes
and ensures the health, safety, and welfare of residents, and protects those
who are not residents of the facility from any known dangerous behaviors that
the residents exhibit. A violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class
I violation.
(a) The appropriate number and
type of staff employed by the licensee is dependent upon a number of factors
including state and/or federal requirements, court orders, the number of
residents and their unique service requirements, the competency, training, and
education of staff, and the range of services offered. At a minimum, the
licensee shall maintain the staffing pattern delineated and described on its
most recent application for licensure. A violation of this paragraph shall
constitute a Class II violation.
(b) At least one staff person must be present
at all times while clients are in the facility unless the licensee has received
Agency approval for a specified client to be left alone for limited periods of
time during the day or night pursuant to paragraph
65G-2.009(6)(b),
F.A.C. A violation of this paragraph shall constitute a Class I
violation.
(c) Direct service
providers shall not be under the influence of alcoholic beverages or illegal
controlled substances to the extent their normal faculties are impaired. For
purposes of this paragraph "normal faculties" include but are not limited to
the ability to see, hear, walk, talk, judge distances, drive an automobile,
make judgments, act in emergencies and, in general, to normally perform the
many mental and physical acts of daily life. A violation of this paragraph
shall constitute a Class I violation.
(d) Direct service providers shall be at
least 18 years of age. A violation of this paragraph shall constitute a Class
III violation.
(e) Direct service
providers must have at least a high school diploma or equivalent. When
determining the equivalency of high school diplomas, providers may accept
official transcripts, affidavits from educational institutions, and other
formal or legal documents that can be reasonably used to determine educational
background. Direct service providers who have been hired using the best
judgment of the licensee prior to the date of this rule revision, are exempt
from this education-related documentation screening requirement. A violation of
this paragraph shall constitute a Class III violation.
(f) Prior to beginning employment, direct
service providers must have at least one year of experience in a medical,
psychiatric, nursing or childcare setting or working with persons with a
developmental disability. Successfully completed college, vocational or
technical training equal to 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or 720
classroom hours in special education, mental health, counseling, guidance,
social work or health and rehabilitative services can substitute for the
required experience. Direct service providers hired by the licensee prior to
July 1, 2014, shall continue to be exempt from this paragraph. Licensees may
allow direct service providers to begin their employment without meeting the
experience requirements described within this section if such direct service
providers spend their first 90 days of employment working directly under the
supervision or oversight of another direct service provider who does possess
the required experience requirements. For purposes of this section, "direct
supervision or oversight" refers to the physical presence of a direct service
provider who meets the experience requirements and who is immediately available
for assistance as needed and who at all times shall be under the same
contiguous roof line as the direct service provider who does not meet the one
year experience requirement. The direct service provider who does not meet the
one year experience requirement may take residents out of the facility only if
accompanied by another direct service provider who meets the one-year
experience requirement as long as the experienced direct service provider
remains at all times within 100 feet of the direct service provider who does
not meet the one year experience requirement. If such arrangements will be made
for a direct service provider, the licensee shall provide written notification
to the Regional Office, to include the name of the direct service provider and
the facility in which he or she will be working, no later than five business
days after the direct service provider starts employment with the licensee. The
licensee shall conduct a performance evaluation of any direct service provider
employed under the exception to the experience requirement of this paragraph no
later than 120 days after the direct service provider began his or her
employment with the licensee. This performance evaluation shall, at a minimum,
include an assessment of the direct service provider's ability to perform the
prescribed duties of his or her position. Documentation of this performance
evaluation shall be maintained within the personnel file of the direct service
provider and made available to the Agency upon request. A violation of this
paragraph shall constitute a Class III violation.
(g) Direct service providers must be capable
of demonstrating effective communication with the residents of the homes as
well as other individuals such as waiver support coordinators, Agency staff,
family members of residents, and others who routinely interact with residential
staff. A violation of this paragraph shall constitute a Class III
violation.
(h) Direct service
providers must be mentally competent to comprehend, comply with, and implement
all requirements provided by law and Agency rule for the provision of services
rendered to residents of their facilities. In addition, they must be physically
capable of performing duties for which they are responsible. A violation of
this paragraph shall constitute a Class II violation.
(2) The licensee must comply with the
screening requirements established in Section 393.0655, and Chapter 435, F.S. A
violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class I violation.
(3) Licensees are responsible for assuring
that all direct service providers who transport clients have a valid driver's
license. Direct service providers who are responsible for transporting clients
shall not possess driving violations, committed within the past three years,
which relate to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or any other
moving violation(s) which resulted in the suspension or revocation of that
direct service provider's license. Direct service providers must obey all
traffic laws while transporting residents. A violation of this subsection shall
constitute a Class III violation.
(4) On at least an annual basis, all
licensees must access the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Sex
Offender/Predator Database for the purposes of identifying database registrants
who reside within a one-mile radius of the facility. The licensee shall notify
staff of the location of sexual offenders or predators who live within one mile
of the facility. A violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class III
violation.
(5) If a licensee,
direct service provider, volunteer, or any other person working in the facility
has been identified as an alleged perpetrator in an active protective
investigation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult under
Chapter 415, F.S., or abuse, abandonment, or neglect of a child under Part II
of Chapter 39, F.S., and the protective services investigator states a
reasonable suspicion that the abuse, neglect, exploitation or abandonment has
occurred, the alleged perpetrator shall be prohibited from being alone with
facility residents until the investigation is closed.
(a) The alleged perpetrator may still provide
direct services to facility residents if the alleged perpetrator is under the
constant visual supervision of another person working in the facility who has
not been named as the alleged perpetrator in an ongoing protective
investigation.
(b) This subsection
is only applicable in situations where the licensee has been made aware of the
aforementioned investigation.
(c) A
violation of this subsection shall constitute a Class I
violation.
(6) All
licensees with employees shall develop and maintain the following personnel
policies, procedures and records:
(a) Job
descriptions for paid staff;
(b)
Documentation of all facility staff training, including a record of training
dates, training content and trainers, and staff in attendance, shall be kept on
file;
(c) Separate personnel
records for each full and part-time employee that contain written documentation
of the employees' education, qualifications experience, references, background
screening, staff training participation, and any disciplinary action taken
against the employee; and,
(d) A
weekly written schedule indicating staff coverage for at least one week in
advance. Weekly schedules of actual staff coverage shall be maintained for a
six-month period and provided to the Regional Office upon request.
(e) A violation of this subsection shall
constitute a Class III violation.
(7) Staff Training Requirements. Written
documentation of all required staff training must be maintained by the licensee
for at least three years following the receipt of such training and be made
available to the Agency upon request.
(a) All
direct service providers must complete the Agency's Direct Care Core Competency
training within 90 days of first providing services or supports to
residents.
(b) All direct service
providers hired to work in licensed residential facilities subsequent to the
date of this rule revision must complete the Agency's Zero Tolerance training
curriculum on the detection, prevention, and reporting of abuse, neglect, and
exploitation prior to providing direct services. The Zero Tolerance curriculum,
effective June 1, 2014, consists of the Zero Tolerance Classroom Participant's
Manual,
https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-04211,
the Zero Tolerance Facilitator's Guide,
https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-04212,
https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-04213,
and the "Zero Tolerance - a statewide initiative to end abuse, neglect, and
exploitation, " (overhead Power Point) which are hereby incorporated by
reference. A copy of the Zero Tolerance curriculum materials may be obtained
from the Agency' Central Office. In addition, all direct service providers must
complete a refresher Zero Tolerance training course every three years. Staff
must be able to successfully demonstrate their knowledge of required abuse
reporting procedures both in theory and in practice.
(c) All direct service providers must
complete a basic first aid course, including instruction in the abdominal
thrust maneuver and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and shall maintain a
current certification in CPR within 90 days of providing direct services.
Online or computer-based courses are not acceptable for meeting this
requirement; such training must be provided in a classroom setting by a
certified trainer. Facilities shall ensure there is always at least one direct
service provider with current CPR certification onsite when residents are
present.
(d) All staff must
complete an educational course on HIV/AIDS, within 90 days of providing direct
services.
(e) For those residents
with behavior plans, facilities shall comply with the requirements of Chapter
65G-8, F.A.C.
(f) A violation of
this subsection shall constitute a Class III
violation.
Rulemaking Authority
393.501(1),
393.067 FS. Law Implemented
393.0655,
393.067
FS.
New 7-1-14, Amended
8-6-17.
