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

Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 10:77-4.9

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 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.

(g) All employees who may have direct contact with and/or render behavioral assistance services directly to the beneficiaries shall be required to successfully complete fingerprint-based criminal history background checks through the Department of Human Services' Office of Program Integrity and Accountability (OPIA), pursuant to N.J.A.C. 10:77-4.15.

(h) Agencies, group practices, and other service providers providing behavioral assistance services shall adopt a policy requiring that any changes to an employee's driving or clinical license status be reported by the employee to the provider immediately.

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