New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 3A - CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Chapter 55 - MANUAL OF REQUIREMENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE FACILITIES
Subchapter 9 - ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES
Section 3A:55-9.20 - Special requirements for communication and visiting

Universal Citation: NJ Admin Code 3A:55-9.20

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024

(a) The requirements in this section shall apply only to facilities providing or contracting for adventure activities that:

1. Are located in areas that are remote or away from ordinary means of communication; or

2. Use travel, including, but not limited to, backpacking, sailing or a wagon train.

(b) The facility shall permit family members and the placing agency to visit the child where he or she is currently living and shall provide a comfortable inside space when the weather prohibits outside visitation.

1. The facility shall provide privacy for all visits between the child and the placing agency.

2. The facility shall provide privacy for family visits unless the facility documents in the child's record that the child would be at risk during a private family visit.

(c) The facility shall develop and maintain on file, in the administrative office, plans and procedures to ensure that each child:

1. Can receive an emergency message from his or her family and from the placing agency within 24 hours of the family member or the placing agency contacting the facility's administrative office;

2. Is given necessary postage to send mail to family members and the placing agency; and

3. Can receive mail from his or her family and the placing agency on a weekly basis.

(d) The facility shall permit each child to make private telephone calls to the placing agency, upon reasonable request.

(e) The facility shall permit each child to make a telephone call at the facility's expense to a family member at least every other week.

1. The facility may impose a time limit of 15 minutes on telephone calls made by children to family members.

2. The facility may require children to telephone family members at off-peak times.

3. The facility shall not use electronic devices to monitor children's telephone calls to family members, but may observe their reaction during the telephone call.

4. The facility shall maintain documentation that children were permitted to make telephone calls at the facility's expense to family members. Such documentation may include, but is not limited to, copies of telephone bills or notes in logs.

(f) The facility shall not prohibit a child from receiving messages or mail or from making bi-weekly telephone calls as a consequence for misbehavior.

(g) The facility shall explain its policies and procedures to all families and children upon admission and give parents a written explanation of the policy for visiting and communication. This explanation shall include the procedures for sending emergency messages and mail.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Jersey may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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