New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services
Subchapter D - Adult-Care Facilities
Part 491 - Shelters For Adults
Section 491.16 - Serious incidents and incident reporting

Universal Citation: 18 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 491.16

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024

(a) In the event of the serious injury or death of a resident, the operator shall:

(1) immediately obtain necessary assistance and services;

(2) notify the resident's representative, or next of kin, if known and if the resident's consent has been provided; and

(3) notify the appropriate local authorities.

(b) In the event of any serious incident impacting upon the safety and well-being of any resident of a shelter or member of the shelter's staff, including, but not limited to, deaths by unnatural causes or suicides, life-threatening injuries including drug overdoses, assaults, rapes, sexual assaults, or attempted rapes or sexual assaults, arrests, fires, disasters, or other events that cause evacuation of the building or injury to shelter residents, domestic violence that results in injury of one or more residents, criminal activity on the part of shelter staff, or any misconduct on the part of shelter staff that results in harm to the residents or other staff members, unless otherwise directed by the office:

(1) the operator of the shelter or the social services district shall immediately report the serious incident to the office by e-mail or telephone. In the event the operator of the shelter reports the serious incident to the office, the social services district also must be immediately notified; and

(2) the social services district shall submit a copy of the office-prescribed incident report form to the office within three business days.

(c) The operator must maintain a chronological record of serious incidents of the type described in subdivision (b) of this section, using the office-prescribed incident report form. In the case of injury, the operator must include the resident's version of the events leading to an accident or incident involving such resident on all incident reports unless the resident objects.

(d) Where a security incident has been reported, or upon review of a facilities operational plan, the office may direct the social services district or the operator to take additional security measures including, but not limited to, directing the shelter to deploy additional trained security staff or relocate residents to another facility or shelter. The office also may direct the social services district or the operator to:

(1) engage a qualified third party, who has been approved by the office, to conduct an evaluation of the security measures employed by the facility; and

(2) employ any or all of the recommendations made by the third party.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New York 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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