Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
(a)
Incarcerated individuals may be admitted to a step-down unit from either
segregated confinement or a residential rehabilitation unit.
(b) Incarcerated individuals admitted to a
step-down unit shall be offered the following:
(1) at least seven hours out-of-cell on a
daily basis; and
(2) out-of-cell
programs and activities that promote personal development and group engagement,
addressing underlying causes of problematic behavior resulting in placement in
segregated confinement or a residential rehabilitation unit, and helping
prepare for discharge from the unit to general confinement or the community,
and
(3) the opportunity to lessen
restrictions and earn additional privileges under the progressive inmate
movement system by meeting established benchmarks and individual
goals.
(4) An incarcerated
individual can be denied out-of-cell activities described in this section, if
the commissioner or his designee determines that the incarcerated individual's
participation in such activities presents an imminent risk of danger to the
incarcerated individual or to others.
(c) Upon admission to a step-down unit, a
program management team shall:
(1) develop an
individual rehabilitation plan in consultation with the incarcerated individual
based upon his or her programming needs, identifying specific goals, program(s)
to be offered, including discharge from the unit to general confinement or the
community, and
(2) conduct periodic
reviews of the incarcerated individuals.
(d) An incarcerated individual serving a
disciplinary sanction in a step-down unit will only be discharged to a special
housing unit under the following specific, limited circumstances:
(1) When it is determined by the program
management team that an incarcerated individual has been chronically failing to
comply with the program objectives, the program management team will first
attempt to obtain program compliance. De-escalation, intervention and
informational reports and the withdrawal of incentives shall be the preferred
methods of responding to less serious negative behavior. All efforts to obtain
compliance will be fully documented by the program management team. Absent
compliance, a recommendation may be made for alternate program placement or
discharge to a special housing unit. The recommendation by the program
management team shall be forwarded to the superintendent for determination. The
superintendent's determination will be forwarded to central office for review,
and if necessary, transfer action. Misbehavior reports can only be issued in
circumstances where the incarcerated individual is accused of serious offenses,
the alleged behavior demonstrates a threat to safety and/or the incarcerated
individual has engaged in repeated acts of disruptive misbehavior despite prior
alternative interventions.
(2) When
it is determined that an incarcerated individual poses an immediate or
continuing unacceptable threat to the safety of staff or other incarcerated
individuals or to the security of the facility, the deputy superintendent for
security will consult with the program management team and make a
recommendation. The recommendation by the deputy superintendent for security
will be forwarded to the superintendent for determination. The superintendent's
determination will in turn be forwarded to central office for review, and if
necessary, transfer action.
(e) Incarcerated individuals placed in a
step-down unit shall be released to general confinement no later than the
expiration of the sanction imposed or upon successful completion of a step-down
unit program, whichever is earlier. The remainder of the incarcerated
individual's sanction, if any, will be suspended upon the incarcerated
individual's release from the step-down unit program. If the incarcerated
individual does not engage in any sanctionable conduct during the duration of
the suspended sanction, that disciplinary sanction will expire on the earlier
of the sanction end-date or six months from the date of release to general
confinement. Service of suspended penalties may be imposed as a sanction, based
on an individualized assessment, only for serious misbehavior or for committing
the same or similar violation as that leading to the suspended
sanction.
