Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Representatives of the office shall
complete the following annual continuing education requirements:
(1) Ombudsman associate: eighteen
hours.
(2) Ombudsman specialists: eighteen
hours
with a minimum of nine
of those
hours earned through attendance at
SLTCO-sponsored
education.
(3) Ombudsman program
directors: eighteen hours
with a
minimum of nine of those
hours earned through attendance at
SLTCO-sponsored education
and with at least
one session
on the training outlined in paragraph (C) of rule
173-14-07 of the Administrative
Code. Topics of sessions may include, but are not limited to, supervision of
staff, quality assurance practices, strategic planning, and interviewing,
hiring, and retention of potential staff.
The required hours of
continuing education shall be prorated for any representative of the office who
has been certified for fewer than twelve months.
(B) The SLTCO
may approve
only those continuing education sessions
that meet the
following requirements:
(1) The individual(s)
presenting the session has documented expertise in the content area.
(2) The session transmits knowledge relevant
to the duties of a long-term care ombudsman.
(3) The session has not been held for the
purpose of individual or group supervision.
(C)
(1) The
SLTCO shall notify each representative of the credits that may be earned
through attendance at
an SLTCO-sponsored session
before the date on which the session is scheduled
and may assign credit for successfully completing the
session.
(2) Representatives
or a program designee shall enter all requests for credit toward their
continuing education requirements into the ombudsman registry or by email to the
SLTCO or the SLTCO's designee before, or as soon as
practicable after, actual attendance at the session.
All requests for continuing education credit shall contain the
following:
(a) The name of the session
and the name of the entity that organized or sponsored the session.
(b) A brief summary of the session's
content.
(c) The name of the
presenters at the session and a statement addressing their expertise in the
content of the session.
(d) The
length of the session, including the length of any time the representative
spent presenting.
(e) An
explanation of how the session relates to the duties of the
representative.
(f)
Proof of completion, if completed.
(3)
The SLTCO shall
approve continuing education credits in terms of face-to-face contact hours or
one-tenth parts of an hour earned. The SLTCO shall notify representatives of
the approval or disapproval of their requests as soon as
practicable.
(4)
A representative may meet this rule's continuing
education requirements with credits that were also counted toward the
continuing education requirements of other professional organizations or
boards.
(D)
(1) The regional programs shall track the
hours of continuing education accumulated by their volunteers and the SLTCO
shall track the hours of continuing education accumulated by the paid and
volunteer staff of the state office. All continuing education shall be reported
through the ombudsman registry
according to instructions provided by the state office.
(2) By December first of each year, a state
review shall be completed to ensure the continuing education requirements for
each representative have been fulfilled. According to
instructions provided by the state office,
regional
programs shall enter records of volunteer continuing education into the
ombudsman registry by December
fifteenth of each year and retain
records on continuing education as long as the representative remains
affiliated with the office. After records are entered
into the
registry, physical records may be
destroyed.
(E) If
continuing education requirements cannot be fulfilled
before each year's deadline, a representative may
demonstrate extenuating circumstances or give an explanation to the ombudsman
program director, for volunteers of that program, or to the SLTCO, for paid
staff of the office and volunteers of the state office.
(1) In the case of a regional program
volunteer, if the explanation or extenuating circumstances are not acceptable
to the ombudsman program director, the program director shall notify the
SLTCO.
(2) In the case of a paid
representative, if the explanation or extenuating circumstances are not
acceptable to the SLTCO, the SLTCO shall notify the representative and program
director or sponsoring agency director, as appropriate.
(3) The SLTCO may consider the performance of
the representative and allow the representative to obtain the missing
hours of continuing education by
March thirty-first of the subsequent year. Any hours carried over from a
previous year do not count toward the continuing education requirements of the
subsequent year.
(F) A
representative of the office who does not meet the continuing education
requirement annually, or within the extension period if approved based upon a
demonstration of extenuating circumstances, shall be decertified according to
rule 173-14-12 of the Administrative
Code. The notice and hearing process for a paid representative
is subject to rule
173-14-27 of the Administrative
Code.
