Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0250 - Children's Services
Subtitle 0250-04 - Standards for Regulated Institutions
Chapter 0250-04-10 - Standards for Runaway House Agencies
Section 0250-04-10-.07 - AGENCY SERVICES

Universal Citation: TN Comp Rules and Regs 0250-04-10-.07

Current through September 24, 2024

(1) General Standards. The agency is required to provide as part of its services the following:

(a) Individual Intake Services

(b) Temporary Shelter

(c) Individual Counseling

(d) Group Counseling

(e) Family Counseling

(f) Referral Services

(g) After-Care Services

(2) Client Intake

(a) Individual intake services to allow access to the program must exist on a 24-hour basis.

(b) The identification of emergency services, e.g., medical, dental, legal, basic needs, and the provision of the appropriate services directly and/or referral to other community service agencies must exist.

(c) Each individual resident must be immediately assigned to a caseworker who has case responsibility for the resident.

(d) A written procedure for contacting parents or legal guardians within one (1) hour, if possible, of the time of admission - both within the State of Tennessee or outside the State, must be established.

(e) A written procedure for notification within one (1) hour of the time of admission of the juvenile court in which jurisdiction the runaway house is located, must be established.

(f) In the event that parents are not available for notification, a certified or witnessed attempt at contacting parents must be recorded in the case record.

(g) An orientation to the agency practices and services must be held with each resident and an agreement reached.

(3) Counseling

(a) Individual counseling must be available to each youth admitted to the program. Individual counseling sessions must be conducted on a regular basis (at least three times weekly) for each resident admitted to the program on a residential basis.

(b) Weekly case management sessions must be held with appropriate staff present to review all current cases and the type of care being provided.

(c) A written plan for each resident must be part of the agency record.

(d) A record of individual casework and counseling must be part of the individual resident's agency record,

(4) Group Counseling

(a) Group counseling sessions must be conducted at least two times per week.

(b) Group counseling sessions must be conducted or supervised by staff with related experience and training.

(5) Family Counseling

(a) Family counseling must be offered to all parents or legal guardians and residents.

(b) Family counseling must be conducted by staff with -related experience and training.

(c) Family counseling, whenever possible and appropriate must be part of the overall treatment for each resident receiving services from the agency.

(6) Agreement with Community Agencies

(a) A conscientious effort must be made to establish formal or informal agreements with community agencies regarding the acceptance of program referrals.

(b) The program must be aware of and refer to community agencies for the provision of appropriate services.

(c) The agency must make every effort to establish linkages with other community agencies to provide for additional in-house services in areas in which the agency does not have in-house competence, e.g., psychological evaluation, psychiatric consultation.

(d) The program must validate in the agency record that the services, plans, and referrals that are made for a specific resident do exist in the community, and were either provided or refused.

(7) After-Care Services

(a) After-care services must be part of the overall program and provided to residents and their families on a voluntary basis.

(b) A regular plan for after-care services must be a part of the case records when appropriate.

(c) After-care services provided must be documented in the case record.

(8) Protective Services. Each runaway house agency must be aware of the T.C.A. §§ 37-1201 through 37-1212 and the responsibility of all agencies and individuals in reporting a child abuse or alleged abuse to the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, and must develop a plan for the immediate reporting of each incidence of alleged abuse.

(9) Agency Records

(a) Each agency must complete accurate records on all runaways served by the agency.

(b) A system for data collection must be established to identify trends for working with youth in crisis and to provide proper information as to numbers and demographic information of youth served.

(c) Each agency must provide secure and fire-resistant files for storing confidential records and the administrative files of the agency.

(d) The agency must provide for the storage in a secure area of the agency of all records for at least a three-year period following the 18th birthday of a resident. No file may be destroyed prior to that time.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-226(b)(2);37-5-101; 37-5-105; 37-5-106; 37-5-112(a); 37-1604 and 37-1605.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Tennessee 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.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.