Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Early
Childhood Intervention (ECI) case management may only be provided by an
employee or subcontractor of an ECI contractor. The contractor must comply with
the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) ECI requirements related
to minimum qualifications for service coordinators.
(1) A service coordinator must meet one of
the following criteria:
(A) be a licensed
professional in a discipline relevant to early childhood
intervention;
(B) be an Early
Intervention Specialist (EIS) or meet the qualifications for an EIS as defined
in § 350.313 of this subchapter;
(C) be a Registered Nurse (with a diploma, an
associate's, bachelor's or advanced degree) licensed by the Texas Board of
Nursing; or
(D) hold a bachelor's
degree or graduate degree from an accredited university with a specialization
in:
(i) child development, special education,
psychology, social work, sociology, nursing, rehabilitation counseling, or
human development or a related field; or
(ii) an unrelated field with at least 18
hours of semester course credit in child development or human
development.
(2) Before performing case management
activities, a service coordinator must complete HHSC ECI required case
management training that includes, at a minimum, content which results in:
(A) knowledge and understanding of the needs
of infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families;
(B) knowledge of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, Part C;
(C) understanding of the scope of early
childhood intervention services available under the early childhood
intervention program and the medical assistance program; and
(D) understanding of other state and
community resources and supports necessary to coordinate care.
(3) A service coordinator must
complete all assigned activities on the service coordinator's Individualized
Professional Development Plan within one year from the service coordinator's
start date.
(4) A service
coordinator must effectively communicate in the family's native language or use
an interpreter or translator.
(b) A service coordinator who was employed as
service coordinator by a contractor before March 1, 2012 and does not meet the
requirements of subsection (a)(1) of this section may continue to serve as a
service coordinator at the contractor's discretion.
(c) The contractor must comply with HHSC ECI
requirements related to continuing education for service coordinators. A
service coordinator must complete:
(1) three
contact hours of training in ethics every two years;
(2) an additional three contact hours of
training specifically relevant to case management every year; and
(3) if the service coordinator does not hold
a current license or credential that requires continuing professional
education, an additional seven contact hours of approved continuing education
every year.
(d) The
contractor must comply with HHSC ECI requirements related to supervision of
service coordinators.
(1) A contractor's
supervision of service coordinators must meet the requirements outlined in
§ 350.309(e) of this subchapter (relating to Minimum Requirements for All
Direct Service Staff).
(2) A
contractor's ECI program staff member who meets the following criteria is
qualified to supervise a service coordinator:
(A) has completed all service coordinator
training as required in subsection (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section;
(B) has two years of experience providing
case management in an ECI program or another applicable community-based
organization; and
(C) is an active
EIS or holds a bachelor's degree or graduate degree from an accredited
university with a specialization in:
(i) child
development, special education, psychology, social work, sociology, nursing,
human development or a related field; or
(ii) an unrelated field with at least 18
hours of semester course credit in child development or human
development.
(e) Requirements for service coordinator
active status and inactive status are as follows.
(1) A service coordinator is on inactive
status when the service coordinator fails to complete required training
activities by the designated deadlines in subsections (a) and (c) of this
section. Service coordinator active status is reinstated after the required
training activities are completed and approved by the service coordinator's
supervisor.
(2) A service
coordinator is on inactive status when the service coordinator is no longer
employed by a contractor.
(A) A service
coordinator returns to active status when the service coordinator:
(i) is employed by an ECI program within 24
months or less from the last day of employment;
(ii) submits 10 clock hours of continuing
education for every year of inactive status; and
(iii) submits documentation of three clock
hours of ethics training completed within the last two years and not used to
meet previous training requirements.
(B) A service coordinator who has been on
inactive status for longer than 24 months must complete the training
requirements outlined in subsections (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this
section.
(f)
The contractor must comply with HHSC ECI requirements related to ethics of
service coordinators. Service coordinators must meet the established rules of
conduct and ethics training required by their license or credential. A service
coordinator who does not hold a license or credential must meet the rules of
conduct and ethics established in § 350.314 of this subchapter (relating
to EIS Code of Ethics).
