West Virginia Code of State Rules
Agency 78 - Human Services
Title 78 - LEGISLATIVE RULE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES BUREAU FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
Series 78-03 - Minimum Licensing Requirements for Residential Child Care and Treatment Facilities for Children and Transitioning Adults and Vulnerable and Transitioning Youth Group Homes and Programs in West Virginia
Section 78-3-16 - Critical Incidents and Crisis Management
Universal Citation: 78 WV Code of State Rules 78-3-16
Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 38, September 20, 2024
16.1. Abuse and Neglect.
16.1.1. The organization shall have
a procedure regarding identification and reporting of instances of alleged
abuse or neglect of children in its care that shall be in compliance with W.
Va. Code §
49-2-801
et
seq.
16.1.2. Definitions
of abuse and neglect and procedures regarding reporting of abuse and neglect
shall be consistent with those established by state law.
16.1.3. The employees, volunteers and
management of any organization are considered to be mandatory reporters by
State Law and are required to report any and all allegations of abuse and
neglect to the appropriate state authorities as required in W. Va. Code §
49-2-801 (Part VIII). All
allegations of abuse and neglect shall be immediately reported to the
Institutional Investigative Unit of the Department via a telephone call to the
Child Abuse Hotline. Within 48 hours of the incident, the organization shall
prepare a written incident report that shall be available to the Institutional
Investigative Unit upon request. The Institutional Investigative Unit will
inform the organization if an investigation of the incident shall be conducted.
If the Institutional Investigative Unit indicates that there shall be no
Institutional Investigative Unit investigation the allegation shall be
downgraded to a critical incident and the organization shall proceed with a
full investigation.
16.1.3.a. The
organization shall limit internal assessment of an incident to ensuring the
safety of the children in placement without compromising the Department's
subsequent investigation.
16.1.4. All incidents that have harmed or may
have represented potential harm to a child or children shall result in the
completion of an incident form. Incidents suspected of being subject to
mandatory reporting requirements as defined by W. Va. Code §
49-2-801, et seq.
shall be reported to the Institutional Investigative Unit according to
organization policy and procedures. This shall include medication errors with
negative outcome for the child and any injuries occurring in the course of a
restraint.
16.1.5. The organization
shall cooperate fully in an investigation of any incident and shall provide all
information requested by the Department.
16.1.6. Any investigations completed by the
organization shall be maintained and made available to the state regulatory
agency.
16.1.7. In all cases, the
organization shall take the actions necessary to protect the child from further
harm until an investigation is completed. An incident involving the alleged
sexual abuse or physical abuse causing a serious physical injury to a child by
an employee of the organization requires that the employee be removed from
direct service work with children until the investigation is completed.
Otherwise, the organization shall have a procedure in place for management of
employees alleged to have abused or neglected a child that may include any or
all of the following:
16.1.7.a. Removal from
duty pending investigation;
16.1.7.b. Increased supervision to ensure
child safety;
16.1.7.c. Transfer to
a substantially different area of the organization with different children
(higher developmental functioning, different sex, etc.);
16.1.7.d. Transfer to a different more
closely supervised shift;
16.1.7.e.
Transfer to different job responsibilities that does not include contact with
children; and
16.1.7.f. Other
appropriate actions as indicated by the circumstances.
16.2. Critical Incidents.
16.2.1. The organization is responsible for
monitoring and investigating any incident that may have had the potential for
harming a child emotionally or physically with the exception of those incidents
investigated by the Institutional Investigative Unit. Critical incidents
include but are not limited to the following:
16.2.1.a. Attempted suicide with some
potential for being lethal;
16.2.1.b. Behavior likely to lead to serious
injury or significant property damage;
16.2.1.c. Fire resulting in injury;
16.2.1.d. Major involvement with law
enforcement authorities;
16.2.1.e.
Possession of illicit substances including alcohol;
16.2.1.f. Possession of weapons;
16.2.1.g. Injury resulting in hospitalization
or medical treatment;
16.2.1.h.
Significant reaction to a medication or food;
16.2.1.i. Medication errors with negative
outcome that the Institutional Investigative Unit determines it will not
investigate;
16.2.1.j. Dietary
errors resulting in negative outcome for the child;
16.2.1.k. Extended and unauthorized
absence;
16.2.1.l. Significant
injuries of unknown origin; and
16.2.1.m. Any other incident judged by
employees, management or other individual to be significant and to potentially
have a negative impact on the child.
16.2.2. For the purposes of sorting mandatory
reporting incidents from other incidents, the issue of lack of appropriate
employee oversight shall always be considered. If the incident is attributed to
lack of employee oversight, it shall be upgraded to a mandatory reporting
incident.
16.2.3. All critical
incidents shall be documented, then investigated by a designated member of the
organization's safety committee, or similar committee. The investigation shall
result in a report that will be reviewed by the administrator or his or her
designee within five working days of the occurrence of the incident or within
five days of notification by the Institutional Investigative Unit that it will
not investigate. The report shall describe the incident, possible antecedents,
consequences, witnesses, time of day, length of the incident, the individuals
involved and any other information necessary for quality improvement and risk
management. Whenever possible, all witnesses should be interviewed, and the
results of the intake documented.
16.2.4. All facilities will also encounter
incidents that are not necessarily critical in nature, but that will require
investigation. Again, lack of employee oversight shall always be evaluated as
an issue. If that lack led to a negative outcome for the child, it shall be
upgraded to mandatory reporting. Injuries of unknown origin shall also always
be evaluated and considered for potential of abuse in protected
populations.
16.2.5. If a pattern
of non-critical incidents is identified, the organization shall refer to the
quality assurance team for a thorough investigation of incidents typical of the
pattern.
16.2.6. The organization
shall keep a central administrative file of all incident reports and any
ensuing investigations.
16.2.7.
Incident reports shall be completed prior to the end of the shift of the
reporter or individual involved. The program supervisor shall review and sign
off on the report within one working day. The organization shall immediately
make reports to the Institutional Investigative Unit when appropriate. Written
reports shall follow within 48 hours. Internal investigations shall be
completed within five days of the incident or within five days of notification
by the Institutional Investigative Unit that it will not investigate, depending
on the nature of the incident.
16.2.8. The organization shall regularly and
at least every 90 days submit all incident reports either to the organization's
safety committee or officer for review. That review shall result in an annual
report to the governing body and shall be used to improve quality and safety of
care to the children in service.
16.3. Emergency Medical Services.
16.3.1. The organization shall have written
procedures for directing employees in case of medical emergencies.
16.3.2. All employees shall have access to
the procedures and to a list of emergency numbers.
16.3.3. All employees shall be trained in
emergency medical procedures.
16.3.4. Residential direct care employees
shall have at a minimum the availability of telephone contact with supervisory
employees on a 24-hour basis. Telephone numbers for supervisory employees and
schedules of on-call responsibility shall be readily available to all employees
at all times.
16.4. Deaths.
All children's deaths shall be reported to law enforcement, the Institutional Investigative Unit through DHHR Centralized Intake and the licensing specialist, the child's DHHR caseworker, the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, the coroner of the county in which the organization is located, and to other state or federal agencies as required by law within 24 hours.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. West Virginia 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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