In order for a residential treatment program to be certified as an intensive treatment or level 3 program, the program shall comply with the following:

1. (a) He-C 4001 or the laws or rules of the state in which they operate;
2. (b) The program shall have the capacity to provide highly structured services, both on-site and in the community, as needed to directly affect the educational, physical, intellectual, emotional, and social needs of the children and families;

3. (c) The program shall maintain a multi-disciplinary, self-contained means of service delivery to meet the needs identified within the treatment plan, as follows:

   1. (1) There shall be a clinical staff to child ratio of one clinical staff to 10 children;
   2. (2) Clinical services shall be provided through the residential treatment program’s on-site program unless a special circumstance is identified through the treatment plan to support utilizing a community provider;
   3. (3) Clinical staff shall provide treatment interventions to meet the individual needs of the children and families served and shall provide a therapeutic group-living experience;
   4. (4) Unless otherwise specified in the child’s treatment plan, any combination of individual, group, or family counseling services shall be provided to each child or the family a minimum of 3 times a week consisting of a minimum of 45 minutes per session, or the equivalent of that time over several sessions;
   5. (5) The family-centered services component shall operate in accordance with the written policy required by He-C 6350.10(b) and with staffing in accordance with He-C 6350.11(j) and (k); and

   6. (6) The residential treatment program shall organize its clinical staff and family workers in a flexible manner so long as families are seen face-to-face no less than one time per week, unless otherwise specified in the child’s treatment plan, as follows:

      1. a. Technology may be used to supplement clinical services as a part of the child’s treatment; and
      2. b. The utilization of a video-conferencing technology shall not replace face-to-face contact unless documented in the child’s treatment plan with the agreement of the treatment team as identified in He-C 6350.13;

4. (d) The program shall be staff-secure and be able to serve those children whose needs require a high level of treatment and supervision, as follows:

   1. (1) There shall be a minimum staff to child ratio of one staff to 4 children during hours when children are awake;
   2. (2) Except for residential treatment programs that have an independent living component housed in a separate area and have the capability of moving children that need more supervision back to the intensive care level, there shall be an awake staff member in each building housing children; and
   3. (3) An out-of-state program shall comply with the staffing requirements of the state in which it operates, provided that the staff to child ratio is sufficient to ensure the residents’ safety and that children have prompt access to services and treatment. The program shall provide the documentation of the staff and nursing ratio maintained by the program to the department if it does not comply with (1) above;

5. (e) Educational services to children shall comply with RSA 193:1 and Ed 306, as follows:

   1. (1) The program shall use public schools pursuant to Ed 300, non-public schools pursuant to Ed 400, or private providers of special education pursuant to Ed 1100 as approved by the NH state board of education;
   2. (2) The agency shall operate and maintain approval as a non-public school pursuant to Ed 400 and a private provider of special education pursuant to Ed 1100 as approved by the NH state board of education; and
   3. (3) Programs in another state shall follow the requirements of their state agency or local authority which approves educational programs; and
6. (f) When a child is discharged to a family home, the program shall provide transitional and aftercare services for a minimum of 30 days.

Source. #6617, eff 10-25-97; ss by #8453, INTERIM, eff 10-25-05, EXPIRED: 4-23-06 New. #8693, eff 7-27-06; ss by #10759, eff 1-17-15 (from He-C 6350.18); ss by #14178, INTERIM, eff 1-18-25; ss by #14490, eff 1-22-26, EXPIRES: 1-22-36 (formerly He-C 6350.17)