1. (a) The residential treatment program shall encourage visits and other forms of communication between the child and family members, kin, and identified connections.
2. (b) The residential treatment program shall make available space and times that are convenient for visiting.
3. (c) The staff shall coordinate opportunities for a child in care to visit outside the residential treatment program.
4. (d) Programs shall encourage frequent contact between the child and appropriate family, kin, and connections when clinically appropriate.
5. (e) Staff shall facilitate, support, supervise, or enforce the limit of visits with others in accordance with the court orders, case plan, and treatment plan.
6. (f) Staff shall provide privacy for visits and telephone contacts between children and their families, kin, or identified connections if appropriate.
7. (g) Staff shall allow a child in care to receive and send mail.
8. (h) Staff shall not read children’s mail unless the reason is documented in the treatment plan or approved by DCYF at the request of the residential treatment program to meet the supervision needs of the child.
9. (i) The residential treatment program shall be equipped with telephones for the children’s use and shall have procedures about their use.
10. (j) The residential treatment program shall provide privacy for and not prevent a child from communicating verbally, in writing, or directly with their attorney, GAL, CASA, the New Hampshire office the child advocate, ordained representative of the child’s faith, or DCYF representative unless the access to the phone or materials would present a safety concern at the time.
11. (k) If there were a safety issue which prevented a child from communicating, the program shall notify the applicable individual listed in (j) above of the concern and of the intent the child had to communicate with the individual.
12. (l) If the treatment team has planned with the child around the frequency of communication, the team will be made aware of the approximate frequency of the request made by the child with the intent to communicate with the individual through the monthly progress reports if the amount requested exceeds the allowable frequency.
13. (m) The residential treatment program shall make efforts to communicate with the parent or guardian about the implementation of the reasonable and prudent parent standard in structuring activities for the child within the operation of the program.

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 6350.30); amd by #12609, eff 8-23-18; ss by #14178, INTERIM, eff 1-18-25; ss by #14490, eff 1-22-26, EXPIRES: 1-22-36 (formerly He-C 6350.28)