Community homes shall develop, maintain and follow internal written policies and procedures concerning:

1. A. Protection of children: Policies and procedures shall acknowledge the community home’s responsibility to protect the safety of children. Specifically, policies and procedures shall:

   (1) require that community home staff report all suspected incidents of abuse and neglect, as defined in Subsections N, Q and U of 8.26.6.7 NMAC, involving children in the community home’s care and advise the child’s legal guardian when such a report is made;

   (2) address the safety of children who may be harmed while in the care and control of the community home or its providers and include a plan stating the course of action followed in the event a child is harmed, without regard to how the incident occurred, and identifying the line of authority and the decision-making process to assist in the reporting and investigation of these matters; and

   (3) create a safe and supportive home environment for youth in PSD custody regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

2. B. Confidentiality: Under the confidentiality provisions of the New Mexico Children’s Code, NMSA 1978, Sections 32A-3B-22, 32A-4-33, 32A-5-6 and 32A-5-8, all child or client case records and child or client identifying information is confidential and may not be publicly disclosed.
3. C. Grievances: Policies and procedures shall include that process by which the community home reviews and makes decisions regarding grievances on behalf of all children residing within the community home.

4. D. Incident reports: Policies and procedures shall include a process for internally reviewing and acting upon incident reports. Incidents and subsequent incident reports shall include, but are not limited to:

   (1) policy and procedure violations related to the health and safety of a child;

   (2) abuse or neglect of a child, as defined in Subsections N, Q and U of 8.26.6.7 NMAC, including but not limited to:

   (a) physical or sexual abuse, as defined in Subsections Q and U of 8.26.6.7 NMAC, by any adult, staff member, or volunteer to a child; and

   (b) physical or sexual abuse, as defined in Subsections Q and U of 8.26.6.7 NMAC, by a child to another child;

   (3) death or serious injury to a child;

   (4) safety issues concerning a child;

   (5) children who have run away; and

   (6) serious or contagious illnesses.

5. E. Personnel: The community home shall develop, maintain, and adhere to internal written personnel policy and procedures governing employees, student interns and volunteers. Each employee, student intern and volunteer shall receive a copy of:

   (1) policy regarding conflicts of interest;

   (2) policy requiring staff, student interns and volunteers to report all suspected incidents of abuse and neglect;

   (3) policy regarding the confidentiality of child and client case records and identifying information, including the requirement for a signed acknowledgement of confidentiality by each employee, contractor, or volunteer; and

   (4) requirements for abuse and neglect checks and state and federal criminal records checks for all applicable staff, student interns and volunteers, see Subsection A of 8.26.6.17 NMAC.

[8.26.6.16 NMAC - N, 02/28/2014]