(1) General Standards. The agency is required to provide as part of its services the following:
- (a) Individual Intake Services
- (b) Temporary Shelter
- (c) Individual Counseling
- (d) Group Counseling
- (e) Family Counseling
- (f) Referral Services
- (g) After-Care Services
(2) Client Intake
- (a) Individual intake services to allow access to the program must exist on a 24-hour basis.
- (b) The identification of emergency services, e.g., medical, dental, legal, basic needs, and the provision of the appropriate services directly and/or referral to other community service agencies must exist.
- (c) Each individual resident must be immediately assigned to a caseworker who has case responsibility for the resident.
- (d) A written procedure for contacting parents or legal guardians within one (1) hour, if possible, of the time of admission - both within the State of Tennessee or outside the State, must be established.
- (e) A written procedure for notification within one (1) hour of the time of admission of the juvenile court in which jurisdiction the runaway house is located, must be established.
- (f) In the event that parents are not available for notification, a certified or witnessed attempt at contacting parents must be recorded in the case record.
- (g) An orientation to the agency practices and services must be held with each resident and an agreement reached.
(3) Counseling
- (a) Individual counseling must be available to each youth admitted to the program. Individual counseling sessions must be conducted on a regular basis (at least three times weekly) for each resident admitted to the program on a residential basis.
- (b) Weekly case management sessions must be held with appropriate staff present to review all current cases and the type of care being provided.
- (c) A written plan for each resident must be part of the agency record.
- (d) A record of individual casework and counseling must be part of the individual resident’s agency record,
(4) Group Counseling
- (a) Group counseling sessions must be conducted at least two times per week.
- (b) Group counseling sessions must be conducted or supervised by staff with related experience and training.
(5) Family Counseling
- (a) Family counseling must be offered to all parents or legal guardians and residents.
- (b) Family counseling must be conducted by staff with -related experience and training.
- (c) Family counseling, whenever possible and appropriate must be part of the overall treatment for each resident receiving services from the agency.
(6) Agreement with Community Agencies
- (a) A conscientious effort must be made to establish formal or informal agreements with community agencies regarding the acceptance of program referrals.
- (b) The program must be aware of and refer to community agencies for the provision of appropriate services.
- (c) The agency must make every effort to establish linkages with other community agencies to provide for additional in-house services in areas in which the agency does not have in-house competence, e.g., psychological evaluation, psychiatric consultation.
- (d) The program must validate in the agency record that the services, plans, and referrals that are made for a specific resident do exist in the community, and were either provided or refused.
(7) After-Care Services
- (a) After-care services must be part of the overall program and provided to residents and their families on a voluntary basis.
- (b) A regular plan for after-care services must be a part of the case records when appropriate.
- (c) After-care services provided must be documented in the case record.
- (8) Protective Services. Each runaway house agency must be aware of the T.C.A. §§ 37-1201 through 37- 1212 and the responsibility of all agencies and individuals in reporting a child abuse or alleged abuse to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, and must develop a plan for the immediate reporting of each incidence of alleged abuse.
(9) Agency Records
- (a) Each agency must complete accurate records on all runaways served by the agency.
- (b) A system for data collection must be established to identify trends for working with youth in crisis and to provide proper information as to numbers and demographic information of youth served.
- (c) Each agency must provide secure and fire-resistant files for storing confidential records and the administrative files of the agency.
- (d) The agency must provide for the storage in a secure area of the agency of all records for at least a three-year period following the 18th birthday of a resident. No file may be destroyed prior to that time.
Authority: T.C.A. §§4-5-226(b)(2); 37-5-101; 37-5-105; 37-5-106; 37-5-112(a); 37-1604 and 37-1605. Administrative History: Original rule filed March 18, 1977; effective April 18, 1977. Repeal and new rule filed June 28, 1984, effective July 28, 1984. Rule assigned a new control number, removed and renumbered from 1240- 4-10-.07 filed and effective March 25, 1999.