March 18, 2012
DOJ Settlement Agreement Implementation:
Status of Agreement –
- The agreement is signed temporarily by Judge Gibney; however, he is seeking more information about the capacity of the community system and the impact that the agreement is likely to have on the CSBs and the private providers
- VNPP supports the agreement and encourages the Judge to sign it; we are also preparing factual “testimony” to offer to the Court for their consideration
Quality Improvement Measures –
- We are represented on the committee which is guiding the development of the QI measures
- Of the eight categories of data to be collected on individuals receiving services listed on page 23 of the Agreement, the focus will be first on safety and freedom from harm; physical, mental and behavioral health and well being; avoiding crises; and community inclusion.
- There will be an heavy emphasis on Licensing inspections to assure that not only the standards are being met, but also that providers are equipped to meet the needs of the individuals. For everyTrainingCenterdischarge there should be a Licensing visit at the time the provider selection is made, within 48 hours of the placement and again within the next 30 days. The CM visits will then be every 30 days for the remainder of the first year.
- We will be represented on the workgroup that is developing the standards and protocol for the CM visits.
ID Crisis Stabilization (START) –
- The START program is being developed regionally; each HPR is at a slightly different place in their progress. Some of the Regional Programs will be managed on contract by a private provider.
- One of the important issues which must be dealt with early in the process is how the initial group of potential participants will be selected and how the providers will be included in the discussion and selection process.
- We are represented on each of the START Advisory Committees.
Other things we are working on:
- We have been asked to coordinate the development of some standards for how to protect individuals, especially those with mobility issues, in the event of a fire; we will also identify the barriers to meet those standards.
- The discharge procedure included in the Agreement is to assure that transitions from the Training Centers will both meet the needs of the individual, and will also afford a choice of providers; we will be working with DBHDS to adopt a modified version of this procedure for all transitions between providers.