March 06, 2018
The draft of the
Emergency Licensing Regulations long promised by DBHDS has been released for public comment; the comment period is short, but appreciated! The instructions for making comments and the reasoning behind the changes are to be found
here.
Note that the changes show in relation to existing regulations; in other words, underlined language is new and language removed has been stricken through. Many of the changes are to reflect the broader definition of “developmental disability” instead of the more narrow “intellectual disability,” others reflect the redesign of the DD Waivers.
We have completed a very preliminary review and found a few concerns – one area for close examination is that of the definition of “serious incidents” which is far broader than the current regulations. A chart which makes the distinction among the “Levels” of incident a bit easier to navigate is
here.
It is critical that all providers review the regulations and make comments! The deadline is March 16th — do not put this off!