SECURITY POLICY Zumbro House, Inc. serves individuals with high behavior needs, including those with oppositional behavior, aggression, sexual acting out, elopement (running away), and other behaviors that place the client at risk or the community at large, at risk. It is our responsibility to ensure that we are doing everything within the scope of the person’s Individual Abuse Prevention Plans, our policies, and our license, to ensure the safety of residents and those around them. Because of these overriding behavioral issues, staff assigned to supervise residents are obligated to maintain supervision and security requirements as directed by supervisors or documented in the person’s Individual Abuse Prevention Plans. The following supervision and security requirements must be followed for each and every resident, unless an exception is specifically noted in that individual’s snapshot or Individual Abuse Prevention Plans. Significant harm can occur to the resident(s) and/or community if these requirements are not adhered to with the utmost vigilance. Staff assigned to supervise residents will be spot checked to ensure continuity with supervision and security policy Any staff person who is found not enforcing these mandated supervision and this security policy will incur an unpaid suspension of employment, ranging in length from 2-5 days/shifts. Some more severe infractions will result in immediate termination of employment. Severity of infraction will be determined by the Program Coordinator in conjunction with the management team, and will be based on the level of risk that the person and/or community were placed in as a result of the supervision or security policy infraction.
Again, the following supervision requirements apply to every resident, unless otherwise specified in their Individual Abuse Prevention Plan (IAPP) or Behavior Management Support Plan/Positive Support Transition Plan.
Staff must review and sign off on the IAPPs, Protocols/Snapshot, and CSSP/ISP for each individual they are supervising. resident IAPP’s and Behavior Support Plans/Positive Behavior Transition Plans, and Snapshot supervision requirements must be followed and enforced without exception.
Alarms on the exit doors and applicable bedroom windows will be armed whenever a resident is in the facility. They will only be unarmed when someone is entering or exiting the house, and then will be re- armed immediately. This includes times when individuals are frequently coming in or going out, such as when they are going out to smoke or arriving home from their day programs.
Residents cannot, under any circumstances, be in other residents’ bedrooms.
In the interest of community safety, while an individual is exhibiting unsafe behavior, non-essential activities in the community will be postponed until the individual is exhibiting a period of safe behavior as determined by the LC and PC.
Staff must never deviate from the activity schedule without prior approval from the Lead Counselor. Changes to the activity schedule will only be approved in circumstances such as inclement weather or safety-related situations – never based on the preference of the staff. Staff will not take residents anywhere that is not explicitly listed on the activity schedule. For example, stopping at Super America for a snack would not be acceptable unless it was part of the approved activity schedule. Staff will not do any personal errands, complete personal shopping or engage in any related personal activity during their shifts, as that would likely distract them from providing the required visual range.
Rated R movies and video games with a rating of M or AO are not permitted in the common areas of the sites. Individuals may watch rated R movie or play rated M or AO video games in their bedrooms upon team approval. Activities that are primarily child-focused, such as water parks, carnivals, etc. will not be approved activities.
Individuals must be within visual range in the community. For example, while shopping at Walmart, the individuals must remain in the same aisle as the staff and are not permitted to go around the corner or shop even one aisle away out of visual range, unless approved by the IDT.
Residents are not to have personal computers, cell phones, or any devices that have internet capability unless approved by their interdisciplinary team. If a team has approved this type of device, staff must follow whatever process has been established by the IDT to monitor the inability or limited access the internet.
At the library, residents are not to access the internet unless approved by their interdisciplinary team. residents who have been given approval must be directly supervised by staff while accessing the internet. This means that staff must be positioned immediately next to him/her while he or she is accessing the internet so that staff are in direct view of the computer screen at ALL times. Staff cannot supervise more than one resident at a time on the internet.
Residents are not able to access chat rooms or social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, etc. unless the interdisciplinary team has approved this. If a team has approved this type of access, staff must follow whatever process has been established by the IDT.
Any items purchased, rented, or checked out (such as from the library), must be looked over by staff to ensure that they do not contain any material that is sexually provocative, photos of scantily clad individuals, or are child-focused. If there is any question about the appropriateness of an item, the individual will not obtain the item at that time.
Visits to the mall must be on the activity schedule and must be for a specific purpose. Under no circumstances will residents enter stores that sell inappropriate items, such as stores that sell primarily women’s clothing/undergarments (with the exception of the female residents), that sell only children’s clothing, or that sell pornographic media of any kind.
The medication cabinet and any other locked cabinets or offices must remain locked when not in use. The medication cabinet must be secured if staff is more than one arm’s length away from it. Keys must remain in a staff person possession at all times. Staff may not hand keys (including staff keys, alarm keys/codes, vehicle keys, etc.) over to a resident for any reason.
Residents may not be left in a vehicle for any period of time, for example, while the staff runs back into the house to grab something they have forgotten. The driver of the vehicle should never leave the vehicle without shutting off the engine and taking the keys with them, even if a second staff is present in the van.
Personal belongings should be left in employee cars if possible. If items are brought into the house, such as a purse, these items should be locked in the med cabinet and should never be left out in areas where they could be accessed by residents.
Kitchen knives must remain locked in a cabinet when not in use. When a resident is using a knife or any other dangerous item, staff will remain within line of sight supervision. (unless living in an apartment)
Staff will carry the house phone on their person or be within visual range of the phone.
Residents are only able to make calls to or receive calls as identified by the interdisciplinary team, staff will tell the caller that the client is unable to speak to them at that time, take their name and phone number, and report that information to the Lead Counselor or Program Coordinator. Individuals can be added to the phone list with interdisciplinary team approval.
Residents must be within staff’s visual range when a resident goes outside to smoke or for any other reason, unless approved by their IDT. It is not acceptable to periodically check on the resident while he or she is alone outside of the house. Failure to provide this visual range could result in elopement or other behavioral challenges. If a staff is going outside with a resident to smoke and residents are remaining inside, the door must be re-armed or the staff must stay within 10 feet of that door to ensure that another client is unable to go out the door unnoticed. residents will be able to smoke once per hour at the designated time. Staff will not offer the availability to smoke any more or less often.
Borrowing or giving of any items between residents and staff or residents and their peers is not permitted. This includes borrowing of CD’s, games, movies, money, cigarettes, candy, or any other item. Residents are able to play games or listen to music together in the common area.
There are no minors allowed in any Zumbro House location or at any Zumbro House organized function. If staff is unsure of the age of an individual or if they appear under the age of 20, staff will ask the person to provide identification to verify their age.
No visitors of employees are allowed at Zumbro House locations during working hours.
Staff must remain awake and alert at all times, unless you work a sleep overnight shift. When residents are awake, staff must be engaged and interacting with them. Staff is not to operate personal electronic devices (cell phones, iPods, ear phones, etc.) during work time as this will diminish the staff ability to supervise and monitor residents.
Residents should not be watching violent or sexually suggestive television shows, such as Cops, NCIS, CSI, etc. While residents are awake, the television should only be on if residents are watching it. Staff should not be watching television, as it can be a distraction which limits their ability to supervise and be aware of the individuals.
Residents must be visually checked on at the specified intervals – no less than every half hour at the houses and every two hours at the apartment programs (during awake hours).
Any changes to the staff schedule must be approved by the Lead Counselor. Leaving the house with one staff to four residents (or one staff to more than six residents in the apartment programs) without notifying the Program Coordinator will be considered a safety infraction.
Staff will never assume that something is approved or okay for a resident based on their observation of other staff. Any exception to the policies listed above must be communicated clearly in the Snapshot supervision section, individual protocol, IAPPs, or directly from the Lead Counselor or Program Coordinator.
If a staff witnesses a violation of any of the above-mentioned policies, they must report the violation to the Lead Counselor or Program Coordinator
Staff working at the apartment programs must update the in/out board as individuals enter and exit the building. This board must be reflective of the individual’s presence and absence at all times.
Staff working at the apartment programs must complete the outing binder, by recording all individual’s in attendance of the outing. This must be completed prior to leaving the premises, and again prior to returning.
The preceding policy was explained to me and I’ve had the opportunity to ask questions.