(a) Standard: Qualified intellectual disability professional. Each client's active treatment program must be integrated, coordinated and monitored by a qualified intellectual disability professional who -
(1) Has at least one year of experience working directly with persons with intellectual disability or other developmental disabilities; and
(2) Is one of the following:
(i) A doctor of medicine or osteopathy.
(ii) A registered nurse.
(iii) An individual who holds at least a bachelor's degree in a professional category specified in paragraph (b)(5) of this section.
(b) Standard: Professional program services.
(1) Each client must receive the professional program services needed to implement the active treatment program defined by each client's individual program plan. Professional program staff must work directly with clients and with paraprofessional, nonprofessional and other professional program staff who work with clients.
(2) The facility must have available enough qualified professional staff to carry out and monitor the various professional interventions in accordance with the stated goals and objectives of every individual program plan.
(3) Professional program staff must participate as members of the interdisciplinary team in relevant aspects of the active treatment process.
(4) Professional program staff must participate in on-going staff development and training in both formal and informal settings with other professional, paraprofessional, and nonprofessional staff members.
(5) Professional program staff must be licensed, certified, or registered, as applicable, to provide professional services by the State in which he or she practices. Those professional program staff who do not fall under the jurisdiction of State licensure, certification, or registration requirements, specified in § 483.410(b), must meet the following qualifications:
(i) To be designated as an occupational therapist, an individual must be eligible for certification as an occupational therapist by the American Occupational Therapy Association or another comparable body.
(ii) To be designated as an occupational therapy assistant, an individual must be eligible for certification as a certified occupational therapy assistant by the American Occupational Therapy Association or another comparable body.
(iii) To be designated as a physical therapist, an individual must be eligible for certification as a physical therapist by the American Physical Therapy Association or another comparable body.
(iv) To be designated as a physical therapy assistant, an individual must be eligible for registration by the American Physical Therapy Association or be a graduate of a two year college-level program approved by the American Physical Therapy Association or another comparable body.
(v) To be designated as a psychologist, an individual must have at least a master's degree in psychology from an accredited school.
(vi) To be designated as a social worker, an individual must -
(A) Hold a graduate degree from a school of social work accredited or approved by the Council on Social Work Education or another comparable body; or
(B) Hold a Bachelor of Social Work degree from a college or university accredited or approved by the Council on Social Work Education or another comparable body.
(vii) To be designated as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist, an individual must -
(A) Be eligible for a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology granted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association or another comparable body; or
(B) Meet the educational requirements for certification and be in the process of accumulating the supervised experience required for certification.
(viii) To be designated as a professional recreation staff member, an individual must have a bachelor's degree in recreation or in a specialty area such as art, dance, music or physical education.
(ix) To be designated as a professional dietitian, an individual must be eligible for registration by the American Dietetics Association.
(x) To be designated as a human services professional an individual must have at least a bachelor's degree in a human services field (including, but not limited to: sociology, special education, rehabilitation counseling, and psychology).
(xi) If the client's individual program plan is being successfully implemented by facility staff, professional program staff meeting the qualifications of paragraph (b)(5) (i) through (x) of this section are not required -
(A) Except for qualified intellectual disability professionals;
(B) Except for the requirements of paragraph (b)(2) of this section concerning the facility's provision of enough qualified professional program staff; and
(C) Unless otherwise specified by State licensure and certification requirements.
(c) Standard: Facility staffing.
(1) The facility must not depend upon clients or volunteers to perform direct care services for the facility.
(2) There must be responsible direct care staff on duty and awake on a 24-hour basis, when clients are present, to take prompt, appropriate action in case of injury, illness, fire or other emergency, in each defined residential living unit housing -
(i) Clients for whom a physician has ordered a medical care plan;
(ii) Clients who are aggressive, assaultive or security risks;
(iii) More than 16 clients; or
(iv) Fewer than 16 clients within a multi-unit building.
(3) There must be a responsible direct care staff person on duty on a 24 hour basis (when clients are present) to respond to injuries and symptoms of illness, and to handle emergencies, in each defined residential living unit housing -
(i) Clients for whom a physician has not ordered a medical care plan;
(ii) Clients who are not aggressive, assaultive or security risks; and
(iii) Sixteen or fewer clients,
(4) The facility must provide sufficient support staff so that direct care staff are not required to perform support services to the extent that these duties interfere with the exercise of their primary direct client care duties.
(d) Standard: Direct care (residential living unit) staff.
(1) The facility must provide sufficient direct care staff to manage and supervise clients in accordance with their individual program plans.
(2) Direct care staff are defined as the present on-duty staff calculated over all shifts in a 24-hour period for each defined residential living unit.
(3) Direct care staff must be provided by the facility in the following minimum ratios of direct care staff to clients:
(i) For each defined residential living unit serving children under the age of 12, severely and profoundly retarded clients, clients with severe physical disabilities, or clients who are aggressive, assaultive, or security risks, or who manifest severely hyperactive or psychotic-like behavior, the staff to client ratio is 1 to 3.2.
(ii) For each defined residential living unit serving moderately retarded clients, the staff to client ratio is 1 to 4.
(iii) For each defined residential living unit serving clients who function within the range of mild retardation, the staff to client ratio is 1 to 6.4.
(4) When there are no clients present in the living unit, a responsible staff member must be available by telephone.
(e) Standard: Staff training program.
(1) The facility must provide each employee with initial and continuing training that enables the employee to perform his or her duties effectively, efficiently, and competently.
(2) For employees who work with clients, training must focus on skills and competencies directed toward clients' developmental, behavioral, and health needs.
(3) Staff must be able to demonstrate the skills and techniques necessary to administer interventions to manage the inappropriate behavior of clients.
(4) Staff must be able to demonstrate the skills and techniques necessary to implement the individual program plans for each client for whom they are responsible.
(f) Standard: COVID-19 Vaccination of facility staff. The facility must develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that all staff are fully vaccinated for COVID-19. For purposes of this section, staff are considered fully vaccinated if it has been 2 weeks or more since they completed a primary vaccination series for COVID-19. The completion of a primary vaccination series for COVID-19 is defined here as the administration of a single-dose vaccine, or the administration of all required doses of a multi-dose vaccine.
(1) Regardless of clinical responsibility or client contact, the policies and procedures must apply to the following facility staff, who provide any care, treatment, or other services for the facility and/or its clients:
(i) Facility employees;
(ii) Licensed practitioners;
(iii) Students, trainees, and volunteers; and
(iv) Individuals who provide care, treatment, or other services for the facility and/or its clients, under contract or by other arrangement.
(2) The policies and procedures of this section do not apply to the following facility staff:
(i) Staff who exclusively provide telehealth or telemedicine services outside of the facility setting and who do not have any direct contact with clients and other staff specified in paragraph (f)(1) of this section; and
(ii) Staff who provide support services for the facility that are performed exclusively outside of the facility setting and who do not have any direct contact with clients and other staff specified in paragraph (f)(1) of this section.
(3) The policies and procedures must include, at a minimum, the following components:
(i) A process for ensuring all staff specified in paragraph (f)(1) of this section (except for those staff who have pending requests for, or who have been granted, exemptions to the vaccination requirements of this section, or those staff for whom COVID-19 vaccination must be temporarily delayed, as recommended by the CDC, due to clinical precautions and considerations) have received, at a minimum, a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or the first dose of the primary vaccination series for a multi-dose COVID-19 vaccine prior to staff providing any care, treatment, or other services for the facility and/or its clients;
(ii) A process for ensuring that all staff specified in paragraph (f)(1) of this section are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, except for those staff who have been granted exemptions to the vaccination requirements of this section, or those staff for whom COVID-19 vaccination must be temporarily delayed, as recommended by the CDC, due to clinical precautions and considerations;
(iii) A process for ensuring the implementation of additional precautions, intended to mitigate the transmission and spread of COVID-19, for all staff who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19;
(iv) A process for tracking and securely documenting the COVID-19 vaccination status of all staff specified in paragraph (f)(1) of this section;
(v) A process for tracking and securely documenting the COVID-19 vaccination status of any staff who have obtained any booster doses as recommended by the CDC;
(vi) A process by which staff may request an exemption from the staff COVID-19 vaccination requirements based on an applicable Federal law;
(vii) A process for tracking and securely documenting information provided by those staff who have requested, and for whom the facility has granted, an exemption from the staff COVID-19 vaccination requirements;
(viii) A process for ensuring that all documentation, which confirms recognized clinical contraindications to COVID-19 vaccines and which supports staff requests for medical exemptions from vaccination, has been signed and dated by a licensed practitioner, who is not the individual requesting the exemption, and who is acting within their respective scope of practice as defined by, and in accordance with, all applicable State and local laws, and for further ensuring that such documentation contains
(A) All information specifying which of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are clinically contraindicated for the staff member to receive and the recognized clinical reasons for the contraindications; and
(B) A statement by the authenticating practitioner recommending that the staff member be exempted from the facility's COVID-19 vaccination requirements for staff based on the recognized clinical contraindications;
(ix) A process for ensuring the tracking and secure documentation of the vaccination status of staff for whom COVID-19 vaccination must be temporarily delayed, as recommended by the CDC, due to clinical precautions and considerations, including, but not limited to, individuals with acute illness secondary to COVID-19, and individuals who received monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma for COVID-19 treatment; and
(x) Contingency plans for staff who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
[53 FR 20496, June 3, 1988, as amended at 86 FR 26335, May 13, 2021; 86 FR 61620, Nov. 5, 2021]