Serious Events/Incidents and Abuse/Neglect/Exploitation

Serious Events/Incidents and Abuse/Neglect/Exploitation A. Department of Mental Health (DMH) certified providers must receive training at least annually regarding Mississippi’s Vulnerable Persons Act and the following: 1. Education as to what constitutes possible abuse/neglect/exploitation, 2. Abuse/neglect/exploitation reporting requirements and procedures, and 3. Reporting of serious events/incidents to DMH as outlined in the DMH Operational Standards. B. All service providers must provide to the person and/or guardian or legal representative upon admission and annually thereafter, oral and written communication of: 1. DMH’s program procedures for protecting persons from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and any other form of potential abuse and how to report any suspected violation of rights and/or grievances to DMH, and 2. The person’s rights which must: a) Provide information on how to report: 1) Violation of rights, 2) Grievances, and 3) Abuse, neglect, or exploitation. b) Be explained in a way that is understandable to the person and/or his/her guardian or legal representative. c) Include a signed form that states the person and/or guardian or legal representative understood their rights. d) Include the DMH toll-free Helpline phone number. C. All providers must post the DMH toll-free Helpline phone number in a prominent place throughout each program site. The toll-free Helpline is available twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days per week. D. All providers must have a written policy for documenting and reporting all serious events/incidents. Documentation regarding serious events/incidents must include: 1. A written description of events/incidents and actions, 2. All written reports, including outcomes, and 3. A record of telephone calls to DMH. E. Serious events/incidents involving program services or program staff on program property or at a program-sponsored event must be reported to DMH, the agency director, and the guardian or legal representative as identified by the person receiving services. Incident reports regarding the serious event/incident must be completed and maintained in a central file on site that is not the person’s case record. A description of the event/incident must be documented in the person’s case record. F. Death of a person on provider property, participating in a provider-sponsored event or during an unexplained absence from a residential program site, being served through a certified community living program, or during an unexplained absence of the person from a community living residential program must be reported verbally to DMH within eight (8) hours of discovery with a subsequent written report within twenty-four (24) hours. G. The following serious events/incidents must be reported to DMH as outlined in the DMH Operational Standards including, but not limited to: 1. Suicide attempts on provider property or at a provider-sponsored event, 2. Suspected abuse/neglect/exploitation, 3. Unexplained absence of any length from a community living or day program, 4. Emergency hospitalization or treatment of a person receiving Intellectual Disabilities/Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) Waiver services, 5. Accidents associated with suspected abuse or neglect, or in which the cause is unknown or unusual, 6. Disasters including, but not limited to, fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and disease outbreaks, 7. Use of seclusion or restraints, either mechanical or chemical. Providers are prohibited from the use of: a) Mechanical restraints, defined by the Division of Medicaid as the use of a mechanical device, material, or equipment attached or adjacent to the person’s body that he or she cannot easily remove that restricts freedom of movement or normal access to one’s body unless being used for adaptive support, b) Seclusion, c) Time-out, and d) Chemical restraints, defined by the Division of Medicaid as medication used to control behavior or to restrict the person’s freedom of movement and is not standard treatment of the person’s medical or psychiatric condition, 8. Incidents involving person injury while on provider property or at a provider- sponsored event, and 9. Medication errors. H. If an ID/DD Waiver provider has a question of whether or not an event/incident should be reported, the provider must contact DMH. I. Suspected abuse/neglect/exploitation must also be reported to the appropriate authorities according to state law including, but not limited to, the Vulnerable Persons Unit (VPU) at the Attorney General’s Office, and the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and the Adult Protective Services (APS) at the Mississippi Department of Human Services (DHS), dependent upon the type of event. J. If the alleged perpetrator of abuse/neglect/exploitation carries a professional license or certificate, a report must be made to the entity that governs their license or certificate. K. Disease outbreaks at a provider site must be reported to the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH).