General Orientation

General Orientation A. All new employees, volunteers, and interns must attend a General Orientation program developed by the agency provider or receive the orientation information via a DMH- approved online training program. 1. General Orientation must be provided and completed within 30 business days of hire/placement, except for direct service personnel and interns/volunteers. All direct service personnel, interns, and volunteers must complete all required orientation topics prior to contact with people receiving services and/or service delivery. 2. General Orientation topics which are population specific are noted, accordingly. When a population is not specified, the orientation topic applies to all service populations: MH, SUD, and IDD. B. At a minimum, General Orientation must address, but is not limited to, unless indicated otherwise, the following areas: 1. Overview of the agency; 2. DMH Operational Standards (as applicable to services provided); 3. DMH required Record Keeping (as applicable to services provided); 4. Basic First Aid and medical safety and emergency procedures (including abdominal thrust and choking procedures); 5. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Certification (CPR): (a) CPR must be a live, in-person, face-to-face training which is conducted by a certified CPR instructor and must be certified by the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, or by other agency providers approved by DMH; (b) All employees, including direct services personnel and interns/volunteers, who have contact with people receiving services must be initially certified and maintain certification as required by the certifying entity; (c) The stipulations in this requirement also pertain to therapeutic foster care/resource parents, who must receive this training prior to contact with people receiving services and/or service delivery. 6. Assistance with medication usage by non-licensed personnel (if applicable, for IDD providers only); 7. Infection Control, such as: (a) Universal Precautions; (b) Handwashing; and (c) DMH-approved training in Food Safety and Handling Procedures (for agency staff who are engaged with food services). 8. Workplace Safety, such as: (a) Fire and disaster training; (b) Emergency/disaster response, including continuity of operations; (c) Incident reporting; and (d) Vulnerable Persons Act/reporting of suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation (including signed acknowledgement of reporting responsibilities). 9. Rights of People Receiving Services, as outlined in Chapter 14; 10. Confidentiality; 11. Family/Cultural Issues and Respecting Cultural Differences; 12. Basic standards of ethical and professional conduct, such as: (a) Drug Free Workplace; (b) Sexual Harassment; and (c) Acceptable professional organization/credentialing standards and guidelines as appropriate to staff discipline/credential (e.g., DMH Principles of Ethical and Professional Conduct). 13. Principles and procedures for behavior support (IDD providers only); 14. Vehicle and Safety Transportation Procedures (for agency staff who are involved with transportation of people served); 15. Training on risk assessment, suicide, and overdose prevention and response, and the roles of family and peer staff (MH and SUD providers only); and 16. Training on the HCBS Settings Final Rules (IDD providers only). C. In addition to the applicable General Orientation requirements listed above, Opioid Treatment Programs must also include the following in General Orientation: 1. Overdose management and other emergency procedures; 2. Clinical and pharmacotherapy issues; 3. Special populations to include women and seniors; 4. Poly-drug addiction; and 5. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), and other infectious diseases. D. In addition to the applicable General Orientation requirements listed above, Crisis Services staff, as specified below, must also complete the following in General Orientation, but no later than 60 business days after hire/placement: 1. Crisis Response Services staff must obtain and maintain certification in a professionally recognized and DMH-approved method of crisis intervention and de-escalation. 2. Community Support Specialists and Peer Support Specialists providing Crisis Response Services must obtain nationally recognized and DMH-approved training for specialized mental health crisis response/intervention training. 3. Crisis Response Services staff must obtain nationally recognized and DMH-approved training for suicide prevention. Refer to the addendum for recommended best practices. 4. Crisis Response Services must provide training to all clinical co-workers regarding the development and implementation of Crisis Support Plans. 5. Crisis Response Services staff are trained in the policies and procedures required for Pre-affidavit Screening and Civil Commitment Examinations. 6. Master’s/graduate-level staff on Mobile Crisis Response Teams must be certified to complete the Pre-affidavit Screening for Civil Commitment. 7. Crisis Residential Services staff who have direct contact with people being served must have initial education and training in the proper, safe use of seclusion and time-out.