Incident and sentinel event reporting

A client served by the agency also in foster care shall have all incident and sentinel events reported to the placement and care agency. The agency shall report sentinel events to the department. 1. The agency shall have written policy outlining the critical incident and sentinel event reporting for all clients. a. An incident is an unplanned occurrence that resulted or could have resulted in injury to people or damage to property, specifically involving the general public, clients in supervised independent living setting, or agency employees and nonemployees. An incident also can involve issues such as harassment, violence, and discrimination. b. A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury that is not related to the natural course of a client's illness or underlying condition, including any process variation for which a recurrence would carry a significant chance of a serious adverse outcome including inappropriate sexual contact. 2. The agency immediately shall notify the client's placement and care agency when any of the following occurs involving a client in foster care: a. An incident that requires the services of law enforcement, including: (1) Case of a runaway or missing individual; or (2) Criminal activity by the client placed in a supervised independent living setting; or b. A sentinel event, including: (1) Death of a client in foster care; (2) Serious injury or trauma of a client in foster care, requiring medical attention; (3) Any attempt at suicide by a client in foster care; and (4) Any behavior involving a client in foster care, that results in a serious threatening situation of harm to others.