(a) Standard: Active treatment. (1) Each client must receive a continuous active treatment program, which includes aggressive, consistent implementation of a program of specialized and generic training, treatment, health services and related services described in this subpart, that is directed toward—

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(i) The acquisition of the behaviors necessary for the client to function with as much self determination and independence as possible; and

(ii) The prevention or deceleration of regression or loss of current optimal functional status.

(2) Active treatment does not include services to maintain generally independent clients who are able to function with little supervision or in the absence of a continuous active treatment program.

(b) Standard: Admissions, transfers, and discharge. (1) Clients who are admitted by the facility must be in need of and receiving active treatment services.

(2) Admission decisions must be based on a preliminary evaluation of the client that is conducted or updated by the facility or by outside sources.

(3) A preliminary evaluation must contain background information as well as currently valid assessments of functional developmental, behavioral, social, health and nutritional status to determine if the facility can provide for the client’s needs and if the client is likely to benefit from placement in the facility.

(4) If a client is to be either transferred or discharged, the facility must—

(i) Have documentation in the client’s record that the client was transferred or discharged for good cause; and

(ii) Provide a reasonable time to prepare the client and his or her parents or guardian for the transfer or discharge (except in emergencies).

(5) At the time of the discharge, the facility must—

(i) Develop a final summary of the client’s developmental, behavioral, social, health and nutritional status and, with the consent of the client, parents (if the client is a minor) or legal guardian, provide a copy to authorized persons and agencies; and

(ii) Provide a post-discharge plan of care that will assist the client to adjust to the new living environment.

(c) Standard: Individual program plan. (1) Each client must have an individual program plan developed by an interdisciplinary team that represents the professions, disciplines or service areas that are relevant to—

(i) Identifying the client’s needs, as described by the comprehensive functional assessments required in paragraph (c)(3) of this section; and

(ii) Designing programs that meet the client’s needs.

(2) Appropriate facility staff must participate in interdisciplinary team meetings. Participation by other agencies serving the client is encouraged. Participation by the client, his or her parent (if the client is a minor), or the client’s legal guardian is required unless that participation is unobtainable or inappropriate.

(3) Within 30 days after admission, the interdisciplinary team must perform accurate assessments or reassessments as needed to supplement the preliminary evaluation conducted prior to admission. The comprehensive functional assessment must take into consideration the client’s age (for example, child, young adult, elderly person) and the implications for active treatment at each stage, as applicable, and must—

(i) Identify the presenting problems and disabilities and where possible, their causes;

(ii) Identify the client’s specific developmental strengths;

(iii) Identify the client’s specific developmental and behavioral management needs;

(iv) Identify the client’s need for services without regard to the actual availability of the services needed; and

(v) Include physical development and health, nutritional status, sensorimotor development, affective development, speech and language development and auditory functioning, cognitive development, social development, adaptive behaviors or independent living skills necessary for the client to be able to function in the community, and as applicable, vocational skills.

(4) Within 30 days after admission, the interdisciplinary team must prepare for each client an individual program plan that states the specific objectives necessary to meet the client’s needs, as identified by the comprehensive assessment required by paragraph (c)(3) of this section, and the planned sequence for dealing with those objectives. These objectives must—

(i) Be stated separately, in terms of a single behavioral outcome;

(ii) Be assigned projected completion dates;

(iii) Be expressed in behavioral terms that provide measurable indices of performance;

(iv) Be organized to reflect a developmental progression appropriate to the individual; and

(v) Be assigned priorities.

(5) Each written training program designed to implement the objectives in the individual program plan must specify:

(i) The methods to be used;

(ii) The schedule for use of the method;

(iii) The person responsible for the program;

(iv) The type of data and frequency of data collection necessary to be able to assess progress toward the desired objectives;

(v) The inappropriate client behavior(s), if applicable; and

(vi) Provision for the appropriate expression of behavior and the replacement of inappropriate behavior, if applicable, with behavior that is adaptive or appropriate.

(6) The individual program plan must also:

(i) Describe relevant interventions to support the individual toward independence.

(ii) Identify the location where program strategy information (which must be accessible to any person responsible for implementation) can be found.

(iii) Include, for those clients who lack them, training in personal skills essential for privacy and independence (including, but not limited to, toilet training, personal hygiene, dental hygiene, self-feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, and communication of basic needs), until it has been demonstrated that the client is developmentally incapable of acquiring them.

(iv) Identify mechanical supports, if needed, to achieve proper body position, balance, or alignment. The plan must specify the reason for each support, the situations in which each is to be applied, and a schedule for the use of each support.

(v) Provide that clients who have multiple disabling conditions spend a major portion of each waking day out of bed and outside the bedroom area, moving about by various methods and devices whenever possible.

(vi) Include opportunities for client choice and self-management.

(7) A copy of each client’s individual program plan must be made available to all relevant staff, including staff of other agencies who work with the client, and to the client, parents (if the client is a minor) or legal guardian.

(d) Standard: Program implementation. (1) As soon as the interdisciplinary team has formulated a client’s individual program plan, each client must receive a continuous active treatment program consisting of needed interventions and services in sufficient number and frequency to support the achievement of the objectives identified in the individual program plan.

(2) The facility must develop an active treatment schedule that outlines the current active treatment program and that is readily available for review by relevant staff.

(3) Except for those facets of the individual program plan that must be implemented only by licensed personnel, each client’s individual program plan must be implemented by all staff who work with the client, including professional, paraprofessional and nonprofessional staff.

(e) Standard: Program documentation. (1) Data relative to accomplishment of the criteria specified in client individual program plan objectives must be documented in measureable terms.

(2) The facility must document significant events that are related to the client’s individual program plan and assessments and that contribute to an overall understanding of the client’s ongoing level and quality of functioning.

(f) Standard: Program monitoring and change. (1) The individual program plan must be reviewed at least by the qualified intellectual disability professional and revised as necessary, including, but not limited to situations in which the client—

(i) Has successfully completed an objective or objectives identified in the individual program plan;

(ii) Is regressing or losing skills already gained;

(iii) Is failing to progress toward identified objectives after reasonable efforts have been made; or

(iv) Is being considered for training towards new objectives.

(2) At least annually, the comprehensive functional assessment of each client must be reviewed by the interdisciplinary team for relevancy and updated as needed, and the individual program plan must be revised, as appropriate, repeating the process set forth in paragraph (c) of this section.

(3) The facility must designate and use a specially constituted committee or committees consisting of members of facility staff, parents, legal guardians, clients (as appropriate), qualified persons who have either experience or training in contemporary practices to change inappropriate client behavior, and persons with no ownership or controlling interest in the facility to—

(i) Review, approve, and monitor individual programs designed to manage inappropriate behavior and other programs that, in the opinion of the committee, involve risks to client protection and rights;

(ii) Insure that these programs are conducted only with the written informed consent of the client, parent (if the client is a minor), or legal guardian; and

(iii) Review, monitor and make suggestions to the facility about its practices and programs as they relate to drug usage, physical restraints, time-out rooms, application of painful or noxious stimuli, control of inappropriate behavior, protection of client rights and funds, and any other area that the committee believes need to be addressed.

(4) The provisions of paragraph (f)(3) of this section may be modified only if, in the judgment of the State survey agency, Court decrees, State law or regulations provide for equivalent client protection and consultation.