Prince William CS
Comments regarding draft guidance document related to 12VAC35-105
July 22, 2020
1A. Prince William CS appreciates the efforts to clarify the CAP process and agrees that providers should be in compliance with regulations and failure to meet a regulation requires that the agency determine why they were not in compliance and what can be done to remain in the compliance for the future. However, since regulations cover everything from lighting to paperwork to behavioral restrictions, for an agency our size (serving 8000+ people per year, 400+ staff, 50+ new staff each year, 10+ locations throughout the County) it is to be expected that there will be occasional individualized missteps that don’t always require a “systemic” plan of action. The regulations do not currently indicate individualized responses such as additional supervision/training for a single staff person is acceptable.
1C. How are providers to submit documentation for each part of the CAP to DBHDS? This is not clarified in the current policy and how often would that documentation need to be submitted (using your example of weekly chart reviews how long would the licensing specialist require to receive the reviews?)
Re: 2VAC35-105-170 C: “If a CAP is returned to the provider a third time for failure to meet all requirements within 12VAC35-105-170, the CAP will be returned with an additional citation for violating regulation 12VAC35-105-170.C and the CAP dispute process will be initiated automatically as outlined in 12VAC35-105-170.F”
This seems excessively punitive for a situation that is most likely a miscommunication or lack of clarity regarding what is needed/expected. This threat of an additional citation seems almost as if the department is trying to force providers to just accept what they are told and eliminates the collaborative process between the providers and the department. Additionally, there is no clarification if the additional citation would be removed if the dispute process ends in the favor of the provider. If it ends
D. Please clarify the guidance regarding requests for extensions, is it 10 days from the original due date or 10 days from the date of request for extension? A 10-day extension that is granted from the date of request instead of 10 days from the original due date penalizes organization for being proactive about requesting an extension.
E. Please specify the time frame in which the licensing specialist is required to respond to the submitted CAP.
F. Please provide time frames regarding the various stages of the CAP dispute resolution process. Please include that the DOL will provide a written response regarding the final resolution of the dispute process.
General Comments: