La. Admin. Code tit. 48 § I-4901

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section I-4901 - Personnel Standards

A. Staff Qualifications

1. Case managers hired or promoted between August 20, 1994 and September 30, 2021, must meet the following criteria for education and experience:

a. bachelor's degree in a human services related field including but not limited to psychology, education, rehabilitation counseling, or counseling from an accredited institution; and one year of paid experience in a human services field providing direct consumer services or case management or

b. a licensed registered nurse; and one year of paid experience as a registered nurse in public health or a human services related field providing direct consumer services or case management; or

c. a bachelor's or master's degree in social work from a social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education;

d. thirty hours of graduate level course credit in a human services related field may be substituted for the one year of required paid experience. Experience may be obtained before or after completion of the degree or obtaining licensure;

e. all case managers must be employees of the provider. Contracting for case managers is prohibited.

2. Case managers hired or promoted on or after October 1, 2021, shall meet the following criteria for education and experience:

a. a bachelor's or master's degree in social work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education; or

b. a currently licensed registered nurse; or

c. a bachelor's or master's degree in a human services related field which includes psychology, education, counseling, social services, sociology, philosophy, family and consumer sciences, criminal justice, rehabilitation services, child development, substance abuse, gerontology, and vocational rehabilitation; or

d. a bachelor's degree in liberal arts or general studies with a concentration of at least 16 hours in one of the fields listed in accordance with §4901.A.2 c

e. Repealed.

3. Case management supervisors hired or promoted between August 20, 1994 and September 30, 2021, must meet the following qualifications for education and experience:

a. a master's degree in social work, psychology, nursing, counseling, rehabilitation counseling, education with certification in special education, occupational therapy, speech or physical therapy from an accredited institution; and two years of paid post-degree experience in a human services related field providing direct consumer services or case management; and one year of this experience must be in providing direct consumer services to the targeted population to be served; or

b. a bachelor's degree in social work from a social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education; and three years of paid post-degree experience in a human services related field providing direct consumer services or case management. Two years of this experience must be in providing direct consumer services to the targeted population to be served; or

c. a licensed registered nurse; and three years of paid post-licensure experience as a registered nurse in public health or a human services related field providing direct consumer services or case management. Two years of this experience must be in providing direct consumer services or case management to the target population to be served; or

d. a bachelor's degree in a human services field including but not limited to psychology, education, rehabilitation counseling, or counseling from an accredited institution; and four years of paid post-degree experience in a human services related field providing direct consumer services or case management. Two years of this experience must be in providing direct consumer services to the targeted population to be served.

4. Case management supervisors hired or promoted on or after October 1, 2021, shall meet the following qualifications for education and experience:

a. a bachelor's or master's degree in social work from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, and two years of paid post degree experience in providing Support Coordination services; or

b. a currently licensed registered nurse with at least two years of paid nursing experience; or

c. a bachelor's or master's degree in a human services related field which includes psychology, education, counseling, social services, sociology, philosophy, family and consumer sciences, criminal justice, rehabilitation services, child development, substance abuse, gerontology, and vocational rehabilitation, and two years of paid post degree experience in providing support coordination services; or

d. a bachelor's degree in liberal arts or general studies with a concentration of at least 16 hours in one of the fields listed in §4901.A.4 c, and two years of paid post degree experience in providing support coordination services.

B. Training. Case managers must receive necessary orientation and periodic training on the provision of case management services arranged or provided through their agency.

1. Orientation of at least 16 hours shall be provided by the agency to all staff, volunteers and students within five working days of employment which shall include, at a minimum:

a. policies and procedures of the provider;

b. confidentiality;

c. documentation in case records;

d. consumer rights protection and reporting of violations;

e. abuse and neglect policies and procedures;

f. professional ethics;

g. emergency and safety procedures;

h. infection control including universal precautions.

2. For newly hired or promoted case managers who will provide services primarily to a specific population or sub-group, a minimum of eight hours of the orientation training must cover orientation to each target population to be served including but not limited to specific service needs and resources.

3. Routine supervision cannot be considered training.

4. In addition to the minimum 16 hours of orientation, all case managers must receive a minimum of 16 hours of training during the first 90 calendar days of employment which is related to the target population to be served and specific knowledge, skills and techniques necessary to provide case management to the target population. This training must be provided by an individual with demonstrated knowledge of the training topic and the target population. This 16 hours of training must include, at a minimum:

a. assessment techniques;

b. service planning;

c. resource identification;

d. interviewing techniques;

e. data management and record keeping;

f. communication skills.

5. No new case manager employee can be given sole responsibility for a consumer until this training is satisfactorily completed and the employee possesses adequate abilities, skills and knowledge of case management.

6. A case manager must complete a minimum of 20 hours of training per calendar year. For new employees, the orientation training cannot be counted toward the 20 hour minimum annual training requirement. The 16 hours of training for new case managers required in the first 90 days of employment may be counted toward the 20-hour minimum annual training requirement. Appropriate updates of topics covered in orientation and training for a new case manager must be included in the required 20 hours of annual training. The following is a list of suggested additional topics for annual training:

a. the nature of the illness or disability, including symptoms and behavior;

b. pharmacology;

c. potential array of services for the population/ available local resources;

d. building natural support systems;

e. family dynamics;

f. developmental life stages;

g. crisis management;

h. first aid/CPR;

i. signs and symptoms of mental illness, alcohol and drug addiction, and mental retardation/ developmental disabilities, head injuries and/or HIV;

j. recognition of illegal substances;

k. monitoring techniques;

l. advocacy;

m. behavior management techniques;

n. developmental life stages;

o. value clarification/goals and objectives;

p. stress management/time management;

q. accessing special education services;

r. cultural diversity;

s. pregnancy and prenatal care;

t. health management;

u. team building/interagency collaboration;

v. transition/closure;

w. age-appropriate preventive health care;

x. facilitating team meetings;

y. computer skills;

z. legal issues.

7. A case management supervisor must satisfactorily complete 40 hours of training per year. A new supervisor must satisfactorily complete a minimum of 16 hours on all of the following topics prior to assuming case management supervisory responsibilities:

a. professional identification/ethics;

b. process for interviewing, screening, and hiring staff;

c. orientation/inservice training of staff;

d. evaluating staff;

e. approaches to supervision;

f. managing caseload size;

g. conflict resolution;

h. documentation.

8. Documentation of all training must be placed in the individual's personnel file. Documentation must include an agenda and the name, title, agency affiliation of the training presenter(s) and other sources of training.

C. Supervision

1. Each case management provider must have and implement a written plan for supervision of all case management staff. Supervision must occur at least once per week per case manager. Supervisors must review at least 10 percent of each case manager's case records each month for completeness, compliance with these standards, and quality of service delivery.

2. Supervision of individual case managers must include the following:

a. direct review, assessment, problem solving, and feedback regarding the delivery of case management services;

b. teaching and monitoring of the application of consumer centered case management principles and practices;

c. assuring quality delivery of services;

d. managing assignment of caseloads;

e. arranging for or providing training as appropriate.

3. Supervision must be accomplished by a combination of more than one of the following means:

a. individual, face to face sessions with staff to review cases, assess performance and give feedback;

b. sessions in which the supervisor accompanies an individual staff member to meet with consumers. The supervisor assesses, teaches and gives feedback regarding the staff member's performance related to the particular consumer;

c. group face to face sessions with all case management staff to problem solve, provide feedback and support to case managers.

4. Each supervisor must maintain a file on each case manager supervised and hold supervisory sessions on at least a weekly basis. The file on the case manager must include, at a minimum:

a. date and content of the supervisory sessions; and

b. results of the supervisory case review which shall address, at a minimum, completeness and adequacy of records, compliance with standards, and effectiveness of services.

5. Case managers must be evaluated at least annually by their supervisor according to written policy of the provider on evaluating their performance.

La. Admin. Code tit. 48, § I-4901

Promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Resources, Office of the Secretary, Division of Licensing and Certification, LR 13:246 (April 1987), amended by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of the Secretary, LR 20:885 (August 1994), Amended by the Department of Health, Bureau of Health Services Financing, LR 471305 (9/1/2021).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 36:254.