N.J. Admin. Code § 3A:56-6.14

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 23, December 2, 2024

Section 3A:56-6.14 - Discipline and control

(a) The home shall develop house rules to help the children develop self-control and conform to acceptable patterns of social behavior.

1. The home shall put the house rules in writing.

2. The house rules shall include a rationale for such rules and delineate the consequences for infractions.

3. The home shall explain its disciplinary practices individually with each child at the time the child is placed in the home.

4. The house rules shall be maintained on file in the home and made available to parents, as specified in 3A:56-3.3.

5. The home shall post the house rules in a conspicuous place in the home, accessible to those served.

(b) Homes that use time out as a means of disciplining children and to teach them self-control shall:

1. Develop written guidelines and criteria for staff members using time out with children;

2. Discontinue the time out as soon as the child is under instructional control;

3. Ensure that the length of time for each time out does not exceed 30 minutes; and

4. Ensure that the time out does not take place in a closet, bathroom, unfinished basement, unfinished attic, stairway, locked room or other unapproved area.

(c) The home shall assign responsibility for the discipline, control, and supervision of children to staff members and shall not delegate that responsibility to other children.

(d) The home shall not threaten discipline or administer discipline to a child for the misbehavior of another child or group of children.

(e) The home shall prohibit the following types of punishment from being used on a child:

1. Any type or threat of physical hitting or the use of corporal punishment;

2. Forced physical exercise or forcing a child to take an uncomfortable position;

3. Subjection to verbal abuse, ridicule, repetitious writing, humiliation, or other forms of degradation;

4. Deprivation of meals, snacks, sleep, mail, clothing appropriate to the season or time of day, or verbal communication;

5. Mechanical or chemical restraint;

6. Assignment of overly strenuous physical work;

7. Exclusion from any essential program or treatment service, such as education or clinical treatment;

8. Refusal of entry to the residence;

9. Temporary suspension and return of a child from the home to a parent, relative, foster home, or shelter, unless approved by the placing agency; and

10. Seclusion in a locked room.

N.J. Admin. Code § 3A:56-6.14

Administrative Change, 49 N.J.R. 98a.

Amended by 50 N.J.R. 135(a), effective 1/2/2018