N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 9 § 7077.5

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 51, December 18, 2024

Section 7077.5 - Programming

(a) Upon admission to a residential rehabilitation unit, program and mental health staff shall administer assessments and develop an individual rehabilitation plan in consultation with the incarcerated individual, based upon the individual's medical, mental health, and programming needs. Such plan shall identify specific goals and programs, treatment, and services to be offered, with projected time frames for completion and discharge from the residential rehabilitation unit.

(b) Incarcerated individuals admitted to a residential rehabilitation unit shall be offered at least six (6) hours of daily out-of-cell congregate programming, services, treatment, recreation, activities and/or meals, with an additional minimum of one hour for exercise. Exercise in all residential rehabilitation units shall take place in a congregate setting, unless exceptional circumstances mean doing so would create a significant and unreasonable risk to the safety and security of other incarcerated individuals, staff, or the facility.

(c) Incarcerated individuals in residential rehabilitation units shall be offered programming led by program or therapeutic staff five (5) days per week, except on recognized state legal holidays. All other out-of-cell time may include peer-led programs, time in a dayroom or out-of-cell recreation area with other people, congregate meals, volunteer programs, or other congregate activities.

(d) An incarcerated individual in a residential rehabilitation unit shall have access to programs and work assignments comparable to core programs and types of work assignments in general population. Such incarcerated individuals shall also have access to additional out-of-cell, trauma-informed therapeutic programming aimed at promoting personal development, addressing underlying causes of problematic behavior resulting in placement in a residential rehabilitation unit, and helping prepare for discharge from the unit and to the community.

(e) If established that an incarcerated individual committed a violent felony act while in a residential rehabilitation unit and poses a significant and unreasonable risk to the safety and security of other incarcerated individuals or staff, the chief administrative officer may restrict such individual's participation in programming and out-of-cell activities as necessary for the safety of other incarcerated individuals and staff. If such restrictions are imposed, the facility must provide at least four (4) hours out-of-cell time daily, including at least two (2) hours of therapeutic programming and two (2) hours of exercise, and must make reasonable efforts to reinstate access to programming as soon as possible. In no case may such restrictions extend beyond fifteen (15) days unless the individual commits a new violent felony act justifying restrictions on program access, or if the chief administrative officer reasonably determines that the individual poses an extraordinary and unacceptable risk of imminent harm to the safety or security of incarcerated individuals or staff. Any extension of program restrictions beyond fifteen (15) days must be meaningfully reviewed and approved at least every fifteen (15) days by the chief administrative officer. Each review must consider the impact of therapeutic programming provided during the fifteen (15) day period on the individual's risk of imminent harm and the chief administrative officer must articulate in writing, with a copy provided to the incarcerated individual, the specific reason why the individual currently poses an extraordinary and unacceptable risk of imminent harm to the safety or security of other incarcerated individuals or staff. In no case may restrictions imposed by the chief administrative officer extend beyond ninety (90) days unless the individual commits a new violent felony act justifying restrictions on program access.

(f) Restraints shall not be used when incarcerated individuals are participating in out-of-cell activities within a residential rehabilitation unit unless an individual assessment is made that restraints are required because of a significant and unreasonable risk to the safety and security of other incarcerated individuals or staff.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 § 7077.5

Adpoted New York State Register August 10, 2022/Volume XLIV, Issue Issue 32, eff. 8/10/2022