10A NCAC 28G .0109. SECLUSION

(a)  Seclusion shall not be employed for any child unless imminent harm to the child or others exists.  Seclusion shall be used only upon the approval of the group supervisor.  Immediate action to develop a suitable program shall be implemented for the child.

(b)  The seclusion room shall follow the description provided in Rule .0108(b) of this Section for time out room.

(c)  A record shall be maintained which indicates the specific behavior for which the seclusion procedure was used and shall include the child's name, the date, and time of entry into seclusion and the time of exit.  The name of the staff person who placed the child in seclusion shall also be entered on the data sheet.

(d)  The program director shall review the seclusion data sheets or a summarization of the data sheets at least weekly.

(e)  General use of seclusion for a child shall be prohibited.  The group supervisor shall approve seclusion for specific behaviors and not for children without specifying the behaviors.

(f)  The use of seclusion requires adherence to the principle that the longer the child is in seclusion the lesser the effect on behavior.  Seclusion periods in excess of 15 minutes per child at any one time or an aggregate time out in excess of three hours in any 24 hour period shall be documented by very thorough justification.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 122C‑60; 122C‑62; 143B‑147;

Eff. March 24, 1981.