24 Miss. Code. R. 2-12.4 - Required Components of Staff Development Plans - General Topics

A. At a minimum, Staff Development Plans must address the following general topics:

1. Crisis intervention and prevention concepts.

2. Continued CPR certification for all employees, including direct services personnel, interns, and volunteers, who have contact with people receiving services (must be a live, in-person, face-to-face training and must meet the criteria outlined under "General Orientation" training in Rule 12.2.

3. Continued Basic First Aid and continued medical safety and emergency procedures (including abdominal thrust and choking procedures).

4. Person-Centered, Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (Mental Health Agency Providers and Substance Use Disorder Agency Providers).

5. Person-Centered Planning (Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Agency Providers).

6. Concepts of Wraparound Service Delivery (Children/Youth Mental Health Agency Providers).

7. Accurate gathering, documentation, and reporting of data elements outlined in the current version of DMH's data standards manual (for employees responsible for any type of DMH-required data collection, entry, and submission).

8. Positive behavior support concepts (as applicable to the population being served and the staff providing the services).

9. At least two (2) hours pertaining to cultural competency and at least two (2) hours in the area of ethics.

10. Continued Infection Control, including universal precautions and handwashing.

11. Continued Workplace Safety, including fire and emergency/disaster training and response.

12. Continued Vulnerable Persons Act and reporting of suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

13. Continued principles and procedures for behavior support (IDD providers only).

14. Lift/Transfer Procedures (required for staff working directly with people with IDD whose job positions would require lift/transfer of persons receiving services).

15. Assistance with medication usage by non-licensed personnel (if applicable, for IDD providers only).

16. Trauma-informed care (for Mental Health and/or Substance Use Disorder Agency Providers).

17. Integration and coordination with primary care (CMHCs only).

18. Care for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder agency providers).

19. Continued training on risk assessment, suicide and overdose prevention, and response and the roles of family and peer staff (MH and SUD providers only).

20. Continued training on the HCBS Settings Final Rule (IDD providers only).

21. All Crisis Residential Services employees who have direct contact with people being served must have ongoing education and training in the proper, safe use of seclusion and time-out.

22. Crisis Services: All employees providing crisis services must also complete any additional required training through a learning management system, as required by DMH.

B. The general education activities listed above as required components of the Staff Development Plan must be provided annually to all employees, including direct services personnel (and volunteers and interns while placement with the provider is current), unless the content area has a population-specific stipulation included within the rule, in which case the required training only applies to the stipulated population. Further, at least one (1) annual educational activity must be provided by the agency or as part of continuing education hours provided outside the agency in each of the content areas listed above to meet this requirement. The minimum length of the educational activity is the amount of time needed for coverage of the material.

C. The annual Staff Development Plan must also include a plan for continuing education (CE) hours, as applicable, and as specific to each credential/job classification, as listed below:

1. Employees who hold a DMH credential must adhere to the continuing education requirements of current DMH PLACE rules.

2. Direct service providers (e.g., direct support personnel, Support Coordinators, Targeted Case Managers, and Transition Coordinators) who do not hold a professional license or DMH Credential, a minimum of 15 hours per year of population/position-specific continuing education is required.

3. Professionally licensed personnel (e.g., psychologists, social workers, etc.) must adhere to the continuing education requirements of their respective licensing boards.

4. Medical personnel (e.g., psychiatrists, nurses) must adhere to the continuing education requirements of their respective licensing boards.

5. All employees must comply with their agency provider-specific training requirements.

D. In addition to the General Orientation and Staff Development Plan required activities listed above, all employees who have contact with people receiving the following services must be trained and certified in a nationally recognized and DMH-approved technique for managing aggressive or risk-to-self behaviors to include verbal and physical de-escalation prior to contact with people receiving services and/or service delivery:

1. All IDD Services;

2. Crisis Response Services and Mobile Crisis Response Services:

3. Crisis Residential Units (both Adult and Children/Youth);

4. Acute Partial Hospitalization/Partial Hospitalization Programs:

5. Day Treatment Services,

6. Therapeutic Group Home (TGH) for Children/Youth with SED Services;

7. Intensive Community Outreach and Recovery Team Services;

8. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services;

9. Programs of Assertive Community Treatment Services;

10. Supervised Living for Serious Mental Illness Services;

11. Senior Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services;

12. Drop-In Center Services;

13. Primary Residential Treatment (High Intensity Residential) Services;

14. Transitional Residential Treatment (Low Intensity Residential) Services;

15. MYPAC Services; and

16. Others, as required by DMH, upon sufficient prior notice by DMH.

E. Additional Required Staff Development Activities: Due to the need to have qualified staff up to date on enduring, as well as emerging, subject matters affecting the public mental health system, DMH reserves the right to require DMH-certified providers to have applicable staff complete successfully any additional training topics, as may be determined by DMH. Any such requirements will be communicated to applicable providers via provider bulletins and added to the DMH Operational Standards (if needed) in a timely manner, according to customary rules making practices.

Notes

24 Miss. Code. R. 2-12.4

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-4-7

Amended 7/1/2016 Amended 9/1/2020 Amended 11/1/2024