Iowa Admin. Code r. 201-40.2

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, December 11, 2024

Rule 201-40.2 - Accreditation

(1) The deputy director of the department of corrections shall be the accrediting authority. The decisions of the deputy director shall be final except as provided in Iowa Code chapters 17A and 905.

(2) The deputy director shall conduct or assign staff the responsibility to conduct the five-year team review for accreditation purposes.

(3) The deputy director shall make or assign staff to make ongoing site visits during the five-year interim following the most recent team review in order to follow up on areas designated as needing improvement based on corrective action plans from the previous accreditation review period.

(4) The five-year team review shall include a complete review of the following:

a. District department structure as provided in Iowa Code chapter 905.

b. Bylaws, policies and procedures of the board and the district department.

c. Programs mandated by the Code of Iowa and any special programs approved by the department of corrections. Programs shall comply with program-specific standards developed and approved by the department of corrections with collaborative input from the judicial districts and other affected stakeholders, i.e., domestic abuse and sex offender treatment.

d. Business practices of the district department including the use of acceptable accounting procedures and the receipt and expenditure of funds. Any reports of the office of the state auditor and recommendations contained in those reports, as well as evidence of compliance with those recommendations.

e. Any regular or special evaluations of the services provided by the district department.

The five-year team review shall be conducted as provided in the "accreditation standards for community-based corrections" and any program-specific standards, which shall be open for public inspection at the offices of the department of corrections. A proposed draft of these standards will be made available to the districts 180 days prior to the five-year team review. The accreditation and program-specific final standards, and any changes in the standards, shall be made available to the district departments at least 90 days before the five-year team review.

(5) The results of any five-year team review will be reported to the deputy director, who shall review the results, and when a district is in adequate compliance with the Code of Iowa, the Iowa Administrative Code and the accreditation standards, the deputy director shall issue a certificate of accreditation for the following five years. When a district is not in adequate compliance as provided in the accreditation standards, the deputy director will notify the chairperson of the district board and the district director of the specific deficiencies and allowable time frames for correcting the deficiencies. At the end of the period of time for bringing the deficiencies into compliance, the deputy director shall award a certificate of accreditation or shall notify the district board and proceed as provided in Iowa Code section 905.9.

(6) The ongoing site review shall include periodic assessments of the district departments and its programs as set out in 40.2(4) and shall be designed to provide evidence of continuing compliance. If at any time during the five-year period, following the most recent team reviews, the deputy director, through information gathered in ongoing site reviews, concludes that the district department is no longer in adequate compliance may conduct or order an interim team review. If in the team review the evidence indicates serious noncompliance, the deputy director may proceed as provided in 40.2(5).

This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code sections 905.7 and 905.9.

Iowa Admin. Code r. 201-40.2

Amended by IAB August 1, 2018/Volume XLI, Number 3, effective 9/5/2018

Amended by IAB November 4, 2020/Volume XLIII, Number 10, effective 12/9/2020