Rule 24-2-19.7 - Environment and Safety for Crisis Residential UnitsA. This rule applies to environmental and safety requirements that are in addition to or more stringent than the requirements in Chapter 13 and are specific to Crisis Residential Units. Crisis Residential Units must have procedures in place to access routinely for access to potential lethal means and to eliminate such risks.B. The provider must assign, maintain and document on-site employee coverage twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week with an employee designated as responsible for the agency provider at all times and male/female employee coverage when necessary.C. All service providers must ensure that service locations have furnishings that are safe, comfortable, appropriate, and adequate.D. All service locations must ensure adequate visiting areas are provided for people and visitors.E. All service locations must ensure the laundry room has an exterior ventilation system for the clothes dryer free from excessive lint and dust accumulation.F. All service locations must have separate storage areas for:2. Food (Food supplies cannot be stored on the floor); and,G. All service locations must ensure an adequate, operable heating and cooling system is provided to maintain temperature between sixty-eight (68) degrees and seventy-eight (78) degrees Fahrenheit.H. All Crisis Residential Units of two (2) stories or more in height where people are housed above the ground floor must be protected throughout by an approved automatic sprinkler system and a fire alarm and detection system.I. Auditory smoke/fire alarms with a noise level loud enough to awaken people must be located in each bedroom, hallways and/or corridors, and common areas.J. Crisis Residential Units using fuel burning equipment and/or appliances (i.e., gas heater, gas water heater, gas/diesel engines, etc.) must have carbon monoxide alarms/detectors placed in a central location outside of sleeping areas.K. People must not have to travel through any room not under their control (i.e., subject to locking) to reach designated exit, visiting area, dining room, kitchen, or bathroom.L. Two (2) means of egress per common area must be provided and must be readily accessible at all times, remote from each other, and so arranged and constructed to minimize any possibility that both may be blocked by fire or other emergency condition.M. Crisis Residential Units must have the capacity to monitor unauthorized entrance, egress, or movement through the facility.N. Crisis Residential Units must have emergency exit doors operated by a magnetic/electronic (or similar) release system. This system must be in place for all doors with signage identifying the door as an emergency exit. The system must be in a readily accessible and secure location that only employees can access.O. Crisis Residential Unit bedrooms must have an outside exposure at ground level or above. Windows must not be over forty-four (44) inches off the floor.P. Crisis Residential Unit bedrooms must meet the following dimension requirements:1. Single room occupancy - at least one hundred (100) square feet; and,2. Multiple occupancy - at least eighty (80) square feet for each person.Q. Crisis Residential Unit bedrooms must house no more than two (2) people each.R. Crisis Residential Unit bedrooms must be located so as to minimize the entrance of unpleasant odors, excessive noise, or other nuisances.S. Crisis Residential Unit bedrooms must be appropriately furnished with a minimum of a single bed per person, and adequate storage must be provided for each person's belongings.T. Beds must be provided with a good grade of mattress which is at least four (4) inches thick on a raised bed frame. Cots or roll-away beds may not be used.U. Each bed must be equipped with a minimum of one (1) pillow and case, two (2) sheets, spread, and blanket(s). An adequate supply of linens must be available to change linens at least once a week or sooner if they become soiled.V. All Crisis Residential Units must have a bathroom with at least one (1) operable toilet, one (1) operable lavatory/sink and one (1) operable shower or tub for every six (6) people.W. All Crisis Residential Units must ensure bathtubs and showers are equipped with suicide resistant:3. Shower curtains or doors; and,4. Grab bars (as needed by people).X. Providers must develop policies regarding pets and animals on the premises and must address, at a minimum, the following:1. Documentation of vaccinations against rabies and all other diseases communicable to humans must be maintained at the service location;2. Procedures to ensure pets will be maintained in a sanitary manner (no fleas, ticks, unpleasant odors, etc.);3. Procedures to ensure pets will be kept away from food preparation sites and eating areas; and,4. Procedures for controlling pets to prevent injury to people receiving services as well as visitors and employees (e.g., animal in crate, put outside, put in a secure room, etc.). Section 41-4-7 of the Mississippi Code, 1972, as Amended