Section He-M 202.04 - Responsibility to Complain(a) Employees of the department or an area agency or program shall promptly make a complaint on behalf of an individual whenever they have reason to suspect that an individual has been subjected to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or a rights violation by an employee of, or a contractor, consultant, or volunteer for an area agency or program.(b) Persons making a complaint or filing a complaint on behalf of another shall forward the complaint to the OCLS.(c) As soon as possible but not later than one business day following receipt, OCLS shall submit the complaint to a complaint investigator, and inform the executive director of the appropriate area agency that a complaint was filed.(d) Employees of the department or an area agency or program shall assist persons who wish to file a complaint to contact the OCLS.(e) Employees described in (d) above shall inform persons making complaints of the availability of advocacy services from an advocacy agency such as the Disability Rights Center - NH or New Hampshire Legal Assistance.(f) A complaint investigator shall report a complaint of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an individual or other person to the bureau of elderly and adult services (BEAS) or division for children, youth and families (DCYF), as appropriate.(g) When an employee of the department or an area agency or program has reason to suspect that an individual has been subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or a rights violation by a person who is not an employee of, or a contractor, consultant, or volunteer for, that area agency or program, the employee shall take all practicable steps to protect the individual, and immediately report the violation to OCLS.(h) Upon receipt of a report pursuant to (g) above, OCLS shall:(1) Assess the issues presented and actions taken;(2) Take whatever further action is necessary to safeguard the individual; and(3) Report an instance of abuse, neglect, or exploitation to BEAS or DCYF, as appropriate.(i) Employees of an area agency or program shall file an incident report with the area agency regarding any circumstance that the policy of the area agency or program identifies as an incident including, at a minimum, a serious injury or other event threatening the health or safety of individuals or staff.(j) In the event of the death of an individual, where there are or were allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, the area agency or program shall report the allegations to OCLS for investigation.N.H. Admin. Code § He-M 202.04
(See Revision Note at part heading for He-M 202) #5830, eff 5-24-94, EXPIRED: 5-24-00
New. #7730, eff 7-24-02; ss by #9754, INTERIM, eff 7-24-10, EXPIRED: 1-20-11
New. #9962, eff 8-15-11 (from He-M 202.06 )
Amended by Volume XL Number 2, Filed January 9, 2020, Proposed by #12940, Effective 12/10/2019