It is the policy of Hillcrest Educational Centers to ensure safe and efficient vehicle operation by monitoring the vehicles on a daily basis. The agency vehicle coordinator is responsible for vehicle maintenance requests and inspection of the vehicles. Each driver is responsible for the condition of the vehicles, according to the regulations and Hillcrest policy.

Responsibilities: It is the responsibility of the vehicle coordinator to ensure that:
A. Each vehicle’s fluid levels are  maintained at appropriate levels.
B. The vehicle coordinator is notified when a van is in need of an oil-change.
C. Proper travel documentation is maintained at all times.
D. Mechanical problems are reported to the vehicle coordinator immediately.
E. Staff using the vehicles are held accountable for their condition, and the condition of vehicles are monitored after each trip.

Procedures: When using Hillcrest vehicles, the following procedures must be followed:
A. Prior to each trip, the vehicle must be inspected by the driver.
1. Pre-trip Inspection–check for the following:
a. First Aid kit
b. Two operable front windshield wipers
c. Tires should be properly inflated and brakes, defogger, headlights, and all safety equipment in proper working order.
B. Drivers are prohibited from smoking, and/or consuming alcoholic beverages, while operating any Hillcrest vehicle.
C. Drivers should assist those students who require assistance in entering or leaving the vehicle.
D. The driver must not leave the vehicle unattended while students are in the vehicle.
E. Only the driver may occupy the driver’s seat.
F. The driver must sign the travel documentation, verifying that the vehicle has been inspected in accordance with policy.
G. Date, time, odometer reading, and a brief description of the purpose of travel must be recorded.
H. Upon completion of the trip, the odometer reading is recorded in the vehicle log.
I. Vehicle should be cleaned out by staff and students after each trip. Any damage must be reported to the Vehicle Coordinator.

Procedures for Daily Vehicle Inspection by Night Supervisors
Do visual inspections of inside and outside of vehicle, note any problems and forward to Vehicle Coordinator.

Responsibilities of Campus Administration:

Contact vehicle coordinator immediately for any problems found during inspections or any problems reported by staff via either work requests or on log.

The case record for a student who has been discharged from HEC is stored at the program site for 6 months following the student’s discharge.

The procedures for archiving closed student records are as follows.

• Pull Ed Records (put in manila folder marked “Ed Records” with student’s name on it). Pull CD Rom information – most recent face sheet, most recent psychosocial, immunization record, discharge summary (put in manila folder marked “CD Rom” with student’s name on it). These records will be kept permanently and should be put in a box with other students’ Ed and CD Rom records for archiving. When you have a full box, label accordingly, add to your lists and send to the archive.
• All the rest of the student’s file should be placed in another box. Please put file in manila folders and put the student’s name and discharge date on the side so you can see it when you place the folders in the box. Once you have a full box of files, label accordingly, add to your lists and send to the archive. These files may be destroyed seven (7) years from the date of the most recent student’s discharge date (i.e., if you have four files in a box and discharge dates are 1/00, 2/00, 3/00, 4/00 – the destroy date will be 5/07).
• Send your updated lists to the designated person in Admissions at AO. All campus lists must be in the same format (as per attached – alphabetical list and box list)

Once a month you will receive a Data Storage Warehouse Inventory Report from The Archive. Please review the report for accuracy. If you have any discrepancies, please call The Archive (442-4472) and ask them to fix the error (check your box number, contents, and destroy date).

You may also send other records to be archived – Supes Logs, Travel/Trip Slips, etc. These should also be recorded by campus as “other” files – please do not include with student files (see attached example). This information may be destroyed using the seven (7) year rule as above.

Student records are stored in the records room, which is locked when unattended. The key to the records room is under limited distribution. A staff access log is provided, for noting sign-out and sign-in dates of records. Any record signed out of the records room must be returned immediately following its use. Records may not be signed out overnight. In addition, each student file has an access log, requiring the reason for access, for approved  personnel such as authorized state agency officials. Student files may not leave the campus unless subpoenaed by the court. Parents and students have the same right of access to students’ records as do parents and students of Massachusetts public schools.

The campus will provide adequate staffing for all trips including medical and dental appointments. Staff will bring student insurance information and referral paperwork to the appointment.
Hillcrest staff remain responsible for students at all times.
Students and staff will behave in appropriate manner while on these visits. Staff and students should remain seated until called for procedure and those waiting to be seen or waiting to return to campus should remain seated and quiet.
If the office staff believe that the students are not behaving appropriately they should tell the staff in charge of the students that the behavior is not acceptable. If the staff does not respond, the office staff should call the program to report the incident.

Hillcrest students receive a vocational and career interest inventory, which is periodically reviewed and updated. Core Academics are emphasized and access to Career/Vocational Technical Education (CVTE) curriculum, Comprehensive Health Curriculum, and, as appropriate, the PAYA and Ansel-Casey life skills curricula are provided to all students to provide a foundation for independent living and successful transition to adult and community life.

The students are provided opportunities to participate in prevocational/vocational education programming. Programming includes , career exploration, employment skills development, and work-based learning opportunities. Career related programs of study that emphasize communication, math, science and information technology help to create an environment that fosters student motivation, enhances academic performance and nurtures skills and abilities required by employers. Areas of job skill training include food service, housekeeping, horticulture, and grounds-keeping.

A majority of students in Hillcrest programs are discharged to a less restrictive level of care, residential, group homes or specialized foster family care, often closer to the family’s home. Discharge planning commences early in the placement so the parents/guardians and involved agencies understand and get involved in the process, thinking ahead to and exploring other programs or resources that may be available when the time comes.

The discharge transition needs of Hillcrest students and their families, as well as the opportunities and resources for the students vary widely, depending on a variety of factors and conditions. Hillcrest students learn how to: handle finances, find employment, complete their education, find housing, receive health care, engage social support and any other needs that are identified.

Students at HEC under the age of 22 follow the requirements for psychological testing as outlined in P.L. 94-142.

The psychological evaluation of the student includes an assessment of all areas related to the suspected disability including, where appropriate, a measure of intelligence (Wechsler Scales, Binet or other valid measure), visual motor abilities, social and emotional status, adaptive behavior functioning (reflecting social behaviors and self-care), academic achievement testing, and other areas as recommended by the Team (e.g., achievement, medical, speech, etc.).

Assessment instruments are administered by those persons trained ,certified, or licensed for their specific test. The tests are non-biased and administered in the student’s native language. Such tests are used to determine the student’s present aptitude, achievement and adaptive behavior. No single test shall be used to determine placement decisions. The results of all evaluations are presented to the Team and used in determining appropriate goals.

Most often, requests for assessment are made by the LEA or other agencies to meet their requirements. Massachusetts DESE states:

“ Each school committee shall provide a re-evaluation for the child when such re-evaluation is due. The school committee shall no less than every three years provide a re-evaluation of each child who has been placed in special education program.”

In addition to psychological evaluations, other forms of assessment take place at HEC. All disciplines (education, vocational and clinical) administer appropriate informal assessment when a student enters the program. In addition, formal assessments may be requested (physical, occupational or speech therapy, medical and nursing, cognitive, academic achievement etc.) Assessment for these areas may be requested by HEC staff, LEA, or family or social services at any time to help design an appropriate program. In such cases parental consent is required before formal standardized assessments can be administered.

Overview:
Drug testing will occur according to the treatment plan, or as ordered by the physician based on the recommendations/outcome of the clinical assessment process. Once consent is obtained, nursing staff will complete the mouth swabs and urine collection for testing. If students do not return to campus when there is a nurse on campus, the supervisor on duty will obtain and store the specimens as instructed.

General Procedure:
When a student has been identified in need of drug testing, the following process must occur prior to drug testing:
1. The Clinical Department will notify the Nursing Department of the assessed need for drug screening and what drugs should be included in the screening panel.
2. The psychiatrist or the pediatrician will be notified by nursing or clinical, and if in agreement, an order will be written for the specific drugs that the student will be tested for.
3. The Clinical Department will notify the parent/guardian of the findings and recommendations from the Substance Use/Abuse Screen and obtain consent from the guardian for any drug testing that has been recommended. The guardian and/or primary family contact will also be informed of the process.
4. The Clinical Department will inform the Nursing Department when consent has been given for drug testing.

Procedure for Drug Testing Using the Mouth Swab Technique:
Testing for alcohol levels use the mouth swab technique.
1. Requires a timer or watch with a second hand.
2. Student should not have anything in his/her mouth 15 minutes prior to testing.
3. Open test package. Remove strip.
4. Student should place the padded part of the strip into his/her mouth.
5. Immediately set timer for 4 minutes.
6. At 10 seconds, remove from mouth and shake off excess saliva into the sink or paper towel.
7. At 4 minutes, observe the results. A bold colored line indicates a positive test result.
8. Please note the results obtained after 5 minutes are unreliable.

Procedure for Drug Testing Using Urine Collection:
Drugs that require a urine collection are:
Amphetamines, Cocaine, Phencyclidine, benzodiazepines, Methadone, barbiturates and tricyclic antidepressants, alcohol .
1. Instruct the student to wash their hands before collection and after collection.
2. Instruct the student to remove the cap to the urine collection container, without sticking their fingers into the container.
3. Instruct the student to start to urinate before collecting the urine in the container.
4. Please make sure the student’s name, date, and time is on the container before putting it into the refrigerator.
5. Make sure a note is left for the nurse coming on in the morning indicating that urine is in the refrigerator.

Procedure After Testing is Complete:
1. Nursing will forward a copy of the test results in the form of personal notification to the administrative staff, supervisor on duty, and the appropriate clinician within 24 hours after testing. This can be via e-mail, voice mail or in person.
2. The student’s clinician, or designee, will notify the guardian and/or primary family contact of the outcome of the test.
3. Nursing will clearly note the results in a log for future identification and date of the test for the student.
4. The psychiatrist and the rest of the treatment team will be notified within 7 days.

All drug tests are sent to a third party for confirmatory testing.

Procedure if Student Returns to Campus After a Home Leave With Physical Symptoms With Suspicion of Drug Use:
On the occasion when a student returns to a campus with physical evidence of substance abuse, i.e., elevated vital signs, altered mental state, and there is suspect of drug use:
1. Nursing will do an assessment noting the student’s physical state, and if a consent is in place do a drug test. The student will be transferred to the ER for further evaluation and possible treatment if deemed necessary.
2. If nursing is not on campus, the supervisor on duty will call nursing and with consultation of the administrator on call send the student to the emergency room for further evaluation.

POLICY
Hillcrest utilizes video recording equipment as a safety measure for students and staff, and as a tool to help improve program and staff performance. Therefore it is critical that the equipment be functioning properly at all times.
In order to ensure that the equipment is functioning properly, all HEC video recording equipment will be manually checked daily using the following procedures.
The Program Director is responsible for ensuring that the checks are being done daily and correctly.

PROCEDURE
A. This procedure will be done daily to ensure that the equipment is working properly.

B. In the campus log book the Overnight Supervisor will document that this process was done daily.
The Overnight Supervisor will also record in this on the overnight supervisor checklist any and all instances of recorders not working or cameras being out and the details of notifications that were made about the malfunction (i.e., who was notified; how they were notified; date and time of the notification; any other relevant details).

C. Each day, prior to the start of the shift or as early as possible during the shift, the Overnight Supervisor will check the video recorders by performing the following steps:
1. Log into the CCTV program.
2. Select live view option
3. Select a recorder on campus to bring up all camera views(At this time the Supervisor can see if any cameras are not working properly.)
4. Select Playback option and wait for the screen to appear.
5. Select a camera on the chosen device.
6. In the Start Time and End Time windows select a timeframe from the previous day.

7. Click on “Search”
OUTCOME

10. In the “Result” section, in the SN column, you should see a box and the number 1.
11. In the Start Time window you should see the year-month-day and military time.
12.  In the End Time window you should see the year-month-day and military time.
    This outcome tells you that there is data recorded in between the time frame selected, and verifies that the recorder is working.
    If you do not get the specified information in the selected review window the recorder has not been working during that time period.
13. Repeat this process until you have checked all the recorders on your campus.
14. If any recorders or any cameras are not working, e-mail David Luckadoo immediately.

Incident Reports and Physical Intervention Reports must be completed and submitted to a supervisor as soon as possible but not later than the end of the shift in which the incident takes place. The report must then be processed according to the procedures at each campus.

In order to ensure quality care and treatment for our students, Hillcrest Educational Centers maintains documentation requirements consistent with regulations, standards, and HEC policy.

The timelines for the provision and documentation of services are posted on the HECNet Desktop in the Policies and Procedures folder.

There are some situations where a funding agency requires a specific timeline other than those we have developed to meet requirements of Department of Education and Joint Commission. In such situations, HEC ensures that the other timelines are met in such a way that documents are still completed within the window required in our Policy and Procedure.