63E-7.103. Program Environment

(1) Trauma Responsive Residential Environment. A residential commitment program shall establish an environment that is conducive to the effective delivery of delinquency interventions and treatment services. This environment shall promote and reinforce community values by giving youth opportunities to assume the responsibilities and experience the benefits of being part of a community. The program shall establish a residential environment that is physically and emotionally safe, and incorporates trauma responsive practices. The program shall have sufficient space and environmental features to allow for effective educational services, medical, mental health and substance abuse services, and general programming. Every effort shall be made to decrease noise and increase design elements that best utilize the space appropriately, improve stress management and self-regulation.

(a) The program shall promote a trauma responsive residential environment by program leadership and staff demonstrating practices that embrace the core principles of a trauma responsive program including physical and emotional safety, trust, choice, collaboration, empowerment and cultural and linguistic responsivity. The practice of these core principles shall be evident in development of new policies, in review and modification of existing policies and at all primary points of contact with youth.

(b) The program shall include universal screening for traumatic stress in all youth. The assessments must be designed to help identify traumatic stress symptoms and self-regulation skills.

(2) Behavior Management System (BMS). Consistent with its approach to delinquency interventions and treatment services, a residential commitment program shall establish a behavior management system that is responsive to the unique characteristics of the program’s population. A program’s behavior management system shall be designed to motivate a youth to choose behaviors which are personally fulfilling, productive, and socially acceptable while minimizing destructive or unsafe behaviors. In addition, the system shall assist the youth in the development of skills necessary to manage difficult emotions such as anger, depression, and anxiety, while also teaching the youth skills to help them function effectively within the program. When the program’s BMS includes Behavioral Analysis Services as defined in chapter 63N-1, F.A.C., such services must be provided as set forth in that rule.

(a) A residential commitment program’s behavior management system shall be described in writing and designed to:

1. Promote safety, respect, fairness, and protection of rights within the residential environment;

2. Provide constructive discipline and a system of positive and negative logical consequences to encourage youth to meet expectations for behavior;

3. Provide opportunities for positive reinforcement and recognition for accomplishments and positive behaviors at a minimum ratio of 4:1 positive to negative consequences;

4. Promote socially acceptable means for youth to meet their needs;

5. Include a process that accommodates the emotional and developmental capacity of individual youth by addressing the following:

a. Staff shall explain to the youth the reason that they did not achieve their treatment or behavioral goals;

b. The youth is given an opportunity to explain his or her behavior;

c. Staff and the youth discuss the behavior’s impact on others, reasonable reparations for harm caused to others, and alternative acceptable behaviors and coping strategies;

6. Promote dialogue and peaceful conflict resolution;

7. Minimize separation of youth from the general population;

8. Provide ongoing oversight and training of direct-care staff; and

9. Ensure common behavior management classroom expectations are agreed to by the program director and the director of the educational program and contains, at a minimum, the following:

a. Assessment of youth needs

b. Direct care staff’s role/participation in the classroom.

c. Protocols for addressing disruptive classroom behavior.

d. Training/orientation at least annually and within 30 days of hire for all educational and facility staff working in the classrooms. The training must include the behavior management classroom expectations, de-escalation techniques, crisis intervention procedures, and mandatory reporting requirements of child abuse, abandonment, and neglect as outlined in section 39.201, F.S.

(b) A residential commitment program’s behavior management system shall not:

1. Be used solely to increase a youth’s length of stay;

2. Be used to deny a youth basic rights or services to include regular meals, clothing, sleep, physical or mental health services, educational services physical exercise, correspondence, and visitation from his or her parent(s), guardian, or supportive person(s), and contact with an attorney of record, JPO, clergy and, if applicable, the dependency case manager;

3. Promote the use of group discipline;

4. Allow youth to sanction other youth; or

5. Include disciplinary confinement wherein a youth is isolated in a locked room as discipline for misbehavior.

(3) Grievance Process. A residential commitment program shall establish written procedures specifying the process for youth to grieve actions of program staff and conditions or circumstances involving the violation or denial of basic rights. These procedures shall establish each youth’s right to grieve and ensure that all youth are treated fairly, respectfully, without discrimination, and that their rights are protected.

(a) The procedures shall address each of the following phases of the youth grievance process, specifying timeframes that promote timely feedback to youth and rectification of situations or conditions when grievances are determined to be valid or justified.

1. Informal phase wherein the youth attempts to resolve the complaint or condition with staff on duty at the time of the grieved situation;

2. Formal phase wherein the youth submits a written grievance that requires a written response from a supervisory staff person; and

3. Appeal phase wherein the youth may appeal the outcome of the formal phase to the program director or designee.

(b) Program staff shall be trained on the program’s youth grievance process and procedures.

(c) Program staff shall explain the grievance process to youth during their program orientation and shall post the written procedures throughout the facility for easy access by youth.

(d) The program shall provide grievance forms and accompanying instructions at locations throughout the facility so they are readily accessible to youth. When a youth requests assistance in filing a grievance, program staff shall assist the youth as needed.

(e) The program shall maintain documentation on each youth grievance and its outcome in a centralized location for at least one year.

(4) Visitation. A residential commitment program shall develop a policy and procedure to provide visitation for youth and shall address the following:

(a) Program security and the safety of youth, staff and visitors;

(b) Designated visitation schedule that is provided to each youth’s parent(s), guardian, or supportive person(s) and is readily available to other authorized visitors, as well as reasonable accommodations in response to parent(s)’, guardians’, or supportive person(s) request for alternate visitation arrangements;

(c) Designated visitation areas and staff supervision during visitation;

(d) Identification of authorized visitors to include the youth’s parent(s), guardian, supportive person(s), spouse, attorney of record, JPO, clergy, and others concerned with the youth’s rehabilitation and treatment. To facilitate family reunification, the program shall consider requests for alternate visitation arrangements from a youth’s parent(s), guardian, or supportive person(s), unless such contact is specifically prohibited by a court order, against the youth’s wishes, or poses a safety or security threat. The program shall not allow visitation by any co-defendant in the youth’s current offense, anyone prohibited by court order to have contact with the youth, anyone the youth is unwilling to receive as a visitor, or anyone whose presence or behavior during a prior visitation posed a safety or security threat;

(e) Verification of the identity of visitors by requiring a form of photo identification except in the case of children or siblings of the youth who are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian;

(f) Documentation of all visitation to include:

1. The visitor’s signature, the date, and the times of entry and exit;

2. The name of any visitor denied entry and the date, time, and reason for denial;

(g) Measures to prevent the introduction of contraband into the program to include:

1. Written notification to visitors before their entry into the facility that their person and any packages may be subject to search and that possession of illegal contraband could be subject to legal action;

2. Mandatory electronic search of visitors entering high-risk and maximum-risk programs and optional electronic search of visitors entering non-secure programs;

3. Frisk search of a visitor by a staff person of the same sex when reasonable belief exists that the visitor is attempting to introduce contraband or otherwise compromise the security of the facility (e.g., staff witnesses unauthorized physical contact indicating an attempt to conceal);

4. Search of packages or other items for youth conducted in the presence of the visitor;

5. Prohibition of visitors bringing their personal possessions into the facility unless the program director or his or her designee makes an exception for a visitor needing a documented prescription medication or an adaptive device due to a disability;

6. Frisk search of a youth in a high-risk or maximum-risk program prior to the youth’s exit from the visitation area;

7. Upon reasonable documented suspicion that contraband has been passed to a youth, a full-body visual inspection is authorized at high-risk or maximum-risk programs; and

8. Search of the visitation area by staff after all visits are concluded.

(h) Termination of the visit if the youth or visitor violates the program rules, becomes loud, disorderly, or visibly angry, engages or attempts to engage in sexual contact or activity, is physically aggressive, or otherwise poses an unsafe situation.

(5) Stakeholder Access: All stakeholders must sign and abide by the department’s Stakeholder and Media Confidentiality Agreement (RS 100, July 2018), which is incorporated by reference, http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-10389, and is available by contacting: DJJ, Office of Residential Services, 2737 Centerview Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32399.

(a) The following stakeholders are authorized to visit juvenile residential commitment programs operated or overseen by the department: between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.:

1. Governor;

2. Cabinet Member;

3. Member of the Legislature;

4. State Attorney;

5. Public Defender.

(b) A request for an after-hours tour between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. must be submitted to and approved by the Assistant Secretary for Residential Services at least 14 days prior to the tour. Stakeholders taking an after-hours tour will not be permitted access to any areas where youth are sleeping.

(c) All stakeholders entering high-risk and maximum-risk programs are subject to electronic searches. Electronic searches of stakeholders entering non-secure programs are optional, as outlined in the program’s operating procedures.

(6) News Media Tours. Permission for visits by bona fide news media representatives shall not be unreasonably withheld. It shall be the responsibility of the news media representatives requesting the visitation to present to the Office of Communications evidence sufficient to establish that such person is a bona fide news media representative and to provide the information sufficiently in advance that it may be verified.

(a) News media representatives consist of persons whose principal employment is gathering and reporting news for a:

1. Radio or television program whose primary purpose is news reporting for a licensee of the Federal Communications Commission;

2. Newspaper reporting general interest information news and circulated to the public in the community where it is published;

3. News magazine that has a national circulation, is sold by mail subscriptions, or on newsstands to the general public; or

4. National or international news service.

(b) News media tours of a juvenile residential commitment facilities shall be pre-arranged with the Office of Communications at least five (5) working days prior to arrival. The following conditions apply:

1. News media representatives shall be required to provide news station ID and two verifiable contacts for the media group they represent. Phone numbers for these contacts must also be provided. If the contacts provided do not confirm the representative’s association with the respective media group, the representative shall be required to provide two additional contacts. If such contacts do not confirm the representative’s association with the respective media group, the tour shall be cancelled and the media representative shall not be permitted future tours.

2. Representatives of news media visiting a facility are subject to electronic search as set out in subsection (4), above.

3. News media representatives must be escorted by staff. Random access not specific to the purpose of the tour is prohibited.

4. During an emergency, news media representatives will be restricted to a designated area identified by the facility administrator or designee.

5. Media members are limited to two (2) members.

6. Attorneys, doctors, youth’s family members, and victims or victim family members may not accompany media representatives on their visits.

7. Media representatives must provide identification upon entry into the juvenile residential facility.

8. Interviews and photographs of youth or staff shall not be permitted.

9. Photography and video making equipment is prohibited.

10. Privacy rights of youth shall be observed by the media. No movie films, television tapes, or recordings may be made of the juvenile involved.

11. Media representatives shall not be given access to juveniles on any type of observation defined in rules 63N-1.00951, 63N-1.00952, and subsection 63E-7.107(14), F.A.C.

12. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice or contracted provider employees are not authorized to sign film crew or media location releases.

13. Tours are authorized between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays, provided the facility administrator or designee determines that such tours would not impair or disrupt the normal operations or security of the facility and would not endanger the safety of the visitor.

14. No part of the residential commitment program may be filmed.

15. Foreign Press. In addition to all of the above, foreign press members must provide criminal history clearance from the official criminal history registry of their native country. Contact information for a representative from the agency that maintains that registry must also be provided. A legible copy of the foreign media representative’s passport must be submitted to the Office of Communications prior to the tour for approval.

16. All news media representatives must sign and abide by the department’s Stakeholder and Media Confidentiality Agreement (RS 100, July 2018), which is incorporated in subsection (5), above.

Rulemaking Authority 985.64, 985.601(3)(a),985.6885(4) FS. Law Implemented 985.601(3)(a), 985.03(44), 985.441,985.6885 FS. History–New 5-30-19.