63E-7.105. Residential Programming

A residential commitment program shall provide delinquency interventions and treatment services that are gender-specific and that focus on preparing youth to live responsibly in the community upon release from the program. The program shall design its delinquency interventions and treatment services and service delivery system based on the common characteristics of its primary target population, including age, gender, and special needs, and their impact on youths’ responsivity to intervention or treatment. However, the program shall individualize and coordinate the provision of delinquency interventions and treatment services based on each youth’s prioritized risk and needs as identified through the RAY, and document services delivered in the youth’s individual management record. The program shall individualize treatment services based upon each youth’s diagnoses, symptoms, and needs, and document treatment services in the youth’s Individual Healthcare Record.

(1) Delinquency Intervention Services.

(a) For each youth in its care, a residential commitment program shall implement a delinquency intervention model or strategy that is an evidence-based practice, promising practice, a practice with demonstrated effectiveness, or any other intervention approved by the department that addresses a priority need identified for that youth.

(b) Education and work experience shall be considered by the program when determining staff delivery of delinquency intervention services.

(c) A staff person responsible for the implementation of a specific delinquency intervention model, strategy or curriculum shall receive training in its effective implementation.

(d) Residential commitment programs shall assure structured, planned programming or activities at least 60% of a youth’s awake hours. The program shall provide activities or services that include, at a minimum, the following:

1. Educational Services and Career and Vocational Programming. Educational services shall be provided pursuant to section 1003.52, F.S., the cooperative agreement between the applicable school district and the department, and any applicable provisions of the residential provider’s contract with the department. Career and vocational programming services shall be provided pursuant to chapter 63B-1, F.A.C., and any applicable provisions of the residential provider’s contract with the department. The program shall make relevant facility training available to the educational and vocational staff, including program orientation, facility safety and security procedures, the program’s behavior management system, and other topics that the program deems necessary to promote coordination of services, as well as safety and security.

2. Life and Social Skill Competency Development. The program shall provide delinquency interventions or instruction that focus on developing life and social skill competencies in youth. For purposes of this rule chapter, life skills are those skills that help youth to function more responsibly and successfully in everyday life situations, including social skills that specifically address interpersonal relationships. Non-clinical staff may implement only non-clinical life and social skills interventions or instruction. When skill training or instructional materials are specifically designed for use by clinical staff or the skill training is delivered in response to a youth’s treatment plan, the skill training must be provided by clinicians.

a. The program shall provide life and social skills intervention services that address, at a minimum, identification and avoidance of high-risk situations that could endanger self or others, communication, interpersonal relationships and interactions, non-violent conflict resolution, anger management, and critical thinking, including problem-solving and decision-making.

b. Direct care staff shall model prosocial behaviors for youth throughout the course of each day in the program, reinforce delinquency interventions, and guide and re-direct youth toward prosocial behaviors and positive choices. Additionally, staff shall engage youth in constructive dialogue to peacefully resolve conflict when it occurs or, if imminent safety and security issues delay intervention to resolve the conflict, as a follow-up process after safety and security are restored.

3. Restorative Justice. The program shall provide activities or instruction intended to increase youths’ awareness of and empathy for crime victims and survivors and increase youths’ personal accountability for their criminal actions and harm to others. The department’s Impact of Crime (IOC) curriculum can be used to satisfy the restorative justice requirement. These activities or instruction shall be planned or designed to:

a. Assist youth to accept responsibility for harm they have caused by their past criminal actions, challenging them to recognize and modify their irresponsible thinking, such as denying, minimizing, rationalizing, and blaming victims;

b. Teach youth about the impact of crime on victims, their families and their communities;

c. Expose youth to victims’ perspectives through victim speakers, in person or on videotape or audiotape, or through victim impact statements, and engage youth in follow-up activities to process their reactions to each victim’s accounting of how crime affected his or her life; and

d. Provide opportunities for youth to plan and participate in reparation activities intended to restore victims and communities, such as restitution activities and community service projects.

4. Community Projects. The program shall engage youth in community projects as learning experiences that promote competency development in youth and provide opportunities for them to give back to the community, such as projects that benefit less fortunate or victimized persons. If youth are restricted to the confines of the residential facility grounds, the program shall engage them in structured activities that can be accomplished on-site at the program while benefiting the community. Through collaborative community partnerships, the program shall identify projects that are needed and valued by the community. Although program staff shall be responsible for the direct supervision of youth while engaged in a community project, the program shall ensure that any community member identified to sponsor or oversee a project serves as a positive role model while providing guidance needed for youth to successfully complete the project. For youth to understand the value of community involvement, staff shall allow youth to give input into the selection of a community project, involve youth in planning the project, and de-brief with youth after completion of the project to process what they learned and how the community was benefited.

5. Recreation and Leisure Activities. The program shall provide a range of supervised, structured indoor and outdoor recreation and leisure activities for youth. These activities shall be based on the developmental levels and needs of youth in the program, as well as youths’ input about their preferences and interests in various activities. The program shall offer recreation and leisure activities requiring varying degrees of mental and physical exertion, such as board games, creative arts, sports, and physical fitness activities. Activities shall be planned for youths’ exposure to a variety of leisure and recreation choices, exploration of interests, constructive use of leisure time, and social and cognitive skill development, as well as to promote creativity, teamwork, healthy competition, mental stimulation, and physical fitness.

a. When engaging youth in active recreation and physical fitness activities, the program shall take the precautionary measures necessary to prevent over-exertion, heat stress, dehydration, frostbite, hypothermia, and exacerbation of existing illness or physical injury.

b. When planning for and engaging youth in active recreation and physical fitness activities, the program shall accommodate youths’ limitations due to physical disabilities.

c. The program shall provide each youth with the opportunity to engage in large muscle exercise at least one hour daily. However, a youth shall not engage in such exercise when prohibited by medical contraindications or restrictions documented by a licensed healthcare professional or when a youth is exhibiting signs and symptoms of illness or physical injury pending a licensed healthcare professional’s determination as to the necessity for medical restrictions. Additionally, a youth shall be prohibited from large muscle exercise when he or she is temporarily separated from the general population, including when placed on controlled observation or room restriction status. However, if a youth is restricted to a room, the program shall give the youth an opportunity for large muscle exercise as soon as is reasonably possible after the youth is reintegrated into the general population.

d. The program director shall ensure development and implementation of written procedures that establish the conditions, content, and supervision necessary for the use of books and other leisure reading materials, television programming, videos, movies, and video games in the program. Except for academic classroom materials approved by educational personnel, program staff shall screen or preview the content of books and other reading materials, television programming, videos, movies, and video games to prevent youth’s access to content that promotes violence, criminal activity, sexual activity, or abuse. Program staff shall not allow youth to view any television program, video, or movie that is rated above PG-13 unless it is previewed and pre-approved by the program director or his or her designee.

(2) Gang Prevention and Intervention Strategies. A residential commitment program shall implement gang prevention and intervention strategies when youth are identified as being a criminal street gang member, are affiliated with any criminal street gang, or are at high risk of gang involvement. Identification of youth to participate in gang prevention or intervention activities shall be based on information obtained through the program’s screening, assessment and classification processes, as well as gang-associated behaviors exhibited or the youth’s expressed interest or intent while in the program.

(3) Rehabilitative Planning and Follow-up Requirements for Off-Campus Activities. A residential commitment program shall ensure that off-campus activities addressed in this subsection are purposeful, deliberately planned, and related to the rehabilitation of the participating youth. Programs shall comply with eligibility, risk classification, notification and approval, supervision, and other security requirements related to off-campus activities. Additionally, the program shall comply with the following rehabilitative planning and follow-up requirements for youth participating in supervised off-campus activities, such as community service projects, field excursions and other transition-related activities, and unsupervised temporary release activities, such as community employment, or day activities and home visits with youths’ parent(s), guardian, or supportive person(s). However, the following requirements are not mandatory for supervised recreational off-campus activities earned by youth as incentives in accordance with the program’s behavior management system.

(a) A participating youth shall have specific, written goals or objectives, consistent with his or her performance plan and transition goals, to accomplish during the above-listed off-campus activities. The youth’s parent(s), guardian, or supportive person(s) shall be responsible for providing supervision and support during their child’s home visit. For a home visit, the youth’s home visit goals shall be included on the Home Visit Plan/Notification Form (RS 003, July 2017) which is incorporated into this rule and is available electronically at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-10392, or may be obtained by contacting DJJ, Office of Residential Services, 2737 Centerview Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32399. 

(b) The program shall send the Home Visit Plan/Notification Form to the committing court, and shall copy the youth’s parent(s), guardian, or supportive person(s), the youth’s JPO, and the youth’s post-residential services counselor, if assigned. The program shall also send to the committing court the Home Visit Plan Approval Form (RS 004, September 2006) which is incorporated into this rule and is available electronically at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-10393, or may be obtained by contacting: DJJ, Office of Residential Services, 2737 Centerview Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32399.

(c) After completion of an off-campus activity, program staff shall de-brief with participating youth to process what they learned from the experience, as well as how they performed during the activity, including successes, challenges, and if applicable, alternative behaviors or actions that could have resulted in more positive outcomes. The youth’s treatment team shall use information about the youth’s performance during off-campus activities when reviewing the youth’s overall progress and when planning future off-site and transition activities for the youth. The program shall solicit feedback on a youth’s performance from the employer of a youth participating in community employment, the community member overseeing a community services project, and the parent(s), guardian, or supportive person(s) after supervising their child during a day activity or home visit.

(4) Treatment Services. Treatment services shall be provided so as to include the following components:

(a) Routine Consent.

(b) Youth Consent for Substance Abuse Evaluation and Treatment.

(c) Special Consent.

(d) Physical Health Services.

(e) Mental Health Services and Substance Abuse Services.

Rulemaking Authority 985.64, 985.601(3)(a) FS. Law Implemented 985.601(3)(a), 985.03(44), 985.441, 985.64(2), FS. History–New 5-30-19.