Utah Admin. Code 501-21-6

Current through Bulletin No. 2024-21, November 1, 2024

Section R501-21-6 - Domestic Violence

(1) A domestic violence (DV) treatment provider shall comply with generally accepted and current practices in DV treatment, and shall meet the following requirements:

(a) maintain and document cooperative working relationships with DV shelters, treatment programs, referring agencies, local DV coalitions, and custodial parents when the client is a minor;

(b) treatment for children and victims offers at least ten sessions for each client, not including intake or orientation;

(c) if the client is a perpetrator, provider contact with the victims, current partner, and the criminal justice referring agencies is also required, as applicable; and

(d) a Licensed Mental Health Therapist shall complete a DV treatment evaluation for each offender to include individualized recommendations for the offender's treatment.

(2) A provider shall ensure staff to client ratios are set as follows:

(a) the staff to client ratio in a one hour long adult treatment group is one staff to eight clients;

(b) the staff to client ratio in a group exceeding one hour is one staff to ten clients;

(c) the maximum group size may not exceed 16;

(d) child victim or child witness groups shall have a ratio of one staff to eight children, when the clients are under 12 years of age; and

(e) a staff to client ratio of one staff to ten children when the clients are 12 years of age and older.

(3) The licensee shall ensure client intake and safety as follows:

(a) when a client enters a DV treatment program, the staff shall conduct an in-depth, face-to-face interview and assessment to determine the client's clinical profile and treatment needs, and the evaluation in Subsection R501-21-7(1)(d) shall count for this assessment when the client is an offender;

(b) obtain additional information for perpetrator clients from the police incident report, perpetrator's criminal history, prior treatment providers, the victim, or victim advocate;

(c) when appropriate, obtain additional information for a child client from parents, prior treatment providers, schools, and Division of Child and Family Services Child Protective Services;

(d) when any of Subsections R501-21-6(3)(a) through (c) cannot be obtained, the provider shall document the reason; and

(e) the provider shall ensure that the intake assessment includes the following:

(i) a profile of the frequency, severity, and duration of the DV behavior, that includes a summary of psychological violence;

(ii) documentation of any homicidal, suicidal ideation and intentions, as well as abusive behavior toward children;

(iii) a clinical diagnosis and a referral for evaluation to determine the need for medication, if indicated;

(iv) documentation of safety planning when the client is an adult victim, child victim, or child witness and they have contact with the perpetrator;

(v) address safety planning upon contact for victims who choose not to become treatment clients; and

(vi) documentation that appropriate measures have been taken to protect children from harm.

(4) A provider shall ensure that treatment procedures adhere to the following:

(a) an individualized treatment plan addressing relevant treatment issues is created for each client;

(b) refer each client deemed not appropriate for a DV program to the appropriate resource, with the reasons for referral documented, and notification given to the referring agency;

(c) provide DV counseling concurrently with, or after, other necessary treatment when appropriate;

(d) conjoint or group therapy sessions with victims and perpetrators, or with co-perpetrators may not be provided until a comprehensive assessment has been completed to determine that the violence has stopped, and that conjoint treatment is appropriate;

(e) the perpetrator shall complete at least four DV treatment sessions, unless otherwise noted in the offender evaluation recommendations before the provider implements conjoint therapy;

(f) implement a written procedure in an efficient and timely manner to facilitate:

(i) entry of the court ordered defendant into treatment;

(ii) notification of client compliance, participation, or completion;

(iii) disposition of a non-compliant client;

(iv) notification of the recurrence of violence; and

(v) notification of factors that may exacerbate an individual's potential for violence;

(g) a provider shall comply with the duty to warn, in accordance with Section 78B-3-502;

(h) a provider shall document specialized training in DV assessment and treatment practices for any individual providing treatment service, to include:

(i) 24 hours of Utah Association for Domestic Violence Treatment pre-service training within the last two years;

(ii) 16 hours annual training thereafter ; and

(i) clinical supervision for treatment staff that are not clinically licensed shall consist of at least one hour per week to discuss clinical dynamics of cases.

(5) The provider shall ensure training is documented and approved by the designated Utah Department of Health and Human Services DV Specialist regarding assessment and treatment practices for treating DV victims and perpetrators.

(6) A provider shall disclose any current Department of Health and Human Services contracts and actions against the contract to the Office of Licensing.

(7) A provider shall disclose any current accreditations and actions against accredited status to the Office of Licensing.

Utah Admin. Code R501-21-6

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2014-23, effective 11/3/2014

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2017-8, effective 3/24/2017

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2019-5, effective 2/12/2019

Amended by Utah State Bulletin Number 2024-03, effective 1/22/2024