Chapter 01. Youth Services Bureau

“Core services” means only the following:

“Department” means the Department of Juvenile Services.

“Substance abuse” means alcohol and drug abuse.

“Bureau” means a youth services bureau, which is a community-based nonresidential program that is established pursuant to Human Services Article, §9-233, Annotated Code of Maryland.

Provide all core services and, in accordance with particular community needs, other services;

Serve a specific catchment area, in which the bureau shall be located and which may be realigned with approval from the Department;

Provide services at convenient hours in a manner which is accessible to the community;

Promote community awareness of the bureau's services; and

Make use of existing public and private services in their communities by making referrals to those services which are available and appropriate.

Formal Counseling.

Information and Referral Services.

Crisis Intervention.

Substance Abuse Assessment and Referral.

Informal Counseling.

Have a valid organizational structure, including a board of directors or an advisory board;

Follow sound personnel practices and maintain complete personnel files that include for each bureau staff member:

Provide insurance coverage, as appropriate for the services provided;

Establish and maintain such fiscal control and fund accounting procedures as may be necessary to assure prudent use, proper disbursement, and accurate accounting of funds;

Meet the program requirements set out in Regulation .03 of this chapter, the information reporting and confidentiality requirements set out in Regulation .05 of this chapter, and, if the bureau charges its clients a fee for services, the fee requirements set out in Regulation .06 of this chapter;

Conduct criminal background checks for all employees and, as required by Department policy, volunteers;

Comply with the Department policy on reporting critical incident reports; and

Submit to the Department an annual budget at the time the Department specifies.

Conducting scheduled and unscheduled site visits;

Attending bureau board of directors or advisory board meetings;

Inspecting bureau fiscal, client case, and staff and volunteer files;

Reviewing bureau policies and procedures; or

Meeting with and interviewing bureau staff, volunteers, and clients.

The Department shall issue reports which:

The Department shall provide the bureau with a copy of the compliance and effectiveness reports.

If a compliance or effectiveness report indicates that the bureau's performance does not comply with the statute or these regulations, or that the bureau is ineffective, the bureau shall within 15 days of receipt of the report:

If a bureau is determined to be ineffective or if a bureau fails to meet these eligibility guidelines for 2 years, the Department shall stop funding the bureau.

For each Department client on informal supervision, protective supervision, probation, or aftercare status who is referred by the Department to the bureau, the bureau shall allow the Department access to the client's information and shall provide the Department confirmation of the acceptance of the client by the bureau. The bureau shall keep the Department informed at reasonable intervals to be determined by the Department of the client's attendance and cooperation in the bureau program.

For all formal counseling cases, excluding those clients referred by the Department, the bureau shall provide the Department with the first three initials of the client's surname, the initials of the client's first and middle names, and the client's date of birth. The bureau shall inform their formal counseling cases that the information in this subsection shall be provided to the Department.

The bureau shall obtain an appropriate release of information to comply with §A(1) and (2) of this regulation.

For all bureau clients not covered by §A(1) or (2) of this regulation, the bureau shall provide non-client-identifying information, as requested, regarding program activities and statistics in the form and format approved or provided by the Department.

Bureau case records shall be stored inside a locked file cabinet. The case records shall be supervised and controlled directly by an authorized bureau staff member.

A bureau shall allow the Department full access to client-identifying records and files of those youth described in §A(1) of this regulation.

Unless otherwise provided by law or regulation, access to client-identifying records and files without consent of the client shall be restricted to:

A bureau may maintain its case records in a manner that codes client-identifying information as specified in §A(2) of this regulation.

Individual case records shall be retained by a bureau for 5 years after services to the individual are no longer necessary. The records then shall be destroyed by incineration or shredding.

Nothing in this regulation shall be construed to affect any obligation concerning client record confidentiality that is otherwise set out in any federal or State statute or regulation.