Section 311.6  Regional Staffings

a)         At the regional level the Initiative conducts multi-disciplinary staffings on individual youth, which insure that the needs of the youth are thoroughly assessed and analyzed, a client service plan is developed and implemented, and regular monitoring and review of the plan take place at least quarterly.  Youth have a right to be present at and participate in the needs assessment phase of the staffings and to be represented by counsel at their own expense.

b)         Staffing decisions are made through a process of consensus or majority rule of regional conveners present with adherence to approved criteria referenced above in Section 311.5(a).  If a decision appears to contradict approved criteria, the Program Administrator has authority to request further consideration if the decision appears to be against the manifest weight of the evidence. The Program Administrator retains the authority to change decisions based upon the manifest weight of the evidence after the reconsideration process is completed.

c)         Regional Conveners and staff are to expedite both planning and service initiation for referrals to the Initiative.  Initial staffings must occur within 9 working days of receipt of the referral information and a written client service plan will be available within 60 working days of the initial staffing.