OUR POLICIES

If at any point, Home Sweet Home Healthcare, Services, Inc. dissolves their operations as a Homebase Services company the following shall be performed: 1. The Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities shall be notified not less than 60 days prior to termination date. 2. Written notice detailing reason and expected date of cessation shall be afforded to program individuals being transferred or discharged, guardians(s)/primary caregiver(s), other significant contacts, other contributing service providers, staff and the Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities. 3. Assistance afforded to program individuals in order that alternative placement may be advised and secured. 4. Work collaboratively with the Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities to secure other services for program individuals served. 5. Fulfill required services as a licensed Homebase Service agency until the cessation of operations.

Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc. shall have an established policy to ensure that its program participant’s rights and confidentiality are enforced and protected. Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc. is required by law to keep protected health information about its program participants private and confidential. We are also required to give you a notice of our privacy practices and to notify you following a breach of unsecured protected health information. The policy shall enforce the following standards: 1. For the protection of our program individuals, any information regarding them or their case is regarded confidential and may only be used for purposes directly related to the administration of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver program. 2. We shall inform all recipients of Agency or Program Individuals information that this material is confidential, subject to the provisions of the Confidentiality Act, signed agreements and shall be considered confidential by any recipient(s) of this information. 3. An authorization for release of information shall be used to secure the individual's or guardian's consent to share and/or receive information. 4. You are entitled to request access to inspect or to obtain a copy of your file and/or medical records our agency has generated about you. 5. The agency reserves the right to change this Notice of Privacy Practices and any policies and requirements set forth herein based on the needs of the agency and changes in state and federal law. Upon revision we will update agency records and provide you with a revised copy. 6. The participants record shall be safely kept against loss or destruction. 7. Chronological records shall be maintained for every program participant and located where the individual is being served. 8. Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc. shall ensure that Department-authorized consumer interest groups shall be permitted, with the consent of individuals, to visit agencies and living arrangements owned or leased by an agency.

Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc. shall establish policy for handling, investigating, reporting, tracking and analyzing unusual incidents through the agency's management hierarchy, up to and including the authorized agency representative. Employees shall demonstrate the ability to follow this policy and procedure. Unusual incidents include, but are not limited to: abuse or neglect, death, physical injury, missing persons, theft, criminal conduct, and/or sexual assault. Incidents that are subject to the Criminal Code of 1961 {720 ILCS 5} shall be reported to the local law enforcement agencies within 24 hours from its occurrence. All suspected instances of abuse or neglect must be reported to the Office of Inspector General (Section 6.2 of the Abused and Neglected Long Term Facility Residents Reporting Act [210 ILCS 30/6.2]).

Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc. shall ensure a quality assurance plan and continual activities that are established to measure and evaluate the operation of services that are provided to the program individuals. Any identified problems shall reach resolution. Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc. shall ensure that all services are supervised; program individuals are receiving services consistent with their approved person-centered plans, and that they are in compliance with the Department of Human Services, Division of Developmental Disabilities administrative code. Documentation to ensure quality assurance must be readily accessible. Home Sweet Home Healthcare, Services, Inc. will ensure the implementation of evaluation systems that will be utilized during each program individual planning process. Quality Assurance procedures shall include, but are not limited to: 1. Service planning 2. Unusual incidents relative to services to individuals 3. Service utilization 4. Subcontracted services to ensure that they meet the requirements of the quality assurance policy. 5. Records of quality assurance reviews and activities shall be filed separately from the records of individuals. 6. Record Reviews 7. Personal Preference Interviews 8. Annual Assessments 9. Inspections

Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc shall establish a uniform policy and procedures for reporting and responding to all abuse/neglect allegations and deaths. II. Authority • Department of Human Services Act (20 ILCS 1305/1-17) • Section 7.3 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act (20 ILCS 1705/) • Illinois Administrative Code, Chapter 1, Title 59, Part 50 (herein referred to as “Rule 50”) • Section 25 of the Health Care Worker Background Check Act (225 ILCS 46/) • Nursing Home Care Act (210 ILCS 45/) • Section 11-9.5 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2012, Sexual misconduct with a person with a disability (720 ILCS 5/) • Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code (405 ILCS 5/) • Substance Abuse Confidentiality (42 CFR 2/) • AIDS Confidentiality Act (410 ILCS 305/) • MHDD Confidentiality Act (740 ILCS 110/) • Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/) • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), (45 CFR, Parts 160, 162, and 164) III. Policy It is the policy and the responsibility of Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc to report all allegations of abuse/neglect and deaths to the Office of the Inspector General in the Illinois Department of Human Services within the required time frames in an appropriate and thorough manner. All employees (which includes owners/operators, contractors, subcontractors and volunteers) of Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc shall adhere to the standards set forth in this policy directive. Nothing in this policy directive precludes the agency's responsibilities as outlined in Illinois Administrative Code, Chapter 1, Title 59, Part 50, herein referred to as "Rule 50." IV. Objective To describe the procedures for reporting and responding to allegations of abuse, neglect, death, and other reportable incidents to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). V. Responsibilities Home Sweet Home Healthcare Services, Inc shall ensure that all employees (which includes owners/operators, contractors, subcontractors, and volunteers) are trained upon hire, and at least biennially thereafter, and are held responsible for carrying out the designated duties set forth in Rule 50 and this policy. The Rule 50 training should include, but not be limited to, the fact that identities of employees with substantiated physical abuse, sexual abuse, egregious neglect or financial exploitation shall be referred to the Department of Public Health’s Health Care Worker Registry except when any appeal is pending or successful. Download Our Policy PDF For Any Additional Information.