To be endorsed, eligible organizations must meet the staffing standards described in this section.
(1) Staffing plan. An eligible organization must have a staffing plan that includes:
(a) How an eligible organization will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including when each position is available to respond and where the teams are located;
(b) How peers will be incorporated into the response team;
(c) How peers will be recruited and any anticipated challenges for them;
(d) Policies and procedures for how staff will respond safely and meet the time requirements in the regional dispatch protocols; and
(e) Policies and procedures for ensuring follow-up crisis services occur after an initial response, as clinically appropriate.
(2)
Additional staffing documentation for community-based crisis teams (CBCT). A CBCT that contracts with a licensed and certified behavioral health agency to meet the staffing requirements described in WAC
182-140-0090 must have a staffing plan that includes:
(a) Which staff are involved in the agreement;
(b) The role of each staff member;
(c) How staff will access clinical supervision 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for real-time consultation; and
(d) How frequently clinical supervisors will provide ongoing coaching, case consultation, and clinical debriefing in a trauma informed manner, including how to:
(i) Review charts; and
(ii) Provide clinical quality assurance.
(3)
Mobile rapid response crisis teams and nonexempt CBCTs. Eligible organizations that are not seeking the personnel exemption in RCW
71.24.903(3) must have sufficient staffing to ensure an in-person response is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and must:
(a) Meet the required response times identified in the BH-ASO contract;
(b) Provide all outreach in pairs unless it is not clinically appropriate;
(c) Provide follow-up services as clinically appropriate to a person seeking behavioral health assistance and connect the person to ongoing support; and
(d) Be composed of the following behavioral health clinical staff who are appropriately credentialed or licensed within their scope of practice and meet the criteria below:
(i) A mental health professional (MHP);
(ii) A mental health care provider (MHCP);
(iii) A certified peer counselor who meets the criteria in WAC
182-115-0100; or
(iv) Another behavioral health or medical professional working within their scope of practice under an approved staffing plan, as needed, to meet staffing requirements; and
(v) Include at least one MHP or MCHP during an initial response and a certified peer counselor, when available.
(e) Have an MHP supervise when the responding team staff are in the field; and
(f) Have access to an MHP 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for consultation. The consulting MHP may be the team supervisor or another MHP.
