The superintendent, or designee, shall establish a policy and procedures governing the method of handling the requests by individual residents. The superintendent, or designee, shall evaluate each leave request and, in writing, approve or deny the request within forty-eight hours of receiving the request based on:

(1) The nature and length of the escorted leave;

(2) The community risk associated with granting the request based on the resident's history of security or escape risk;

(3) The resident's overall history of stability, cooperative or disruptive behavior, and violence or other acting out behavior;

(4) The resident's degree of trustworthiness as demonstrated by his/her performance in unit assignments, security level, and general cooperativeness with facility staff;

(5) The resident's family's level of involvement and commitment to the escorted leave planning process;

(6) The rehabilitative or treatment benefits which could be gained by the resident; and

(7) Any other information as may be deemed relevant.

The resident's, and family's, ability to reimburse the state for the cost of the escorted leave shall not be a determining factor in approving or denying a request.