§ 3-16 Injury Response.
RCNY § 3-16
(a)Policy. The Department of Correction and the Health Authority ("Agencies") shall establish policies and procedures to address and prevent injuries to people in custody.
(b)Investigations. Investigations of injuries of people in custody, including all supporting documentation such as Injury-to-Inmate forms, shall be completed in a prompt, accurate, and objective manner. For the purposes of this section, investigations shall mean investigations conducted in the manner required by the Department of Correction ("Department") including, but not limited to, investigations conducted by the facility or investigations contained in Injury-to-Inmate forms.
(c)Coordination.
(1)Quarterly Meetings. The Agencies shall engage in regular communication and quarterly meetings, to review data on injuries, identify trends, and perform quality assurance on injury report documentation. These communications and quarterly meetings shall include data-informed development of corrective action plans.
(2)Injury Tracking System. Within one year of the effective date of this rule, the Agencies shall maintain a coordinated electronic injury tracking system for serious injuries, which for purposes of 40 RCNY § 3-16 are defined as injuries designated as serious by the Health Authority for the sole purpose of tracking injuries. Within two years of the effective date of this rule, the Agencies shall maintain a coordinated electronic injury tracking system for all injuries, both serious and non-serious.
(d)Reporting and Review.
(ii)Phase 2. Starting one year after the effective date of this rule, and continuing on the fourth Friday of every month thereafter for a period of one year, the Joint Monthly Injury Report shall also include the following information in a machine-readable format using both numerical values and percentages, for the previous month and for the year-to-date: (A) Locations within the commands where the serious injuries occurred, grouped and totaled by location, overall and disaggregated by specific command (i.e. facility, transportation, court); (B) For serious injuries occurring in housing areas, the specific locations within the housing area where the injuries occurred, overall and disaggregated by specific command; (C) Total number of pending facility investigations for serious injuries reported in the previous month, overall and disaggregated by specific command; (D) Total number of completed investigations for serious injuries reported in the previous month, overall and disaggregated by specific command; (E) Cause of serious injuries, including self-injury, as recorded in the facility investigation, grouped and totaled by cause of injury, overall and disaggregated by specific command; (F) Mean, median, minimum, and maximum time between time of Department Supervisor notification and completion of facility investigation for all serious injuries reported in the previous month, overall and disaggregated by specific command; and (G) Whether incidents resulting in serious injuries were witnessed by the staff persons who completed the Injury to Inmate reports, grouped and totaled by "witnessed" or "not witnessed," overall and disaggregated by specific command.
(iii)Phase 3. Starting two years after the effective date of this rule, and continuing on the fourth Friday of every month thereafter, the Joint Monthly Injury Report shall also include all information required pursuant to 40 RCNY §§ 3-16(d)(2)(ii)(A) - (B), (D) - (G) for serious and non-serious injuries, in a machine-readable format using both numerical values and percentages, for the previous month and the year-to-date.
(3)Starting on the fourth Friday of September 2019, the Agencies shall provide the Board with a monthly data file with injury-level information corresponding to the data enumerated in the Joint Monthly Injury Report. This file shall also include all relevant identifying injury-level information (e.g., injury report number, Central Operations Desk/Use of Force report number, injury date, date of injury report, specific unit and housing area, housing area type, date investigation was closed, incarcerated person-identifiers, and witnessing-staff identifiers) for each injury reported. Each file shall be shared in an electronic, machine-readable format and shall be updated cumulatively from each prior data reporting period. The file shall be maintained as confidential by the Board.
(4)On at least an annual basis, beginning on the first day of the sixth month after the effective date of this Rule, the Department shall review all Joint Monthly Injury Reports submitted in the previous year pursuant to subdivision 40 RCNY § 3-16(d)(2). Within 60 days of each such annual review, the Department shall provide the Board with a written public report detailing: (i) Steps taken in its review; (ii) Findings, and any plans for corrective action; and (iii) Status of corrective actions described in prior reports submitted over the past five years.
(5)Starting on the fourth Friday of September 2019 and on the fourth Friday of every month thereafter, the Health Authority shall provide the Board with a monthly public report on self-harm, including the following information in a machine-readable format using both numerical values and percentages, for the previous month and for the year-to-date: (A) Total number of injuries reflecting self-harm, as determined by health care personnel, overall and disaggregated by serious and non-serious injuries; (B) Injuries reflecting self-harm, disaggregated by age (adolescents ages 16 and 17, young adults ages 18 to 21, and adults ages 22 and older), and further disaggregated serious and non-serious injuries; and (C) Injuries reflecting self-harm, disaggregated by housing type, and further disaggregated serious and non-serious injuries. (Added City Record 7/22/2019, eff. 8/21/2019)
