Regulations last checked for updates: Nov 25, 2024

Title 45 - Public Welfare last revised: Nov 19, 2024
§ 411.31 - Care provider facility staff training.

(a) Care provider facilities must train or require the training of all employees who may have contact with UCs to be able to fulfill their responsibilities under these standards, including training on:

(1) ORR and the care provider facility's zero tolerance policies for all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(2) The right of UCs and staff to be free from sexual abuse and sexual harassment and from retaliation for reporting sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(3) Definitions and examples of prohibited and illegal sexual behavior;

(4) Recognition of situations where sexual abuse or sexual harassment may occur;

(5) Recognition of physical, behavioral, and emotional signs of sexual abuse and methods of preventing and responding to such occurrences;

(6) How to avoid inappropriate relationships with UCs;

(7) How to communicate effectively and professionally with UCs, including UCs who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or intersex;

(8) Procedures for reporting knowledge or suspicion of sexual abuse and sexual harassment as well as how to comply with relevant laws related to mandatory reporting;

(9) The requirement to limit reporting of sexual abuse and sexual harassment to personnel with a need-to-know in order to make decisions concerning the victim's welfare and for law enforcement, investigative, or prosecutorial purposes;

(10) Cultural sensitivity toward diverse understandings of acceptable and unacceptable sexual behavior and appropriate terms and concepts to use when discussing sex, sexual abuse, and sexual harassment with a culturally diverse population;

(11) Sensitivity and awareness regarding past trauma that may have been experienced by UCs;

(12) Knowledge of all existing resources for UCs both inside and outside the care provider facility that provide treatment and counseling for trauma and legal advocacy for victims; and

(13) General cultural competency and sensitivity to the culture and age of UC.

(b) All current care provider facility staff and employees who may have contact with UCs must be trained within six months of the effective date of these standards, and care provider facilities must provide refresher information, as appropriate.

(c) Care provider facilities must document that staff and employees who may have contact with UCs have completed the training.

§ 411.32 - Volunteer and contractor training.

(a) Care provider facilities must ensure that all volunteers and contractors who may have contact with UCs are trained on their responsibilities under ORR and the care provider facility's sexual abuse and sexual harassment prevention, detection, and response policies and procedures as well as any relevant Federal, State, and local laws.

(b) The level and type of training provided to volunteers and contractors may be based on the services they provide and the level of contact they will have with UCs, but all volunteers and contractors who have contact with UCs must be trained on the care provider facility's zero tolerance policies and procedures regarding sexual abuse and sexual harassment and informed how to report such incidents.

(c) Each care provider facility must maintain written documentation that contractors and volunteers who may have contact with UCs have completed the required trainings.

§ 411.33 - UC education.

(a) During the intake process and periodically thereafter, each care provider facility must ensure that during orientation or a periodic refresher session, UCs are notified and informed of the care provider facility's zero tolerance policies for all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment in an age and culturally appropriate fashion and in accordance with § 411.15 that includes, at a minimum:

(1) An explanation of the UC's right to be free from sexual abuse and sexual harassment as well as the UC's right to be free from retaliation for reporting such incidents;

(2) Definitions and examples of UC-on-UC sexual abuse, staff-on-UC sexual abuse, coercive sexual activity, appropriate and inappropriate relationships, and sexual harassment;

(3) An explanation of the methods for reporting sexual abuse and sexual harassment, including to any staff member, outside entity, and to ORR;

(4) An explanation of a UC's right to receive treatment and counseling if the UC was subjected to sexual abuse or sexual harassment;

(b) Care provider facilities must provide the UC notification, orientation, and instruction in formats accessible to all UCs at a time and in a manner that is separate from information provided about their immigration cases.

(c) Care provider facilities must document all UC participation in orientation and periodic refresher sessions that address the care provider facility's zero tolerance policies.

(d) Care provider facilities must post on all housing unit bulletin boards who a UC can contact if he or she is a victim or is believed to be at imminent risk of sexual abuse or sexual harassment in accordance with § 411.15.

(e) Care provider facilities must make available and distribute a pamphlet in accordance with § 411.15 that contains, at a minimum, the following:

(1) Notice of the care provider facility's zero-tolerance policy toward sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(2) The care provider facility's policies and procedures related to sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(3) Information on how to report an incident of sexual abuse or sexual harassment;

(4) The UC's rights and responsibilities related to sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(5) How to contact organizations in the community that provide sexual abuse counseling and legal advocacy for UC victims of sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(6) How to contact diplomatic or consular personnel.

§ 411.34 - Specialized training: Medical and mental health care staff.

(a) All medical and mental health care staff employed or contracted by care provider facilities must be specially trained, at a minimum, on the following:

(1) How to detect and assess signs of sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(2) How to respond effectively and professionally to victims of sexual abuse and sexual harassment;

(3) How and to whom to report allegations or suspicions of sexual abuse and sexual harassment; and

(4) How to preserve physical evidence of sexual abuse. If medical staff conduct forensic examinations, such medical staff must receive training to conduct such examinations.

(b) Care provider facilities must document that medical and mental health practitioners employed or contracted by the care provider facility received the training referenced in this section.

(c) Medical and mental health practitioners employed or contracted by the care provider facility also must receive the training mandated for employees under § 411.31 or for contractors and volunteers under § 411.32, depending on the practitioner's status at the care provider facility.

authority: 42 U.S.C. 15607 (d)
source: 79 FR 77789, Dec. 24, 2014, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 45 CFR 411.32