(a) Application.  This Section describes processes relating to grievances of clients receiving services from the Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) who are not residing in an Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) operated facility and are not Hissom class members.  This Section includes minors and adults in specialized foster care.

(b) Definitions.  The definitions in OAC 340:2-3-2 and 340:2-3-45(b) apply to this Section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(c) Notice of grievance rights.  The DDSD case manager gives Form 15GR006E, Notice of Grievance Rights - DDSD Clients (General), to the service recipient, or guardian if applicable, at the initial plan of care meeting and at each annual plan of care meeting thereafter.  If the service recipient does not have a DDSD case manager, the provider gives Form 15GR006E to the service recipient within 30 calendar days of service initiation and annually thereafter.  Form 15GR006E  is used to identify the local grievance coordinator and to explain the client's right to grieve.  After the client or guardian signs the form, the original is maintained in the permanent record for the client.

(d) Filing and processing of grievance.  Provider and OKDHS grievances are filed and processed in accordance with OAC 340:2-3-45.  If a grievance involves a decision of an individual's team, the first level respondent is the supervisor of the client's case manager unless the case manager participated in making or approved the decision being grieved.

(e) Time limits on filing grievances.  The time limit in OAC 340:2-3-45(g) does not apply to grievances filed by or on behalf of these clients.

(f) Contested grievances.  When a grievant asks to appeal an OKDHS grievance, the appeal is processed in accordance with OAC 340:2-3-46.

(g) Monitoring grievance programs.  OCA, in cooperation with other monitoring entities to avoid unnecessary duplication, monitors provider grievance programs in accordance with OAC 340:2-3-45(d) through (m).