The Latest Updates

UPDATE: Friday, February 25, 2021

Adult Residential Services

Our last update outlined the agency's plan for individuals in our 24-hour residential settings in regard to visitation with a set time line that brought us to the week of 2/22/21. Over the course of the past three weeks we have continued our vaccination efforts for residents and staff. Many have received or are scheduled to receive their second vaccine in March. That being said, we still have had recent positive cases in our congregate care settings so we are not yet at a point to relax our visitation restrictions currently in place.

As a necessary step to limit the risk of transmission, we will continue to suspend non-essential visitation for the next 3 weeks, which brings us to the week of 3/22/2021. At that time, we will have completed second vaccinations for many residents and support staff. We will look to Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH), the Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Governor's office for continued guidance and will communicate updates. In addition, we will continue to closely track trends in COVID-19 cases and weigh risks and benefits with care and make changes if we find circumstances are favorable.

We will continue our efforts in keeping everyone safe and healthy. We have many remote activities and a strong focus on quality of life. We welcome all your ideas on staying connected with your loved one with the technology available to us during this time. In addition, as the weather continues to improve we anticipate more visitation opportunities outside as we enjoyed last fall.

In the event of special clinical circumstances, including compassionate care, as BHDDH states, we will work with individuals and families to design a safe plan where visitation can occur outside of the facility under strict guidelines during the next 3 weeks.

Youth & Family Services

Perspectives Youth and Family Services sincerely extends warm wishes during this fall season as we approach the holidays. As you are aware, the positivity rate of COVID-19 continues to be of concern throughout Rhode Island. Now more than ever, we are asking for continued diligence with all of our safety protocols as we continue to provide our array of home and community based treatment.

At this time, the YFS division (HBTS, PASS, TSS, EI, Children's Residential) continues to provide in-person and tele-health direct services. Community access is occurring for locations approved by agency and family, and in full accordance with all guidelines from the RI Department of Health. Staff are permitted to work across programs if they are cleared by the daily health screening and follow all agency policy and guidelines from the RI Department of Health. Additionally, it is required that all families who receive in-person direct support complete the health screening for all members of the household prior to staff arriving for shift each day. In addition to the daily health screenings, staff and family must adhere to our written COVID protocols regarding mask wearing, disinfecting, transportation, and social distancing.

Masks:

With the recent spike in COVID 19, we request the following:

• Family members wear masks for all in-person conversations with staff and team during shift time.
• If the family member needs to provide guidance, training, or support during shift, we require that they wear a mask and remain 6 feet in distance (unless it is an emergency).
• If it is safe to do so (windows have screens, child is not an elopement risk, etc.), windows and doors may be opened to increase ventilation and air flow.

If the following safety protocols cannot be adhered to consistently, we will need to complete all treatment for the child and family in a tele-health model only and suspend any in-person direct services.

The daily health screens, adherence to all protocols, and consistent honest communication are imperative to safely moving forward with treatment within our programs. It is truly a full team and family effort, and we appreciate your cooperation and support.