12VAC35-115-260.A.7 in the January 2025 draft regs 

Communicate in writing to the individual, and the authorized representative, if applicable, information about any actions taken by the provider outside of the complaint resolution process to correct or remediate a violation of this chapter that directly involved the individual; 

Recommend striking this or clarifying what “outside of the complaint resolution process” means.  As written, it’s confusing how a provider could even operationalize this statement. 

12VAC35-115-260.A.9 in the January 2025 draft regs 

The responses as below to previous comments about this item seem to conflict. What training does DBHDS want investigators to have?  Is it initial training on investigations AND annual retraining on Human Rights in general OR annual retraining on how to conduct investigations? Please clarify further. 

“Annual retraining is a best practice for a number of fields and is particularly important in the field of human rights investigations.” 

“Therefore, this provision is not a new requirement, simply a clarification of the importance of competency-based training for individuals conducting investigations. This is a clarifying edit.” 

If investigation training is meant to be annual, it’s overkill. Initial training is sufficient.  If there is an issue w/ an investigation, such that a CAP is necessary, then additional training could be part of that CAP.  Also, “competency-based” indicates to me that a post-test is needed when DBHDS investigation training does not have a test, nor is it likely that external training would.  Strike “competency-based.”