SECTION 379.2103. Crisis Call Hotline

(a) A center must operate a hotline and comply with Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) requirements unless another organization located in the nonresidential center's service area provides a hotline that complies with HHSC requirements.

(b) If the center operates the hotline, it must:

(1) answer the hotline 24 hours a day, every day of the year, by an individual trained in crisis intervention or who has immediate access to someone who has had this training;

(2) accept collect calls and anonymous incoming calls;

(3) list the hotline number in all telephone directories within the center's service area and on the center's website, if applicable;

(4) provide a minimum of two hotline telephone lines;

(5) ensure the caller has direct access to a live person who is trained to assess the person's safety and that a messaging system is not used to answer the hotline;

(6) provide caller ID blocks on the center's numbers for outgoing calls to program participants and other victims of family violence, which may only be unblocked with permission from the program participant or victim of family violence;

(7) ensure the screening process complies with all state and federal laws if the hotline is used to screen for eligibility for services;

(8) keep all hotline calls and any related documentation confidential;

(9) provide meaningful access to persons with disabilities, including victims of family violence with sensory and speech impairments;

(10) ensure the center is able to provide meaningful access to people with limited English proficiency; and

(11) if the center uses caller ID or any other technology that establishes a record of calls on the hotline, the center must:

(A) ensure there will not be a breach of confidentiality to third parties; and

(B) comply with the confidentiality requirements of §379.2023 of this subchapter (relating to Policies and Procedures for the Retention and Destruction of Documentation) regarding the records generated by caller ID or other technology.

Source Note: The provisions of this §379.2103 adopted to be effective December 23, 2007, 32 TexReg 9335; amended to be effective September 1, 2013, 38 TexReg 4309