SECTION 749.1415. What health precautions must I take if a person in care, employee, caregiver, someone else in one of my foster homes, or someone else in my agency has a communicable disease?

(a) You must notify the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) after you become aware that a person in your care, an employee, a contract service provider, a caregiver, someone else in one of your foster homes, or a volunteer has contracted a communicable disease that the law requires you to report to the DSHS as specified in 25 TAC Chapter 97, Subchapter A (relating to Control of Communicable Diseases).

(b) If a person in your care has symptoms of a communicable disease that is reportable to the DSHS, you must:

(1) Consult a health-care professional about the person's treatment;

(2) Follow the treating physician's orders, which may include separating the person from others;

(3) Notify the person's parent, if applicable; and

(4) Sanitize all items used by the sick person before another person uses one of them.

(c) If a health-care professional diagnoses a person in your care with a communicable disease that is reportable to DSHS, a health-care professional must authorize the person's participation in any routine activities at the foster home. The authorization must:

(1) Be in the person's record;

(2) Include a written statement that the person will not pose a serious threat to the health of others; and

(3) Include any specific instructions and precautions to be taken for the protection of others, if necessary.

(d) If an employee, a contract service provider, a caregiver, someone else in one of your foster homes, or a volunteer has a communicable disease that is reportable to DSHS, you must obtain written authorization from a health-care professional for the person to be present at the agency or foster home. The written authorization must include a statement that the person will not pose a serious threat to the health of others.

(e) You must follow any written instructions and precautions specified by a health-care professional.

Source Note: The provisions of this §749.1415 adopted to be effective January 1, 2007, 31 TexReg 7469; amended to be effective September 1, 2008, 33 TexReg 6607; amended to be effective September 1, 2010, 35 TexReg 7522; amended to be effective January 1, 2017, 41 TexReg 9944; transferred effective March 9, 2018, as published in the Texas Register February 16, 2018, 43 TexReg 909