Compliance Specialist

State of Nebraska•Lincoln, NE

10d•Onsite

About The Position

The Compliance Specialist role at the YRTC- Lincoln's 24-hour facility is pivotal in ensuring the safety and well-being of youth residents. The Compliance department upholds federal and state laws, investigates and addresses complaints of physical and sexual abuse, and provides essential direction and guidance to the facility to ensure regulatory compliance and maintain high standards of quality assurance. This role involves travel to other DHHS Juvenile Facilities to assist with compliance-related work as a floating Compliance Specialist. Responsibilities include conducting internal abuse/neglect investigations, collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, preparing investigative reports, processing grievances, collaborating with external entities, providing training, observing operations to identify compliance risks, assisting with facility audits for accreditation, conducting regular reviews of treatment documentation, providing training on policies and regulations, serving as a consultant, conducting "mock surveys", initiating data collection, and conducting trend analysis.

Requirements

Post-high school coursework/training in criminal justice, law enforcement, or a human service-related field and experience with investigations, data or trend analysis or a related area.
Knowledge of: the principles and practices of investigative techniques including collection of evidence, interviewing, data analysis, evaluation and drawing conclusions; methods and techniques of data and trend analysis.
Skills in: Organizing work and being detail- oriented. Candidates must demonstrate strong organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail to effectively manage compliance activities and documentation.
Proficient in writing thorough, accurate, and unbiased investigative reports: Candidates must have excellent written communication skills to document findings and recommendations in a clear, objective manner.
Ability to: communicate ideas clearly and concisely; learn, interpret, and apply CMS, JCAHO, federal/State standards and regulations and facility rules, policies, and procedures; investigate. circumstances and draw applicable conclusions; train others; analyze situations and develop. recommendations; effectively work with a variety of individuals; document information and prepare reports; analyze and identify problems and trends and recommend solutions.
Valid driver's license or the ability to provide independent authorized transportation for work-related travel.

Nice To Haves

Two years of experience in conducting and facilitating training on administrative investigations.
Knowledge and experience in American Correctional Association standards, Prison Rape Elimination Act standards and/or experience with accreditation standard preparation.

Responsibilities

Travel to other DHHS Juvenile Facilities as needed to assist with compliance-related work as the floating Compliance Specialist.
Conduct internal abuse/neglect investigations. Investigations such as incidents of peer-to-peer sexual contact, medication variance, peer-to-peer aggression with injury, suspicious injury of unknown origin, elopement off campus, and deaths, egregious staff misconduct, and other investigations as directed.
Conducts internal facility investigations by collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, alleged perpetrator(s), and victim(s), collecting written statements, and reviewing camera footage, documents, and records.
Prepares investigative reports to include findings and conclusions on alleged incidents and recommended actions.
May be required to testify before administrative and judicial bodies.
Processes, files, and tracks juvenile/patient grievances/complaints and determines appropriate resolution.
Collaborates with individuals, law enforcement officials, and other entities as needed and maintains detailed records, evidence, and data pertaining to investigations.
Provides abuse/neglect training to new hires during orientation and as assigned.
Observes patient/client treatment operations and activities to identify compliance risk issues, document deficiencies, and recommend changes in procedures or training or other actions to eliminate noncompliance.
Assists in the preparation of facility audits for accreditation of ACA, PREA, and PBS.
Conducts regular reviews to ensure treatment documentation and activities are compliant with established standards and regulations; prepares audit reports and provides appropriate recommendations to the facility risk/compliance manager.
Provides training to facility staff concerning facility policies and procedures and relevant Federal and State standards or regulations.
Serves as a consultant to facility staff for the interpretation and application of facility polices/procedures and Federal/State standards and regulations in application to specific circumstances such as restraint/seclusion, room searches, and “near miss” situations.
Conducts “mock surveys” to determine the level of treatment activity and environment to established Federal/State/facility standards/regulations/policies.
Initiates data collection and provides detailed reports to Risk/Compliance Manager weekly, monthly, and quarterly for grievances, confinement and any other area or process improvement that has been assigned. Survey collection and data input through PBS.
Conducts trend analysis to identify patterns and variations in staff performance and prepares various reports for Facility Administration and Compliance Manager.