Getting Started with the
Abused Persons Program (APP)
STAFF ONBOARDING
Welcome aboard! We're glad to have you join us. Let's get cracking with a little bit of housekeeping:
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Forms needed
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Authorization to run a background check (requirement of Montgomery County)
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Statement that you are violence-free in your own life
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Will you be needing supervision? Supervision contract for LMSW / LGPC.
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You will receive an email from our accounting team or Paychex (our payroll provider) with a few other documents to fill out (W4, i9, direct deposit forms).
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You will also need to confirm that you have read the Baltimore Therapy Center Employee Handbook. (Montgomery County has contracted the Abuse Intervention Program to the Baltimore Therapy Center; it is the Baltimore Therapy Center that is your employer.)
I am sorry that the handbook is not very short! The reason for this is that it also doubles as the introductory HIPAA training, which is critical for you to obtain before accessing client information. Most of the handbook is very generic (but still worth reading!); the necessary HIPAA information begins at page 12, with critical sections bolded. Please sign here once you have read the handbook.
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Finally, please send me a copy of your resume.
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Documents for you
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The program manual
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Timesheets for bimonthly submission. (Instructions here.)
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See the staff page for more useful info about files & procedures.
A Note about HIPAA
Hi!
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I am guessing you've heard of HIPAA. I am a bit of a HIPAA nerd, so I’ll be doing my best to keep us all informed and up to date about what we need to do. For example, I will be sending out some training modules over time - probably only once a year, unless big changes happen - that you'll watch to learn the ropes (if you aren't already a super duper expert, which most of us are not!). You will be paid for the time you spend on these. (Relatedly, the county requires us to do a 5 minute training on computer security each month. These are really not bad and are in fact pretty helpful. You'll get an email at the beginning of each month about this.)
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A few quick things I want you to know: first is that you should never send any client information (including even initials) via your regular email or text. On the county system we can freely email client information, and when doing so, you should encrypt the message by going to Options > [lock box] > encrypt:
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The second thing is that you can get a laptop from the county to use for remote work – emails, running the group on Zoom, etc. You can also just use whatever devices you have at home, but you need to secure those devices to HIPAA standards in order to do so. I can provide guidance on how to do this, and you can be paid for the time you spend getting your device secured. Either way is fine, I just want to make sure however we’re operating, we’re operating in accordance with the rules. Let me know how you want to proceed and I’ll help make it happen!
(Note that if you are using your personal devices for any kind of clinical work outside of this job, you probably want them HIPAA-secured anyway. The requirements I am trying to get us all in line with are actually the basics for HIPAA compliance, not my own extra-strict measures or anything like that.)
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You are always free to ask and offer feedback, so let me know if you have any concerns or questions!
