SECTION 310:670-5-10. Training and staff development

(a)   Training policies. The administrator shall develop policies and procedures for staff orientation and training. The training program shall be supervised by a designated employee. A facility with more than one-hundred (100) employees shall employ a full-time person for staff orientation and training.

(b)   Training and testing requirements. Policies and procedures shall include at least the following requirements for training:

(1)   A new employee whose primary responsibilities include supervision of inmates shall receive orientation and training prior to job assignment by the employing agency. An employee who has received orientation and training may be assigned to inmate supervision prior to passing the Detention Officer examination.

(2)   All employees, including the detention facility administrator and all supervisors, whose primary responsibilities include supervision of inmates, shall receive at least twenty-four (24) hours of training during the first year of their employment that covers at least the following:

(A)   Security procedures;

(B)   Supervision of inmates;

(C)   Report writing and documentation;

(D)   Inmate rules and regulations;

(E)   Grievance and disciplinary procedures;

(F)   Rights and responsibilities of inmates;

(G)   Emergency procedures;

(H)   First aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and

(I)   Requirements of this Chapter.

(3)   After the first year of employment, an employee whose primary responsibilities include supervision of inmates shall receive at least the training listed below.

(A)   Four (4) hours review of the required training identified in paragraph two (2) of this section.

(B)   Four (4) hours of training as directed by the administrator; the content and instructors shall be selected by the administrator.

(C)   Renewal training as required for first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills.

(4)   A documentation log shall be maintained by the Administrator to record the courses completed by each employee for their initial and annual training and include test results.

(5)   Training may be given through other programs that have first been reviewed and approved by the Department.

(6)   An examination covering the standards in this Chapter is required for new employees whose primary responsibilities include supervision of inmates. The examination shall be completed within the first year of employment unless there is documented evidence an examination was not available, or other extenuating circumstances caused the delay. In the event of delayed examination, an examination will occur at the next available opportunity. A passing score on the test as administered by the Department or its representatives shall be seventy (70) percent or higher. Any person scoring less than seventy (70) percent shall not be considered to have satisfactorily completed training and may retest as necessary for a period of up to one year.

(c)   Training program approval. An entity which desires to sponsor a training program shall file an application for approval on the forms prescribed by the Department.

(1)   No training examination program shall be operated, and no students shall be solicited or enrolled, until the Department has approved the program.

(2)   The application requires the following information:

(A)   Name and address for the entity sponsoring the program and for the contact person for the program;

(B)   The location of the administrative office of the program and the location where records are maintained;

(C)   A program plan that follows the minimum curriculum for the standards in this Chapter, as prescribed by the Department including, but not limited to:

(i)   the specific knowledge outcomes for the course(s);

(ii)   an outline of the associated content for each knowledge outcome;

(iii)   the teaching methods and any instructional media to be utilized;

(iv)   a breakdown of the curriculum into clock hours of instruction.

(D)   A sample training completion certificate;

(E)   Education and experience requirements for training instructors.

(d)   Requirements for administration of the examination. An entity which desires to sponsor an examination shall file an application for approval on the forms prescribed by the Department.

(1)   The examination shall be administered and evaluated only by a Department approved entity which may be periodically monitored by the Department.

(2)   Each examination entity must provide the Department with the following:

(A)   Name and address for the entity sponsoring the examination and for the contact person for the program;

(B)   The location of the administrative office of the program and the location where records are maintained;

(C)   Written job analysis studies to determine the pool of test questions;

(D)   Test question validation studies;

(E)   Assurances of how the examination process will be secured from tampering and compromise.

(3)   Each examination entity shall provide the examinee with the following:

(A)   The notice showing pass/fail results;

(B)   The notice shall specify the areas of failure.

(4)   The Department may withdraw approval of a testing entity when it allows one or more of the following:

(A)   Disclosure of the examination;

(B)   Allowing another entity not approved by the Department to score the examination;

(C)   Tampering with the examination;

(D)   The examination was administered by a non-qualified individual.

(5)   The trainee may sit for the examination at a different location than where training was completed if the testing entity is provided with a training completion certificate from the training entity.

(e)   Content of the examination. The competency examination shall:

(1)   Address each requirement specified in the minimum curriculum for the standards in this Chapter, as prescribed by the Department;

(2)   Be developed from a pool of test questions, only a portion of which is used in any one (1) examination;

(3)   Use a system that prevents disclosure of both the pool of test questions and the individual examination results.

(f)   Successful completion of the examination. An individual shall score at least seventy (70) percent on the examination for a passing score.

(g)   Failure to complete the competency examination. If an individual does not complete the competency examination successfully, the individual shall be notified by the testing entity of, at least, the following:

(1)   The areas which the individual did not pass;

(2)   That the individual may retest as necessary for a period of up to one year.

[Source: Amended at 8 Ok Reg 3129, eff 7-18-91 (emergency); Amended at 9 Ok Reg 1433, eff 5-1-92; Amended at 13 Ok Reg 2139, eff 6-13-96; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 2387, eff 7-11-03; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 2445, eff 7-11-05; Amended at 36 Ok Reg 1731, eff 9-13-19]