173-14-02. Types of representatives

(A)

(1) There shall be three categories of representatives of the office :

(a) Ombudsman associate;

(b) Ombudsman specialist; and,

(c) Ombudsman program director.

(2) Paid staff of the office shall be certified as either ombudsman specialists or ombudsman program directors. A regional program may pay staff who perform only the duties of an associate with the approval of the SLTCO based on a position description and consideration of program effectiveness. Only paid staff members shall be eligible to serve as ombudsman program directors. The SLTCO shall be a certified program director .

(3) The SLTCO shall issue certificates in the form of identification cards to all representatives of the office . The identification cards shall contain:

(a) The name of the representative;

(b) The representative's picture;

(c) The category of the representative and whether the representative is certified;

(d) The ombudsman program with which the representative is associated; and,

(e) The expiration date.

(B) Non-representative staff within the office are those staff members of the office who have not been certified to perform the duties of representatives outlined in paragraph (A) of this rule and may include support staff, organizational volunteers, and non-practice managers among others. Non-representative staff members of the office are prohibited from performing any complaint-handling function, but they may perform duties in conjunction with the program for which they are trained or hold an appropriate license.

Effective: 5/1/2018
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 1/30/2018 and 05/01/2023
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 173.01, 173.02, 173.16 ; 42 U.S.C. 3025(a)(1)(C), 3058g(a)(5)(D); 45 C.F.R. 1321.11, 1324.11(e), 1324.13(b)(1), 1324.15(b)
Rule Amplifies: 173.16 , 173.17 ; 42 U.S.C. 3058f; 45 C.F.R. 1321.11, 1324.11(e)
Prior Effective Dates: 06/15/1991, 12/27/2001, 12/28/2006, 01/02/2012