Start-Up and Orientation Process

Welcome to Accend Services!

This guide walks you through the orientation process, training policies, procedures and employee expectations.

This section was first published on January 11, 2021 and may see edits even during your orientation training period. Check back often.

Send us your ideas and suggestion or questions by tapping on the Feedback or Questions about this Chapter link, below.

Getting Started

Initial Paperwork

You'll start by getting all of your new hire paperwork completed. This includes the documents listed below.

You will complete and sign all documents electronically. It is best you learn this process on your first day, as you will be required to help clients sign a vareity of pdf forms in your work with them.

After opening these forms on your laptop browser, if you cannot edit them there, tap the download button to complete them. (You can also right click (or two-finger click to download them directly). On some newer iPads, tap the elipsis button () and choose "save as" to edit a local copy. It is essential you do this, as depending on your level of access to the form, you may be editing the original form.

After completing and signing them them, tap the send button to email them to Human Resources. Depending on your device and softward you are using, these buttons are located on the top or bottom of the window and may look like one of the following:

For alternative instructions on how to edit and send pdf documents, visit our Technology Guide, here.

Documents	Purpose	Instructions
Employment Eligibility I9 - Employment Eligibility and Verification	Establishes your legal right to work as a citizen or legal resident of the US	Provide a photocopy of a single document from those listed in column A or one each from columns B and C listed on the I9 Form.
W-4s (State & Federal tax Withholding or Exemptions) Federal W4 - Employee's Withholding Certificate Minnesota W4 - Employee Withholding Allowance/Exemption Certificate	Establishes the amount and method by which we withhold income taxes.	Complete both forms using the instructions on them. Think carefully about withholdings. Too many exemptions may result in underpaying and potential fines or a large tax bill in the future; too few will result in overly-large withholdings from your check - cash you could have in your pocket now. Seek advice on withholdings from an independent source if you are unsure. As your employer we have an obligation to question your claimed exemptions if they seem out-of-the-ordinary for those for which you are eligible. While we may not necessarily reject your W4 Form as completed, we may ask you to sign additional paperwork for exemptions that seem out-of-the-ordinary for your life situation. You may change these in the future by requesting and completing a new form if your family/life situation changes.
Department of Labor and Industry Employee Notice Employee Notice	Informs you of your pay, pay type and benefits.	Sign the completed form after you have had any questions answered.
Direct Deposit Authorization	Authorizes us to directly deposit your check in your bank.	Complete this form in TabsTM at: home > my assesssments & forms > personnel forms > hire and termination TAP Here For HOW TO IDENTIFY Banking ROUTING & account NUMBERS                                      X

Documents We Will Need From You

Enrollment and Credentialing

Some positions at Accend required enrollment and/or credentialing with payers (Insurance Companies). Where necessary, enrollment and credentialing should begin upon acceptance of the job offer.

If you have not already started your enrollment and credentaling on your first day, this is what we'll need from you. (If you do not see your position listed here, you will not need to complete this step.)

Orientation Training Schedule

When all assigned TrainLinks are completed, please follow the directions below to save your transcript as a PDF and send to the email address training@accendservices.com.

1. Log on to TrainLink.
2. On main screen, select “View or Print Transcript” under Student Information.
3. Once transcript is open, go to File>Print.
4. Select “PDF” or “Save as PDF”.
5. Title as FirstinitialLastName TrainLinke Transcript (ex: LMattson TrainLink Transcript) then select where to save.
6. Send PDF to to yourself for record keeping.

For trainings from sources other than TrainLink, save the certificate you receive in the same manner and follow instructions 3-6 to send your certificate to training@accendservices.com.

Documenting Your Training - Core Checklists

Find Core training checklists in personnel > assesssments > Orientation and Core Training.

Service-to-Work-Hours Ratios Ramp-Up Schedule

New Team Members should begin providing services during week one and meet certain minimum threshholds for direct service as a percent of work time during the first 4-7 weeks of the training period, as shown in the tables below.

Practitioners, Psychtherapists, Clinical Trainees

EIDBI Providers

Housing Stabillization Services Providers

Case Managers and Behavioral Health Home Providers

Case Managers should have engaged a full caseload for their FTE by the end of their 2nd calendar month of employment. These are:

Benefits and Enrollment

Your enrollment in staff benefits begins in weeks 6-9 of your employment, depending on your date of hire. To better understand your benefits as an employee of Accend and to get the forms you need for enrollment in each, read the Staff Benefits Guide here:

Procedures for the End of the Probationary Period

8th-Week Review

1. Your Program Manager will confirm all of the following:
• you are working the FTE assigned/selected
• for ARMHS, CTSS, and Psychotherapy, you have achieved at least a 60% level of productivity in week 8
• for Case Management/Behavioral Health Home, you haveengaged a full caseload for FTE
• for EIDBI, you haveachieved and maintained least an 80% level of productivity since week 4
• you are demonstrating progress toward core general and service-specific competencies
2. If any of the above conditions are not met, we will examine the circumstance and develop a performance improvement plan. Exceptions may be made for FTE targets if a Trainee has been hired into a position where a full caseload was unavailable to start with but is developing.
3. Prior to beginning benefits enrollment, we willdouble-check FTE and productivity
4. If conditions are met, enrollment for health and dental insurance (if selected), life, short-term and long-term disability and voluntary insurance to be effective on the 91st day of employment.
5. Begin work on a post-Orientation Career Plan.

12th-Week Review

1. The Program Manager will confirm all of the following on the status change form:
• you are working the FTE assigned/selected if work is available
• for ARMHS, CTSS, and Psychotherapy, you havemaintained within at least 5% of a 75% level of productivity since week 7
• for EIDBI, you have achieved and maintained within at least 5% of an 80% level of productivity since week 4
• for Case Management/Behavioral Health Home, you have engaged a full caseload for your FTE
• you are demonstrating core general and service-specific competencies
• double-check FTE and productivity,
• confirm that Orientation Training Checklists (Core and Service-Specific) are complete and approved,
• finalize a post-Orientation career plan, and
• submit a status change request.
2. Our HR Department will conduct a QA on all of the above and process the status change.

When New Team Members Are Not Meeting Expectations

When a new hire is not meeting expectations...

We May Extend the Traininng Period

In rare cases, we may extend the training/probationary period for a new team member who is making significant progress on Core Competencies but still has areas needing improvement. In this case, a Performance Improvement Plan will take the place of the post-Initial Training Career Plan with specific dates by which the new Team Member is demonstrating core competencies. In these cases, the employee is eligible for post-90-day benefits, but remains in an orientation/probationary status.

Or We May Call it Quits

In even more rare cases, we may engage new hires in a conversation about whether or not the job we have hired them for is a good fit, and suggest alternatives. These alternatives may or may not include continuing employment with Accend. This is a decision we wil make prior to the 90th day of employment, and should not come as a surprise to new hires, as leading up to this, we have provided sufficient feedback and support on potential problems and given specific directions on how to improve performance/meet expectations.

We Will Always Use the Mirror/Window

In keeping with our Management Philosophy, we will always look first in the mirror to make sure we have provided new hires with all the support they need to meet expectations. We hold ourselves 1st Responsible in accountability in this regard. We will ask ourselves:

• Have we provided adequate support and training?
• Have we made expectations clear?
• Have we selected individuals for a job for which they are qualified and for services they are prepared to deliver?

Only after this careful self-examination might we consider asking a newly-hired staff to leave because we do not think that they can meet our expectations. This is a difficult decision, but one we take seriously and will consider only rarely.

Feedback or Questions about this Chapter

This guide is a living document. We want to improve it with your help. Do you have questions? Found a typo? Find yourself wanting more information? Please send us your thoughts about anything in this chapter by tapping on the link below.

Updates to this Chapter

Updates to this Chapter are listed here starting November, 2022.

April 29. 2023:Updated the order of training to comply with statute 245i where applicable.

11/10/2022: Replaced guide training, classes and outside training with a combined table. Updated training to comply with statute 245i where applicable.

9/20/2024:Mission and Philosophy removed from Orientation Sequence.