The Purpose of This Guide

This is a Guide.

Our effort in this guide is to provide guidance and general rules, not specific rules for every scenario or situation you might encouter.

We cannot possibly imagine every scenario you might encounter as you provide services in the mostly independent and autonomous service-delivery situation that applies to most or all of the services you and we provide. This guide is not intended to provide specific instructions for every scenario you might encounter.

Rather, we expect that you will sometimes or often be expected to exercise independent judgement for a given scenario or situation. This is the nature of the services we provide and the way we expect you to provide them.

We will support and defend you in these independent decisions where you have attempted to comply with the guidance here, and we will provide coaching and teaching (very different from disciplinary action) where you have made errors in procedure or judgement.

Where Policies or Procedures described in this guide are non-negotiable, we expect that we have been clear in this guide. For the rest, this is a guide. We expect and appreciate that you wlll:

• adhere to the spirit and intent of this guide in everything you do;
• ask questions where our guidance is not clear;
• apply independent judgement in any given situation where you cannot find clear guidance in this guide; and
• ask for clarification where needed.

Sources of Information for this Guide

Where applicable to services, the information in this guide comes primarily from three sources. These are:

• Minnesota Statutes that may be revised during any legislative session.
• Minnesota Rules (Rules are interpretations of Statute) and are more often revised.
• The Minnesota Health Care Programs Manual.

For the courious learner, links to applicable sources are generally provided in the Resources and References section of each chapter, and sometimes in inline text.

We recieve newsletters, bulletins and updates from DHS when rules and requirements change, and update the guide accordingly.

Message From the Director

We have received feedback from time to time from employees who operate from a fear perspective. (I will get fired for making a mistake... I am always on the verge of getting fired... It does not matter what I do, I might get fired at anytime.) These fear-based perspectives do not come from the vision, mission, or practices of the top Management or Directors of Accend Services. They have no place in our organization and we accept responsibility for leadership and communication. We expect you to accept responsibility for functional communication on your part, and to ask for help when you need it. Accend Services was founded on certain values for supporting our employees, these including that:

we value our staff;

we will always support our staff when they make independent decisions in keeping with our guidelines;

• when problems occur, we will look first into the mirror (have we provided adequeate support, training, resources?); and
• we will only use disciplinary action only as a last resort when we have determined that we have done all we could and should to train, support, and provide necessary resources to help staff meet expectations, and even then our window and mirror management philosophy and process requires us to examine what we can and will do better to support a staff member who is falling short of expectations;
• involuntary termination of employment is never arbitrary, rarely unexpected, always a last resort, and limited to occurrences of gross misconduct or failure to improve serious performance problems that cause serious harm or potential harm to the people we serve, coworkers, or the agency.

Stay above the line. When you see a problem, be a change agent, not a victim of circumstances. Do what you teach the people you serve. We will thank you for your advocacy.

Questions to Ask Yourself When Unclear

Here is a brief guide on questions to ask yourself when you cannot find guidance in this guide, cannot locate a supervisor to ask, and are unsure of how to proceed:

• Is my decision or course of action putting anyone (me, people served, coworkers) at risk of harm?
• Does my decision significantly deviate from the instructions provided in this Guide?
• Do my actions or decisions comply with any guidance or direction I can get from any Bill of Rights, Code of Conduct, or other guidance I have from my licensing or other board/agency that governs my conduct?

Sometimes you will hear about rules from coworkers. The problem with this is that this is not always accurate. If you cannot find that rule in this guide, and are wondering, ask. And remember, this is a guide, not a rulebook. Sometimes, we learn about rules we have never ourselves heard of. This often happens through misurnderstanding, or because new employees import rules from previous employers, assuming they apply here, when in fact they don't. When someone tells you something is a rule, and especially when that rule does not completely make sense to you, ask.

The guide is large. Consider using the search function at the bottom of the main menu. If you cannot see it, scroll down to "Looking for something specific?" Type in a word or two and tap search.

While we encourage finding your own answers by using this guide and your own good judgement, the worst question remains the one for which you cannot find an answer and still do not ask.

Mentoring

Mentors are available to all staff, long-term or new. The schedule is currently being updated for 2023. If you need help with a specific task and do not have an assigned trainer, ask your Program Manager for help.

Feedback or Questions about this Chapter

Please visit frequently and send us your feedback, thoughts and questions about in this chapter by tapping on the link below. Send all questions using the link below.

Updates to this Chapter

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April 18, 2023

Clarification of sources of information used for this guide.

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April 2, 2022

Mentoring Schedule eliminated.

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