Hospital Sitting Services

Contractor Orientation
Region 8
2014
To provide hospital sitting for a child who is in DFPS
conservatorship ;

To provide hospital sitting when a Foster Parent or
DFPS Staff person are unable to provide hospital
sitting.
Purpose
Provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no lapse in service during a childs
hospital stay;
Meet with charge Nurse prior to start of sitters shift to get an update on childs
medical condition & needs;
Contacting the Charge Nurse or other Medical Personnel if the condition of the
child suddenly changes or appears to be progressively changing;
Be in hospital room with child, remain awake at all times, and be observant of
the child while providing sitting service;
With approval from medical personnel responsible for childs care or charge
nurse- interact with child as appropriate for childs age and medical condition;
Child-sitter interactions may consist of; reading to the child, playing board games
with child, watching age-appropriate television programs with the child, holding
or rocking infants and toddlers, and other activities as pre-approved by charge
nurse/medical personnel caring for child;
Contractor must be available for contact/communications from DFPS Monday-
Friday 8am-5pm, Weekends (Saturday/Sunday) and State Holidays via telephone,
and email address(es) with designated Contact Person(s) name(s).
Hospital Sitting Services
Contractor must maintain a network of qualified and trained Hospital Sitters;
Trainings by Contractors with their Hospital Sitters must be documented in
personnel files and consist of;
a. Overview of Child Protective Services to include child abuse, neglect and
trauma
b. Training on Child Development;
c. Training on age appropriate interactions/activities with children;
d. Training on appropriate communications with medical professional staff;
e. Training on Hospital Sitting contract required documentation;
f. Training on Confidentiality on client-related information & records;
Contractor Requirements
Age; must be at least 18 years old;
Education; must have High School Diploma or GED (General Education
Development) Certificate;
Experience; have at least 1 year experience working with children or in medical
setting;
Meet DFPS Criminal Background Check requirements;
Complete & have documented required Contractor Trainings stated on slide 4;
Have medical clearance; be in good health, have negative TB test, be reliable, be
punctual, be respectful, be culturally sensitive to childs culture, be able to
communicate in the childs language if not English;
Be capable of documenting Hospital Sitting tasks and responsibilities clearly in
English.
Hospital Sitter Qualifications
Service Authorization Form 2054 emailed/faxed or hand-carried to Contractor
that contains time limit specified; date start and end; and number of units;
Contractor will develop an client case file which will store the service
authorization(s) and all contract required documentation;
Hospital Sitting Services documentation required are daily Hospital Sitting Notes
containing the following;
a. Clients Name, Date, Name of Hospital Sitter, Shift start time & end time;
b. Name of Charge Nurse and time of contact and summary of clients condition;
c. Summary of activities with client during Hospital Sitters shift and any other
noteworthy information;
d. Signature of Hospital Sitter /dated
Documentation for any Court-Related Services or Case Consultation; case note,
summary of testimony pertinent to case; date, time, location, and subpoena.




Hospital Sitting Services
Documentation
Contractor must have a minimum of 2 yeas full-time service management experience;
Contractor must have 2 years relevant financial management experience;
Contractor must have established Personnel Files containing all Contractor requirements
for staff Hospital Sitters;
Contractor must maintain minimum insurance standards; current Commercial General
Liability Insurance $300k for each occurrence/$600k aggregate limit;
Contractor must be available to accept communications Monday-Friday 8am-5pm,
weekends and holidays from DFPS;
Contractor must ensure that Hospital Sitters meet minimum requirements and substitute
Hospital Sitters are scheduled in the event of call in, no shows, or during intervals of
absences (planned or unplanned) by Hospital Sitter;
Contractor must ensure all contract required documentation is obtained from Hospital
Sitter(s) and filed in clients individual case file;
Contractor must ensure that all billing submitted to DFPS for reimbursement is supported
by Hospital Sitting documentation;
Contractor must maintain oral and written communications with DFPS Caseworkers.

Contract Requirements
Contractor may be required to report certain performance measure data in the
DFPS Performance Management Evaluation Tool (PMET) which is an internet
based data collection and reporting system.

Contractor is required to register an account with PMET system within 30 days
after the first service is provided by highlighting website link below or PMET in
blue right click on your mouse and click on open hyperlink and it will take you
to webpage for registration in PMET.

https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/application/PCSPMET

Performance Measures for Hospital Sitter Services Attachment D, highlight and
click on Attachment D to open.
Performance Measures
Shelly Grunewald: Contract Manager
Shelly.grunewald@dfps.state.tx.us Tel. # 210- 337-3573

Victoria Navarrette: Contract Manager
Victoria.navarrette@dfps.state.tx.us Tel# 210-337-3132

Samuel Garcia: Contract Manager
Samuel.garcia@dfps.state.tx.us Tel# 210-337-3400

Sandra Levrie: Contract Technician
Sandra.levrie@dfps.state.tx.us Tel# 210-304-3887

Linda Bernal: Contract Technician
Linda.bernal@dfps.state.tx.us Tel# 210-337-3597

Linda Tavel: Contract Program Director
Linda.tavel@dfps.state.tx.us Tel# 210-337-3362
Region 8 Contract Dept. Staff