Sec. 316.3. Admissions

(a) Incarcerated individuals may be admitted to a step-down unit from either segregated confinement or a residential rehabilitation unit.

(b) Incarcerated individuals admitted to a step-down unit shall be offered the following:

(1) at least five hours of out-of-cell programming, activities, or recreation four days per week, excluding holidays, and at least two hours of recreation on the remaining days; and

(2) out-of-cell programs and activities that promote personal development and group engagement, addressing underlying causes of problematic behavior resulting in placement in segregated confinement or a residential rehabilitation unit, and helping prepare for discharge from the unit to general confinement or the community; and

(3) the opportunity to lessen restrictions and earn additional privileges under the progressive inmate movement system by meeting established benchmarks and individual goals.

(4) An incarcerated individual can be denied out-of-cell activities described in this section, if the commissioner or his designee determines that the incarcerated individual’s participation in such activities presents an imminent risk of danger to the incarcerated individual or to others.

(c) Upon admission to a step-down unit, a program management team shall:

(1) develop an individual rehabilitation plan in consultation with the incarcerated individual based upon his or her programming needs, identifying specific goals, program(s) to be offered, including discharge from the unit to general confinement or the community; and

(2) conduct periodic reviews of the incarcerated individuals.

(d) An incarcerated individual serving a disciplinary sanction in a step-down unit will only be discharged to a special housing unit under the following specific, limited circumstances:

(1) When it is determined by the program management team that an incarcerated individual has been chronically failing to comply with the program objectives, the program management team will first attempt to obtain program compliance. De-escalation, intervention and informational reports and the withdrawal of incentives shall be the preferred methods of responding to less serious negative behavior. All efforts to obtain compliance will be fully documented by the program management team. Absent compliance, a recommendation may be made for alternate program placement or discharge to a special housing unit. The recommendation by the program management team shall be forwarded to the superintendent for determination. The superintendent’s determination will be forwarded to central office for review, and if necessary, transfer action. Misbehavior reports can only be issued in circumstances where the incarcerated individual is accused of serious offenses, the alleged behavior demonstrates a threat to safety and/or the incarcerated individual has engaged in repeated acts of disruptive misbehavior despite prior alternative interventions.

(2) When it is determined that an incarcerated individual poses an immediate or continuing unacceptable threat to the safety of staff or other incarcerated individuals or to the security of the facility, the deputy superintendent for security will consult with the program management team and make a recommendation. The recommendation by the deputy superintendent for security will be forwarded to the superintendent for determination. The superintendent’s determination will in turn be forwarded to central office for review, and if necessary, transfer action.

(e) Incarcerated individuals placed in a step-down unit shall be released to general confinement no later than the expiration of the sanction imposed or upon successful completion of a step-down unit program, whichever is earlier. The remainder of the incarcerated individual’s sanction, if any, will be suspended upon the incarcerated individual’s release from the step-down unit program. If the incarcerated individual does not engage in any sanctionable conduct during the duration of the suspended sanction, that disciplinary sanction will expire on the earlier of the sanction end-date or six months from the date of release to general confinement. Service of suspended penalties may be imposed as a sanction, based on an individualized assessment, only for serious misbehavior or for committing the same or similar violation as that leading to the suspended sanction.