September 12,2022
Re: UMAB Training during the outbreak of Coronavirus – COVID-19
As we are all aware, the increasing concerns around the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are still escalating rapidly. Hy' N' Hancement Consulting Inc. is issuing an updated letter to all Agencies under our program to assure you that we will continue to assess the risks of contagion daily.
Hy' N' Hancement Consulting Inc. is fully supporting the Province of Ontario's plan to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and is following protocol to practice social distancing. We are re-distributing this letter to notify all Agencies currently under our Understanding and Managing Aggressive Behaviour (UMAB) Program. We have declared a date extension under our extenuating circumstances due to the Omicron Variant for Agencies currently certified under our program.
UPDATE: If you are an agency under our program and a COVID-19 outbreak occurs and you are unable to complete the training by the expiry date you will be granted a 60-day extension from the expiry date. Please note on the staff files that there was an outbreak at the program or that the staff member who expired was out ill with COVID-19. -Agencies with UMAB Trainers, please feel free to contact us with extension details.
Please Note:
Update: At this time we have not been issued an updated memo from the MCCSS and are still having to abide by the outdated memo from July 16, 2020. The MCCSS memo from July 16, 2020 was to notify all agencies under the CYFSA and DSO, about the requirements of licensing and training in approved Crisis Intervention Programs with Physical Restraints. Please see PDF File Below. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
We are well aware that our UMAB Program requires staff to be in close proximity to one another as well as hands-on. If your Agency does decide to run a UMAB Training Program, it is based upon the Agencies' discretion, as it is required for licensing. We highly recommend that Agencies utilize Provincial and Federal Health recommendations as a guideline - Hy 'N' Hancement Consulting Inc. will follow the Agencies we supports guidelines and expectations regarding COVID-19 pre-cautions set in place. During this time, we are allowing Agencies to complete the Verbal Component of the program via Video Conferencing indefinitely if the Agency so chooses. However, the Physical Component of the training should be in-person as directed by the MCCSS, unless the Agency directly contacts Hy' N' Hancement Consulting Inc. and speaks with Cortney Hyland. As for the Physical Component of the UMAB Program, please follow all medical precautions to ensure the safety of both the trainer and participants. The participants are required to wear face coverings during the physical component/ the UMAB Trainer at times may need to take their face covering off to relay information to the participants; if they do so, they need to stand 2+ meters away from participants.
Participants are not to attend the training if they have experienced the following symptoms in the past 5 days (Fever, Cough, Shortness of Breath or have been in contact with a person that has tested positive with COVID-19). If you are pass the 5 day period, please wear your mask until day 10 of no COVID-19 symptoms, as we are going back into cold and flu season again!
At this time, we are currently offering Agencies under our program that have UMAB Trainers a few options for recertification as we begin to adapt our training to incorporate different methods of teaching the hands-on component of our program. As we start to transition back into in-person, there will be pre-caution put into place to ensure the safety of the trainer and the participants. At this time, we are offering training for agencies that are required under the CYFSA and DSO legislation. We are still available as support and resources to the companies under our program. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have in regards to our UMAB Training and the status of current certificates.
For Agencies with UMAB Trainers:
Please follow the below pre-cautions during your UMAB Sessions:
-Masks are optional based on the Agencies directives.
-6 feet between groups to offer as much physical distancing as possible.
-The same partner for the entire training - if we are teaching the parallel intervention the trainer is the person in need.
-All participants have the option to wear masks and have the option wearing gloves and face shields/goggles.
-Every time after a technique the trainer sanitizes themselves.
-We have asked that participants bring lunch as much as possible to limit them leaving the building
Additionally, we are trying diligently to get an updated memo from MCCSS. However, at this time the July 16, 2020 memo is still the current directive. Hy 'N' Hancement Consulting Inc. recommends that all agencies affected by the memo (agencies that fall under the CYFSA and DSO) will need to continue training their staff at this time. If the agencies choose not to follow the memo and their staff aren't up to date with the training, there will be no type of coverage made available if there were an incident. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.
Stay Safe,
Cortney Hyland – Operations Manager
Hy' N' Hancement Consulting Inc.
Email: hynhancement@gmail.com
Phone: 905-518-4309
