(1) All participants enrolled in domestic violence intervention treatment must attend consecutive, same gendered, weekly group treatment sessions that are face to face and in-person.

(2) Another type of intervention may be approved for participants in any level of treatment for certain documented clinical reasons, such as psychosis, disability, or other conditions that make the individual not amenable to treatment in a group setting.

(3) A program may develop policies which allow level three and four participants to attend individual sessions as part of the participant's treatment plan in order to address their risk factors and meet their unique needs.

(4) Participants who experience hardship attending a certified program in person may ask the program to request an exception for the requirement of attending treatment group meetings in-person in order to attend via live video feed.

(a) An exception to the requirement to attend group in-person must be requested by the program on behalf of a participant and is subject to approval by the department;

(b) The department will review exception requests on a case by case basis and approve or deny the request within seven calendar days after receiving it, unless circumstances warrant a longer period of time;

(c) The department's decision to deny an exception request is not subject to administrative review under chapter 388-02 WAC; and

(d) The program submitting the exception request must be certified under this chapter and send written documentation by electronic or US mail to the department that outlines all of the following:

(i) Documentation that the participant does not have access to reliable transportation and their residence and place of employment are more than forty-five miles from a certified program, or the participant has a physical disability that creates a hardship for attending in person, or other good cause;

(ii) The program's applicable policies and procedures related to connecting participants to their home group through live video; and

(iii) How the program will ensure all participants' confidentiality including the use of a HIPAA compliant live video attendance program.

(5) The program must assign participants to a home group and the participant must be required to attend the same scheduled group each week.

(6) The program's supervisor must authorize any exceptions to this requirement and document the reason for the exception in the participant's file.

(7) A program may develop policies which allow a brief lapse in treatment of no more than thirty days when a participant transfers from another program or experiences extraordinary circumstances that impede their attendance.

(8) Any lapse in treatment must be approved by the program's supervisor and must not exceed thirty days unless approved in writing by the program's supervisor. 

(9) Before the participant begins any level of domestic violence intervention treatment, the program must document in the participant's record:

(a) The participant has signed all applicable releases of information required by the treatment program, including those specified in WAC 388-60A-0365;

(b) The participant has signed a contract for services with the treatment program; and

(c) The participant has an assessment and treatment plan completed by a Washington state certified domestic violence intervention treatment program.