Critical Incident Management Unit
The Critical Incident Management Unit (CIMU) within the Office of Program Integrity & Accountability (OPIA), Office of Performance Management (OPM) facilitates and oversees the appropriate tracking, management, and organizational response to all reported incidents occurring in facilities, agencies, and programs licensed, regulated, or receiving funding from DHS.
CIMU is responsible for the administration of the DHS NJ Incident Reporting and Management System (NJ-IRMS), as required by the DHS Administrative Order (A.O.) 2:05, by monitoring, reviewing, tracking, and analyzing all aspects of incidents reports. CIMU seeks to assure protection from harm for all DHS service recipients through the related analysis and reviews of all reported incidents, in support of DHS objectives.
CIMU is also the administrator for the DHS Risk Management System that publishes a quarterly Risk Indicator Report which reviews and evaluates specific performance categories for community providers licensed to provide services to individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Core Functions
- Facilitate and oversee the appropriate tracking, management and organizational response to all reported incidents occurring in facilities, agencies, and programs under DHS purview;
- Conduct administrative reviews on incidents routed to CIMU for closure by obtaining and reviewing individual facilities investigation reports; ensure quality elements are included, provide A.O. 2:05 policy guidance as needed and provide technical assistance to facilitate the closing of CIMU routed incidents; perform quality assurance activities to ensure compliance with DHS policies and A.O. 2:05;
- Work with Department, Division, and agency staff to assure information within incident reports informs important decisions regarding client safety and well-being and encourage the use of this information to identify and address factors that may have contributed to the incident to prevent future recurrence and minimize risk to the individual and all other clients served;
- Provide administrative oversight of the New Jersey Incident Reporting and Management System (NJ-IRMS), ensure appropriate access, facilitate system changes, and support DHS staff in using this system;
- Periodically aggregate the information collected on incidents to identify patterns and trends, make recommendations for protective service interventions, and provide strategies for case practice handling when issues are identified; this process allows for the development and implementation of strategies to decrease incidents and prevent recurrence;
- Perform complex critical analysis and quality assurance activities related to policy guidance/assistance/training to operating personnel within the unit, the Department’s Divisional staff and facilities personnel for the coding, evaluation, assignment, management, processing, and closing of incidents reported within the Division of Development Disabilities (DDD) and Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) to ensure data integrity, appropriate coding, routing, and follow up;
- Complete detailed critical analysis of incident reports and service recipient history in response to inquiries from Department leadership, media, the Governor’s office and the Legislature as requested and at the direction of the OPIA Director.
Supporting Documents and Links:
September 2022- A.O. 2:05 Incident Reporting and Management Webinar
Administrative Order 2:05
DHS Incident Reporting Levels and Categories Grid (Attachment A)
NJ-IRMS Code List Summary Review
Incident Reporting and Management
Any questions related to DDD Incident Reporting can be directed to DHS.CIMADMIN@dhs.nj.gov
and DMHAS Incident Reporting can be directed to DHS.MHSCIMADMIN@dhs.nj.gov
