§ 6-03 Definition of Restrictive Housing and Related Terms.
(a) For the purposes of this Chapter, "restrictive housing" means units where the Department houses people in custody separately from people housed in the general population on the basis of security concerns or discipline, or a housing area that imposes restrictions on programs, services, interactions with other incarcerated persons or other conditions of confinement. This definition excludes housing designated for incarcerated persons who are: (1) in need of medical or mental health support as determined by the entity providing or overseeing correctional medical and mental health, including placement in a contagious disease unit, (2) transgender or gender non-conforming, (3) in need of voluntary protective custody, or (4) housed in a designated location for the purpose of school attendance.
(b) For the purposes of this Chapter, the following terms related to restrictive housing have the following meanings:
(1) “Advocate” means a law student, paralegal, or another incarcerated person who represents an incarcerated person at a restrictive housing placement hearing or a continued use of restraints hearing pursuant to this chapter.
(2) “Cell” means any room, area or space that is not a shared space conducive to meaningful, regular and congregate social interaction among many people in a group setting, where an individual is held for any purpose.
(3) “De-escalation confinement” means the holding of an incarcerated person in a cell immediately following an incident where the person has caused physical injury or poses a specific risk of imminent serious physical injury to staff, themselves or other incarcerated persons.
(4) "Disciplinary hearing" means a hearing on an infraction with which a person in custody has been charged.
(5) "General population" or "general population housing" means all housing units that are not restrictive housing units, specialized medical units, or specialized mental health units as defined in this section
(6) "Grade I, II or III offense" means the degree of offense defined in 39 RCNY § 1-03, the Department of Correction Inmate Rule Book. Grade I is the most serious grade of offense.
(7) "Hearing Adjudicator" is a Department employee of the rank of Captain or above who presides at disciplinary hearings or placement review hearings of people in custody.
(8) "Housing area" or "housing unit" means facility housing, including common areas, used to house people in custody.
(9) "Infraction" means a violation of Department rules.
(10) "Intake" or "intake area" is an area designated by a facility to temporarily secure a person in custody while awaiting further assessment of the person for appropriate housing placement.
(11) "Legal Representative" is an attorney or layperson who works under the supervision of an attorney.
(12) "'M"' Designation" is a designation assigned pursuant to a settlement in Brad H. v. City of New York, if a person, during one incarceration event, has engaged with the mental health system at least three (3) times, has been prescribed certain classes of medication, or has otherwise been assessed by the Health Authority as needing further mental health treatment.
(13) "Mandated services" means services the Department is obligated to provide under the Board's Minimum Standards.
(14) “Out-of-cell” means being in a space outside of, and in an area away from a cell, in a group setting with other people all in the same shared space, without physical barriers separating such people, that is conducive to meaningful and regular social interaction and activity, or being in any space during receipt of medical treatment, individual one-on-one counseling, or an attorney visit or participation in a court appearance.
(15) "Pre-hearing temporary restrictive housing” means any restrictive housing designated for incarcerated persons who continue to pose a specific risk of imminent serious physical injury to staff, themselves, or other incarcerated persons after a period of de-escalation confinement has exceeded time limits established by paragraph (6) of subdivision (c) of § 9-167 of the Administrative Code and prior to a hearing for recommended placement in restrictive housing has taken place.
(16) "PSEG" or "punitive segregation" means the placement of a person in custody in a cell for more than fourteen (14) hours in any twenty-four-hour period.
(17) "Restraints" mean any object, device or equipment that impedes movement of hands, legs, or any other part of the body, such as handcuffs, flex cuffs, waist restraint systems (consisting of a belt or chain around the waist to which the person hands may be chained or handcuffed); leg restraints (shackles applied on the ankle area); handcuff safety covers (protective devices that cover the locking mechanism of handcuffs to prevent tampering); protective mittens (protective tube-like mittens which cover the hands and are secured with handcuffs); gurneys (wheeled stretchers); four-point restraints (restraint that secure both arms and legs); five-point restraints (four-point restraint plus the application of an additional restraint across the chest, such as restraint chairs and the WRAP restraint device); and restraint desks (school-type desk surface and chair with ankle restraints).
(18) "Restorative Rehabilitation Unit" or "RRU", pursuant to 40 RCNY § 6-26, is a general population housing area of fifteen (15) or less people that offers enhanced programming, security, and therapeutic support for people stepping down from restrictive housing.
(19) "Restrictive status" means a status the Department assigns to people in custody who the Department determines require heightened identification, tracking, and/or monitoring for safety and security purposes.
(20) "Specialized medical housing" are housing units for persons with medical conditions, including but not limited to infirmaries and contagious disease units (CDUs). Entry and discharge for specialized medical housing are determined by CHA according to clinical criteria.
(21) "Specialized mental health housing" are housing units for persons with serious mental illness, including but not limited to Program for Accelerating Clinical Effectiveness (PACE) units, and Clinical Alternatives to Punitive Segregation (CAPS) units. Entry and discharge are determined by CHA according to clinical criteria. Mental Observation (MO) units are not specialized mental health housing for purposes of this rule.
(22) "Steady" staff are officers that are regularly assigned to the same post.
(23) “Suicide Prevention Aide” means a person in custody who has been trained to identify unusual and/or suicidal behavior.
(24) "Young adults" mean people in custody ages eighteen (18) through twenty-one (21).
(Added City Record 6/9/2021, eff. 7/9/2021; amended City Record 6/28/2024, eff. 7/28/2024)
