[BCM] [MINDS] [E3] [PD] [CBF] [2] Residential and Community Living Services

CBF-2 Residential and Community Living Services 

Below is a detailed, structured Business Continuity Recovery Procedure for CBF-2: Residential and Community Living Services for MINDS, written in a formal, instructional style suitable for inclusion in a Business Continuity Manual and aligned with BCM good practice.

WHAT: Description and Importance of the Critical Business Function

CBF-2: Residential and Community Living Services ensures the continuous provision of safe accommodation, daily living support, healthcare coordination, community engagement, and caregiver communication for persons with intellectual disabilities under the care of MINDS.

This function is critical because:

• It directly safeguards the life, health, and well-being of residents
• It involves 24/7 care delivery, often to vulnerable individuals
• Any prolonged disruption may result in serious harm, regulatory non-compliance, reputational damage, and loss of stakeholder trust
• Services are highly inter-dependent on staff availability, facilities, healthcare support, families, and external agencies

CBF-2 encompasses the following Sub-Critical Business Functions (Sub-CBFs):

• 2.1 Residential Admission & Intake
• 2.2 Accommodation & Daily Care
• 2.3 Health & Allied Health Services
• 2.4 Safety, Security & Emergency Preparedness
• 2.5 Staffing & Workforce Management
• 2.6 Community Integration & Day Programmes
• 2.7 Family & Caregiver Engagement
• 2.8 Home-Based Support Continuity
• 2.9 Community Hub Partnership & Outreach

Pre-Crisis Preparedness (Reduce Phase)

Objective

To minimise the likelihood and impact of disruptions by ensuring readiness, resilience, and staff awareness across all Residential and Community Living Services.

HOW – Preparedness Actions

Governance and Planning

• Maintain an approved Business Continuity Plan (BCP) covering all residential homes and community living services
• Identify Minimum Business Continuity Objectives (MBCO) for each Sub-CBF
• Clearly define roles, responsibilities, and escalation authority for crisis situations

Resources and Infrastructure

• Ensure residential facilities have:
  • Backup power, water, and essential supplies
  • Emergency kits, medication buffers, and food stockpiles
• Maintain updated facility layouts, evacuation routes, and assembly points

People and Workforce

• Maintain updated staff rosters, relief staff arrangements, and manpower agency contacts
• Cross-train staff to perform essential care and supervisory duties
• Ensure emergency contact lists for staff are current and accessible

Information and Records

• Identify and protect vital records, including:
  • Resident care plans and medical records
  • Emergency contact lists
  • Staff duty rosters
• Ensure secure off-site or cloud backups for electronic records

Training and Awareness

• Conduct regular:
  • Emergency response drills (fire, medical, evacuation)
  • Tabletop BCM exercises for residential managers
• Brief staff on crisis response procedures and communication protocols

Within T+24 Hours (Response and Recovery Phase)

To protect life and well-being, stabilise residential operations, and restore minimum acceptable levels of service for CBF-2 within the first 24 hours following a disruption.

HOW – Response and Recovery Actions (T0 to T+24 Hours)

1. Incident Confirmation and Initial Assessment

• Confirm the nature, scale, and impact of the disruption (e.g. facility outage, manpower shortage, health incident, environmental hazard).
• Identify:
  • Affected residential homes, community services, and Sub-CBFs
  • Number of residents and staff impacted
  • Immediate risks to safety, health, or care delivery
• Escalate the incident to senior management in accordance with MINDS’ incident reporting and BCM escalation protocols.

2. Activation of Business Continuity and Command Structure

• Formally activate the CBF-2 Business Continuity Plan.
• Establish an Incident Management Team (IMT) with clear authority and decision-making responsibility.
• Assign functional leads for:
  • Resident care and accommodation
  • Health and allied health services
  • Safety and emergency coordination
  • Staffing and workforce deployment
  • Communications and family engagement
• Maintain an incident log to record decisions, actions, and timelines.

3. Life Safety and Resident Protection (Highest Priority)

• Immediately account for all residents, staff, and visitors.
• Address urgent medical needs by:
  • Providing first aid
  • Activating on-call nursing or allied health staff
  • Referring residents to hospitals or clinics where required
• Implement evacuation or relocation procedures if facilities are unsafe.
• Ensure residents continue to receive:
  • Meals and hydration
  • Medication and essential treatments
  • Supervision appropriate to their care needs

4. Continuity of Essential Residential Care Services

• Prioritise the following Sub-CBFs:
  • 2.2 Accommodation & Daily Care
  • 2.3 Health & Allied Health Services
  • 2.4 Safety, Security & Emergency Preparedness
• Implement predefined manual or alternate work procedures if systems are unavailable.
• Temporarily suspend or scale down non-essential activities, including selected community or day programmes (Sub-CBF 2.6), if required to preserve critical resources.

5. Staffing and Workforce Stabilisation

• Activate relief staffing arrangements through:
  • Internal redeployment
  • Standby or on-call staff
  • External manpower agencies, where applicable
• Extend or adjust duty rosters in line with manpower availability while ensuring staff welfare and rest periods.
• Reassign staff with appropriate competencies to cover essential care, supervision, and safety roles.
• Ensure staff are briefed clearly on:
  • Current risks
  • Temporary procedures
  • Reporting lines during the incident

6. Facilities, Logistics, and Resource Management

• Assess the condition and usability of residential facilities.
• Secure critical supplies, including:
  • Food, water, and daily living essentials
  • Medication and medical consumables
  • Personal protective equipment (if required)
• Arrange alternative accommodation or shared resources across MINDS facilities if capacity is affected.
• Coordinate transport services for resident relocation or medical referrals where necessary.

7. Information, Records, and Systems Access

• Ensure access to vital resident and staff records, including:
  • Care plans
  • Medical and medication records
  • Emergency contact lists
• Use backup systems or manual records where primary systems are unavailable.
• Protect sensitive personal and medical data during emergency handling.

8. Communication and Stakeholder Management

• Communicate timely and accurate updates to:
  • Senior management
  • Residential and programme staff
  • Families and caregivers (Sub-CBF 2.7)
  • Relevant authorities or partners, if required
• Use pre-approved messaging to avoid misinformation and anxiety.
• Provide reassurance on resident safety and continuity of care.
• Designate a single communication point to manage enquiries and updates.

9. Monitoring and Situation Review

• Conduct regular situation briefings within the Incident Management Team.
• Monitor:
  • Resident condition and well-being
  • Staff capacity and fatigue
  • Facility safety and resource levels
• Adjust response actions dynamically based on evolving conditions.

Transition to Restore and Return Phase

• Confirm that the situation has stabilised and minimum service levels are consistently met.
• Prepare to transition from emergency response measures to structured restoration activities under the “After T+24 Hours (Restore and Return Phase)”.

After T+24 Hours (Restore and Return Phase)

To fully restore services, transition from temporary measures, and return to normal or enhanced operations.

HOW – Full Recovery and Restoration Steps

Service Restoration

• Gradually restore all Sub-CBFs, including:
  • 2.6 Community Integration & Day Programmes
  • 2.8 Home-Based Support Continuity
  • 2.9 Community Hub Partnership & Outreach
• Resume standard schedules, care routines, and programme delivery

Infrastructure and Systems

• Repair or reinstate damaged facilities, systems, or equipment
• Validate safety and compliance before resuming full occupancy
• Confirm integrity and completeness of resident and staff records

People and Well-Being

• Conduct welfare checks for residents and staff
• Provide psychosocial support where needed
• Normalise staffing arrangements and hand back temporary resources

Review and Improvement

• Conduct a Post-Incident Review
• Document:
  • Lessons learnt
  • Gaps in preparedness or response
  • Recommended improvements
• Update BCPs, training materials, and risk assessments accordingly

This Business Continuity Recovery Procedure ensures that CBF-2: Residential and Community Living Services at MINDS can continue to protect residents, maintain essential care, and recover effectively from disruptions, thereby safeguarding lives, upholding regulatory obligations, and reinforcing MINDS’ commitment to resilient and compassionate service delivery.

 

Implementing Business Continuity Management for MINDS: Ensuring Continuity of Care and Services
eBook 3: Starting Your BCM Implementation
MBCO	P&S	RAR T1	RAR T2	RAR T3	BCS T1	TOC
CBF-2 Residential and Community Services
DP	BIAQ T1	BIAQ T2	BIAQ T3	BCS T2	BCS T3	PD

 

More Information About Business Continuity Management Courses

To learn more about the course and schedule, click the buttons below for the  BCM-300 Business Continuity Management Implementer [BCM-3] and the BCM-5000 Business Continuity Management Expert Implementer [BCM-5].

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