Preventing Elopement in Delaware Long Term Care: Regulatory Expectations, Risk Assessment, and a Defensible Prevention Program9/10/202611am12pm
Venue
Thursday, September 10, 2026, 11am – Noon
Led by Mandy Smith, Kemper Consulting
This program has been approved for Continuing Education for 1.0 total participant hours by NAB/NCERS — Approval Code
20270811-1.50-A123969-DL and the Delaware Board of Nursing
Elopement is one of the highest-risk events a long-term care facility can experience and is closely scrutinized under F689, Free of Accident Hazards, Supervision, and Devices. This program provides participants with the knowledge and tools to identify residents at risk for elopement, implement effective prevention strategies, and respond appropriately when a resident is missing. Participants will review federal requirements, Delaware-specific regulations, risk assessment, individualized care planning, environmental and staffing safeguards, missing resident response protocols, and survey expectations. Practical guidance and implementation tools will help facilities strengthen resident safety and regulatory compliance.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:
- Explain the federal and Delaware regulatory requirements governing elopement prevention and resident supervision.
- Identify resident-specific risk factors and perform a comprehensive elopement risk assessment.
- Develop individualized interventions that reduce the risk of elopement through effective care planning and environmental safeguards.
- Describe the appropriate facility response, reporting requirements, and regulatory expectations following a missing resident event.
- Evaluate facility systems using QAPI principles to strengthen elopement prevention and improve survey readiness.
About the Presenter
Mandy Smith, VP Consulting Services, The Kemper Company
Mandy Smith is Vice President of Consulting Services at The Kemper Company, a long-term care consulting firm based in Ohio. She brings more than twenty-five years of experience in long-term care, including fifteen years as Regulatory Director at the Ohio Health Care Association, where she developed the CEAL and CEHCH certification programs. Her consulting work today spans regulatory compliance, survey readiness, clinical and operations support, QAPI, dementia care programming, and assisted living advocacy, with a clinical background as a licensed physical therapist assistant. Mandy holds a wide range of credentials, including LNHA, LPTA, HSE, CEAL, CEHCH, RAC-CT, RAC-CTA, QCP, WCC, IPCO, APC, and LMT. She can be reached at 614.288.0613 or msmith@kempercompany.com.