BILL NUMBER: AB 2149 CHAPTERED 09/28/04 CHAPTER 833 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2004 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2004 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2004 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 16, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 10, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 17, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Longville FEBRUARY 18, 2004 An act to amend Sections 1538.2 and 1538.5 of, and to add Sections 1524.6, 1538.3, and 1538.6 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to community care facilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2149, Longville. Group homes: foster care. (1) Under existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, the State Department of Social Services generally regulates the licensure and operation of community care facilities, including residential group homes for children. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. Existing law requires a community care facility providing residential care for 6 or fewer persons, with certain exceptions, to provide a procedure approved by the licensing agency for immediate response to incidents and complaints. This bill would apply similar procedures for responding to incidents and complaints against a group home facility, as defined, that is not subject to the existing procedures relating to incidents and complaints. The bill would require facilities to establish these procedures on or before July 1, 2005. (2) Existing law requires a placement agency that is engaged in finding homes or other places for placement of persons of any age for temporary or permanent care, to notify the appropriate licensing agency of any known or suspected reportable incidents that would jeopardize the health or safety of residents in a community care facility. Existing law requires the director to establish an automated license information system on licensees and former licensees of licensed community care facilities, to maintain a record of any information that may be pertinent, as determined by the director. Existing law also authorizes the department, not less than 30 days prior to the anniversary of the effective date of the license of any residential community care facility, except a licensed foster family home, to transmit a copy to the facility's board members, parents, legal guardians, conservators, clients' rights advocates, or placing agencies, of all inspection reports given to the facility by the department during the past year as a result of a substantiated complaint regarding a violation of the act relating to resident abuse and neglect, food, sanitation, incidental medical care, and residential supervision. This bill would authorize a county to develop a cooperative agreement with the department to access disclosable public record information from an alternative automated license information system concerning substantiated complaints for children placed in group home facilities located within the county. This bill would authorize the department to transmit copies of all inspection reports to the county in which a group home facility is located if requested by the county. The bill would require a group home facility, not less than 30 days prior to the anniversary of the effective date of the license of the group home facility, at the request of the county in which the facility is located, to transmit copies of all incident reports of the facility that involved a response by local law enforcement or emergency services personnel. It would require the group home facility, prior to transmitting copies of the incident reports to the county, to redact the name of any child referenced in the reports, and other related identifying information. The bill would authorize a placement agency to review these incident reports to ensure that the group home facility has taken appropriate action to ensure the health and safety of its residents. The bill would authorize the department, when it periodically reviews the record of substantiated complaints against each group home facility, pursuant to its oversight authority, to determine whether the nature, number, and severity of incidents upon which complaints were based constitute a basis for concern as to whether the provider is capable of effectively and efficiently operating the program, and if the department determines that there is cause for concern, to contact the county in which a group home facility is located and placement agencies in other counties using the group home facility, and request their recommendations as to what action, if any, the department should take with regard to the provider's status as a licensed group home provider. (3) By expanding the definition of a crime under the California Community Care Facilities Act, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Children living in group homes have a right to a safe and stable living environment. (b) Group homes that provide inadequate supervision and services to children placed in the facilities put these children at risk and negatively impact the community. (c) The state and the counties must reduce risks to placement children by helping to ensure that the best quality of supervision and services in community care facilities is encouraged, sustained, and consistently available for the children in the care of county placement agencies. (d) A cooperative approach between group home providers and counties encourages group home providers to be good neighbors, allowing them to perform their critical functions within the community. (e) Group home providers and county placement agencies share a common goal of assisting placement children in their physical, mental, and emotional growth by placing them in a safe and nurturing environment to support their development into caring, productive, and mature adults. SEC. 2. Section 1524.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 1524.6. (a) In addition to any other requirement of this chapter, any group home facility, as defined by regulations of the department, providing care for any number of persons, that is not already subject to the requirements of Section 1524.5, shall provide a procedure approved by the licensing agency for immediate response to incidents and complaints, as defined by regulations of the department. This procedure shall include a method of ensuring that the owner, licensee, or person designated by the owner or licensee is notified of the incident or complaint, that the owner, licensee, or person designated by the owner or licensee has personally investigated the matter, and that the person making the complaint or reporting the incident has received a written response, within 30 days of receiving the complaint, of action taken, or a reason why no action needs to be taken. (b) In order to ensure the opportunity for complaints to be made directly to the owner, licensee, or person designated by the owner or licensee, and to provide the opportunity for the owner, licensee, or person designated by the owner or licensee to meet neighborhood residents and learn of problems in the neighborhood, any group home facility shall establish a fixed time on a periodic basis when the owner, licensee, or person designated by the owner or licensee will be present. At this fixed time, information shall be provided to neighborhood residents of the complaint procedure pursuant to Section 1538. (c) Facilities shall establish procedures to comply with the requirements of this section on or before July 1, 2005. (d) This section shall not apply to family homes certified by foster family agencies, foster family homes, and small family homes. It is not the intent of the Legislature that this section be applied in a way that is contrary to the child's best interests. SEC. 3. Section 1538.2 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1538.2. The director shall establish an automated license information system on licensees and former licensees of licensed community care facilities. The system shall maintain a record of any information that may be pertinent, as determined by the director, for licensure under this chapter and Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 1597.30). This information may include, but is not limited to, the licensees' addresses, telephone numbers, violations of any laws related to the care of clients in a community care facility, licenses, revocation of any licenses and, to the extent permitted by federal law, social security numbers. SEC. 4. Section 1538.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 1538.3. A county may develop a cooperative agreement with the department to access disclosable, public record information from an automated system, other than the system described in Section 1538.2, concerning substantiated complaints for all group home facilities, as defined by regulations of the department, located within that county. Access to the database may be accomplished through a secure online transaction protocol. SEC. 5. Section 1538.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 1538.5. (a) (1) Not less than 30 days prior to the anniversary of the effective date of any residential community care facility license, except licensed foster family homes, the department may transmit a copy to the board members of the licensed facility, parents, legal guardians, conservators, clients' rights advocates, or placement agencies, as designated in each resident's placement agreement, of all inspection reports given to the facility by the department during the past year as a result of a substantiated complaint regarding a violation of this chapter relating to resident abuse and neglect, food, sanitation, incidental medical care, and residential supervision. During that one-year period the copy of the notices transmitted and the proof of the transmittal shall be open for public inspection. (2) The department may transmit copies of the inspection reports referred to in paragraph (1) concerning group homes, as defined by regulations of the department, to the county in which a group home facility is located, if requested by that county. (3) A group home facility shall maintain, at the facility, a copy of all licensing reports for the past three years that would be accessible to the public through the department, for inspection by placement officials, current and prospective facility clients, and these clients' family members who visit the facility. (b) The facility operator, at the expense of the facility, shall transmit a copy of all substantiated complaints, by certified mail, to those persons described pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) in the following cases: (1) In the case of any substantiated complaint relating to resident physical or sexual abuse, the facility shall have three days, from the date the facility receives the licensing report from the state department to comply. (2) In any case in which a facility has received three or more substantiated complaints relating to the same violation during the past 12 months, the facility shall have five days from the date the facility receives the licensing report to comply. (c) Each residential facility shall retain a copy of the notices transmitted pursuant to subdivision (c) and proof of their transmittal by certified mail for a period of one year after their transmittal. (d) If any residential facility to which this section applies fails to comply with this section, as determined by the department, the department shall initiate civil penalty action against the facility in accordance with Article 3 (commencing with Section 1530) and the related rules and regulations. (e) Not less than 30 days prior to the anniversary of the effective date of the license of any group home facility, as defined by regulations of the department, at the request of the county in which the group home facility is located, a group home facility shall transmit to the county a copy of all incident reports prepared by the group home facility and transmitted to a placement agency in a county other than the county in which the group home facility is located, as described in subdivision (f) of Section 1536.1, that involved a response by local law enforcement or emergency services personnel. The county shall designate an official for the receipt of the incident reports and shall so notify the group home. Prior to transmitting copies of incident reports to the county, the group home facility shall redact the name of any child referenced in the incident reports, and any other identifying information regarding any child referenced in the reports, and the identity and location of the placement agency of any child referenced in the reports. The county may review the incident reports to ensure that the group home facilities have taken appropriate action to ensure the health and safety of the residents of the facility. (f) The department shall notify the residential community care facility of its obligation when it is required to comply with this section. SEC. 6. Section 1538.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 1538.6. (a) When the department periodically reviews the record of substantiated complaints against each group home facility, pursuant to its oversight role as prescribed by Section 1534, to determine whether the nature, number, and severity of incidents upon which complaints were based constitute a basis for concern as to whether the provider is capable of effectively and efficiently operating the program, and if the department determines that there is cause for concern, it may contact the county in which a group home facility is located and placement agencies in other counties using the group home facility, and request their recommendations as to what action, if any, the department should take with regard to the provider's status as a licensed group home provider. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department make every effort to communicate with the county in which a group home facility is located when the department has concerns about group home facilities within that county. SEC. 7. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.