BILL NUMBER: AB 1970 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fong
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Nava, Portantino, Saldana,
and Yamada)
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
An act to add Section 12301.65 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1970, as amended, Fong. In-home supportive services providers:
emergency shelter services.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act,
establishes emergency services functions of the state, as specified.
Existing federal law also provides for
the declaration of a federal state of emergency, upon the request
made by the Governor of an affected state, for the purpose of
receiving federal emergency assistance.
Existing law provides for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)
program, under which, either through employment by the recipient, by
or through contract by the county, by the creation of a public
authority, or pursuant to a contract with a nonprofit consortium,
qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons receive services enabling
them to remain in their own homes.
Existing law permits services to be provided under the
IHSS program either through the employment of individual providers, a
contract between the county and an entity for the provision of
services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a
contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium. The
duties of a public authority or nonprofit consortium that
provides services under the IHSS Program include the provision
of assistance to recipients in finding in-home supportive services
personnel through the establishment of a provider registry.
This bill would require the State Department of Social
Services authorize a county department of
social services to make IHSS provider registries available
during a state or federally declared state of
emergency, upon the request of an emergency shelter
operator, for the assistance of seniors and persons with disabilities
at the shelter site. The bill would specify county and public
authority responsibilities in administering the bill
emergency. The bill would require a person designated by the county
as representative of the county department of social services to,
upon the request of an emergency shelter operator, assess the
operator's emergency shelter, as define d,
to determine the assistance needs of seniors and persons with
disabilities at the shelter site. The bill would authorize the county
department of social services to direct the public authority, or
other entity responsible for providing in-home supportive services in
the county, to contact in-home supportive services providers who are
willing and available to provide assistance to seniors and persons
with disabilities at the emergency shelter .
By imposing new duties or local officials, this bill would create
a state-mandated local program.
The bill would provide that an in-home supportive services
provider who provides assistance to seniors and persons with
disabilities at an emergency shelter shall not be liable for harm
caused by an act or omission of the provider if the provider was
acting within the scope of his or her responsibilities as an in-home
supportive services provider at the time of the act or omission and
the harm was not caused by willful or criminal misconduct, gross
negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious, flagrant
indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed by the
provider.
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, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12301.65 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, to read:
12301.65. (a) The State Department of Social Services
shall For purposes of this section, "emergency shelter"
means a safe facility contracted by a county to provide shelter and
resources to evacuees of a federally declared state of emergency.
(b) A county department of social
services may make in-home supportive services provider
registries available to emergency shelter operators during a state of
emergency declared pursuant to state or federal
law, as provided in this section.
(b)
(c) Upon the request of an emergency shelter operator,
an in-home supportive services social worker
a person designated by the county as a county department of social
services-representative shall assess the shelter to determine
the assistance needs of seniors and persons with disabilities at the
shelter site. The designated representative may work with a
third party, including, but not limited to, the public authority, to
assess the needs of seniors and persons with disabilities at the
shelter site pursuant to this subdivision.
(c)
(d) Following the assessment required under subdivision
(b), the department shall a county
department of social services may direct the public authority,
or other entity responsible for providing in-home supportive services
in the county, to identify individuals on its provider
registry's list of short-term and emergency workers, who are willing
and available to provide services pursuant to this section.
county, to contact in-home supportive services providers who
are willing and available to provide assistance to seniors and
persons with disabilities at the emergency shelter. The public
authority, or other entity responsible for providing in-home
supportive services in the county, may utilize a provider registry
list of short-term and emergency workers, if available, to identify
in-home supportive services providers for purposes of this
subdivision.
(d)
(e) The timesheet for an in-home supportive services
provider approved by the county to provide services pursuant
to this section shall be processed by the authorizing county, which
shall retain a copy of the timesheet for submission to the federal
government approved by the county to provide
assistance to seniors and persons with disabilities at an emergency
shelter shall be included in the county's regular reimbursement
application for submission to the appropriate state entity for
reimbursement from any federal funds as may be provided to the state
for emergency response. The county shall forward the original
timesheet to the state case management information and payroll system
for in-home supportive services.
(f) An in-home supportive services provider who provides
assistance to seniors and persons with disabilities at an emergency
shelter shall not be liable for harm caused by an act or omission of
the provider if the provider was acting within the scope of his or
her responsibilities as an in-home supportive services provider at
the time of the act or omission and the harm was not caused by
willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless
misconduct, or a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or
safety of the individual harmed by the provider.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
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