BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2066|
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                                    CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 2066
          Author:   Monning (D)
          Amended:  6/14/12 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 6/26/12
          AYES:  Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Wright, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Hancock, Strickland
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 5/25/12 (Consent) - See last page 
            for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Residential care facilities for the elderly:  
          revocation of 
                      license

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill revises procedures used by the 
          Department of Social Services (DSS) when revoking a license 
          for a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), 
          specifies notice that must be provided to residents prior 
          to eviction due to a revocation of license, permits a 
          licensee who is subject to a license revocation to arrange 
          for a third part facility manager in order to avoid closure 
          of the facility, and establishes a refund schedule for 
          preadmission fees paid by residents of an RCFE that is 
          subject to closure due to a revocation of license.
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           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Provides for the inspection and licensure of RCFEs by 
             DSS pursuant to the California Residential Facilities 
             for the Elderly Act and provides for the certification 
             of administrators of RCFEs by DSS.

          2. Permits DSS to enforce the Act by levying specified 
             civil penalties, excluding certain individuals from 
             employment in the facility, temporarily suspending a 
             license or revoking a license, as specified.

          3. Requires proceedings for the suspension, revocation, or 
             denial of a license to be conducted.

          4. Requires a licensed residential care facility for the 
             elderly to provide written notice to a resident, a 
             resident's responsible party, and the local long term 
             care ombudsman within 10 days if DSS commences 
             proceedings to suspend or revoke the license of the 
             facility or a criminal action related to the health and 
             safety of residents is brought forward against a 
             facility.

          5. Requires the licensee, in the event of forfeiture or 
             revocation of license, to take all reasonable steps to 
             transfer affected residents safely and to minimize 
             possible transfer trauma including providing a written 
             eviction notice at least 60 days in advance of the 
             eviction date and preparing a relocation evaluation that 
             includes specified information.

          6. Requires DSS, when temporarily suspending a license, to 
             make every effort to minimize trauma for residents, to 
             contact any local agency that may have placement or 
             advocacy responsibility for residents, and to use 
             medical personnel deemed appropriate to provide onsite 
             evaluations of the residents and to assist in the 
             transfer.

          This bill:

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          1. Requires DSS, when revoking a license, to follow the 
             procedures that are followed when temporarily suspending 
             a license.

          2. Requires the licensee, upon an order to revoke a 
             license, to provide a 60 day written notice to the 
             resident and the resident's responsible person within 24 
             hours of receipt of the revocation order from DSS.

          3. Requires DSS to permit the licensee to secure the 
             services of a person who is not an immediate family 
             member or of an entity that is not owned by the licensee 
             to manage the day to day operations of the RCFE for at 
             least 60 days, if a proposal is submitted to DSS within 
             72 hours of the licensee's receipt of a revocation 
             order.

          4. Provides that the person or entity assuming 
             responsibility must be currently licensed and in 
             substantial compliance to operate an RCFE that is of 
             comparable size and has comparable programming capacity, 
             as defined, and that the proposal includes all of the 
             following:

                   A completed application for a facility license, 
                as specified.

                   A copy of the executed agreement between the 
                licensee and the person or entity assuming 
                responsibility that delineates the roles and 
                responsibly of each party and specifies that the 
                person or entity assuming responsibility shall have 
                the full authority necessary to operate the facility 
                without interference from the licensee.

          5. Provides that the person or entity assuming 
             responsibility is not subject to the application fee and 
             that if DSS denies the application, the denial shall not 
             be deemed a denial of licensure application subject to 
             an administrative law hearing or other procedural 
             rights.

          6. Provides that, within 15 days of issuing the notice of 

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             closure, residents who transfer during the 60 day period 
             are entitled to a refund or partial refund of 
             preadmission fees in excess of $500, as in accordance 
             with the following schedule:

                   A 100% refund if fees were paid within six months 
                of the notice of closure.

                   A 75% refund if fees were paid within 6-12 months 
                of the notice of closure.

                   A 50% refund if fees were paid within 12-18 
                months of the notice of closure.

                   A 25% refund if fees were paid within 18-25 
                months of the notice of closure.

                   No refund if fees were paid 25 months or more 
                prior to the notice of closure.

          7. Requires the licensee to refund a proportional per diem 
             amount of any prepaid monthly fees to residents who 
             transfer during the 60 day period.

          8. Requires the licensee that had his or her license 
             revoked, within 10 days after all residents who are 
             transferring have left the facility, to submit a final 
             list of names and new locations of all residents to DSS 
             and the local ombudsman program.

          9. Allows DSS to amend the effective date of the order of 
             revocation and close the facility prior to the 60 day 
             notice period, or to pursue any other available 
             remedies, if necessary to protect the health and safety 
             of the residents in care. 

          10.Removes "revocation of a license" from statutory notice 
             requirements that currently apply to forfeiture or 
             revocation of a license, such that those notice 
             requirements will only apply to forfeiture of license 
             and the above provisions will apply to revocation of a 
             license.

           Background  

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          RCFEs are licensed housing facilities serving residents 
          aged 60 and older, which provide a non-medical, homelike 
          environment for residents who have a broad variety of care 
          needs.

          RCFEs with six or fewer beds are frequently referred to as 
          "board and care homes" or "senior care homes," while RCFEs 
          with more than six beds and in some instances several 
          hundred beds are generally referred to as "assisted living 
          facilities".  Regardless of capacity size, all RCFEs are 
          licensed by DSS in accordance with the California 
          Residential Facilities for the Elderly Act.  DSS reports 
          that, as of June 2012, there were 7,667 licensed RCFEs in 
          the state with a total capacity of 171,939 residents, 
          approximately 80% of which are licensed for six or fewer 
          residents.

           FISCAL EFFECT :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  Yes

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/7/12)

          Aging Services of California
          Association of Regional Center Agencies
          California Assisted Living Association
          California Commission of Aging
          Joseph Rodrigues, State Long Term Care Ombudsman

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, 
          this bill addresses an unintended consequence of AB 313 
          (Monning, Chapter 365, Statutes of 2011), which added 
          "revocation of a license" to statute that required 
          licensees to provide a 60-day notice prior to evicting a 
          resident due to voluntary forfeiture of a license.  The 
          author's office states that, subsequent to passage of AB 
          313, DSS raised concerns that the law precluded the 
          department from closing a facility prior to the end of the 
          60-day notice period even when necessary to protect the 
          health and safety of the residents in care.  This bill 
          deletes the provision that was added under AB 313 and 
          inserts a new notice requirement requiring a licensee to 
          provide a 60-day eviction notice no more than 24 hours 
          after receipt of a revocation order from DSS, but permits 

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          DSS to close the facility before the 60-days has elapsed, 
          when necessary to protect the health and safety of the 
          residents in care. 


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 5/25/12
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Block, 
            Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, 
            Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, 
            Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, 
            Feuer, Fong, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, 
            Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, 
            Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, 
            Jeffries, Jones, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mansoor, 
            Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, 
            Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, 
            Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, 
            Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Atkins, Bill Berryhill, Fletcher, 
            Fuentes, Grove, Hall, Knight, Ma, Perea, Silva

          CTW:m  8/7/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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