BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1899 Page A CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1899 (Brown) As Amended June 26, 2014 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(May 28, 2014) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 7, | | | | | | |2014) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: HUM. S. SUMMARY : Prohibits an individual who abandons a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) from being able to reinstate his or her license or from being able to petition for the reinstatement of the license. The Senate amendments specify that a licensee who abandons a RCFE from being able to petition for the reinstatement of the license. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill prohibited an individual who abandons an RCFE from being able to reinstate his or her license. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS : Background: RCFEs, commonly referred to as assisted living facilities, are licensed retirement residential homes and board and care homes that accommodate and provide services to meet the varying, and at times, fluctuating health care needs of individuals who are 60 years of age and over, and persons under the age of 60 with compatible needs. Licensed by the Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD), they can range in size from residential homes with six or less beds to more formal residential facilities with 100 beds or more. Recent events: A series of recent events has drawn attention to questions about the adequacy of RCFEs and the CCLD's ability to comply with existing oversight and enforcement requirements to help ensure for the health and safety of individuals who receive AB 1899 Page B services within CCLD-licensed facilities. Over the last several years, numerous media outlets have documented chronic understaffing and a lack of required assessments and substandard care. Reports in September 2013, prompted by a consumer watchdog group that had hand-culled through stacks of documents in San Diego, revealed that more than two dozen seniors had died in recent years in RCFEs under questionable circumstances that went ignored or unpunished by CCLD.<1> Need for this bill: Stating the need for a ban on licensees who abandon their facility, the author writes: AB 1899 seeks to address the abandonment of residential care facilities and the need to have an efficient and centralized system of obtaining accurate information about these facilities to prevent violators from repeatedly violating health and safety codes with impunity. Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0004490 --------------------------- <1> "Care Home Deaths Show System Failures," San Diego Union Tribune, Sept.7, 2013