BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1899
Page A
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1899 (Brown)
As Amended August 22, 2014
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(May 28, 2014) |SENATE: |33-0 |(August 26, |
| | | | | |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. Also include amendments to avoid chaptering out
conflicts with AB 1477 (Budget Committee) of the current
legislative session, and SB 873 (Budget and Fiscal Review
Committee) of the current legislative session; the human
services budget cleanup trailer bills.
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.
AB 1899
Page B
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
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: 0005498
---------------------------
<1> "Care Home Deaths Show System Failures," San Diego Union
Tribune, Sept.7, 2013