BILL NUMBER: AB 2374 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 1, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mansoor
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 11833 of, and to add Section 11830.01 to,
the Health and Safety Code, relating to substance abuse treatment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2374, as amended, Mansoor. Substance abuse: recovery and
treatment services.
(1) Existing law grants the Department of Health Care Services the
sole authority in state government to license adult alcoholism or
drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities. The department is
authorized to issue a license to specified types of facilities if
certain criteria are met. Existing regulations require licensees to
report specified events and incidents to the department, including,
among others, the death of a resident at a licensed facility.
This bill would require the department to design its death
investigation policy to ensure that the death of a resident of a
licensed facility is addressed and investigated by the department in
a timely manner. The bill would specify the content of telephonic and
written reports of resident deaths occurring in a licensed facility
that are required to be reported to the department.
This bill would require a licensed facility to submit to the
department a telephonic report within 24 hours, and a written report
within 7 calendar days, of the event or incident.
(2) Existing law grants the department the sole authority in state
government to determine the qualifications, including the
appropriate skills, education, training, and experience of personnel
working within alcoholism or drug abuse recovery and treatment
programs licensed, certified, or funded under state law. The
department, by regulation, requires that a person who will provide
counseling services to those programs to register with, and be
certified by, a nationally accredited certifying organization
approved by the department.
This bill would prohibit authorize
the department from approving to revoke
approval of a certifying organization for those purposes that
does not, prior to registering or certifying an individual, contact
other department-approved certifying organizations to determine
whether the individual has ever had his or her registration or
certification revoked. The bill would require that an
organization, to be eligible to be approved by the department for
those purposes, deny a request for registration or certification of
an applicant whose registration or certification as a counselor has
been previously revoked, and to send an applicant a written notice of
denial, including a statement that the applicant has the right to
appeal that denial in accordance with applicable laws and
regulations.
This bill would, notwithstanding certain rulemaking provisions of
the Administrative Procedure Act, authorize the department to
implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions described above
by all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or
similar instructions, until the time the department adopts
regulations. The bill would require the department to adopt those
regulations by December 31, 2017.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 11830.01 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:
11830.01. (a) The department's death investigation policy shall
be designed to ensure that a resident's death is addressed and
investigated by the department in a timely manner.
(b) The telephonic and written reports of resident deaths
occurring in a licensed facility that are required to be reported to
the department shall include, but not be limited to, a description of
the event or incident, including the time, location, and nature of
the event or incident, a list of immediate actions that were taken,
including persons contacted, and a description of the followup action
that is planned, including, but not limited to, steps taken to
prevent a future death.
(c) A licensed facility shall submit a telephonic report described
in subdivision (b), that includes the event or incident and all
information required pursuant to subdivision (b) that is known at the
time of the report, to the department within 24 hours of the event
or incident.
(d) A licensed facility shall submit a written report described
in subdivision (b), that includes all information required pursuant
to subdivision (b), to the department within seven calendar days of
the event or incident.
SEC. 2. Section 11833 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
11833. (a) The department shall have the sole authority in state
government to determine the qualifications, including the appropriate
skills, education, training, and experience of personnel working
within alcoholism or drug abuse recovery and treatment programs
licensed, certified, or funded under this part.
(b) (1) Except for licensed professionals,
as defined by the department, the department shall require that
a counselor an individual providing
counseling services working within a program described in
subdivision (a) be registered with or certified by a certifying
organization approved by the department to register and certify
counselors. The
(2) The department shall
not approve may revoke approval of a certifying
organization that does not, prior to registering or certifying an
individual, contact other department-approved certifying
organizations to determine whether the individual has ever had his or
her registration or certification revoked.
(3) To be eligible to be approved by the department as a
certifying organization, an organization is required to do both of
the following:
(A) Deny a request for registration or certification of an
applicant whose registration or certification as a counselor has been
previously revoked.
(B) Send an applicant a written notice of denial that includes a
statement that the applicant has the right to appeal that denial in
accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
(c) The department may conduct periodic reviews of a certifying
organization to determine compliance with subdivision (b).
(d) (1) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the
department shall implement, interpret, or make specific this section
by means of all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider
bulletins, or similar instructions until the time the department
adopts regulations pursuant to paragraph (2).
(2) The department shall, by December 31, 2017, adopt regulations
to implement, interpret, or make specific this section, in accordance
with the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340)
of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.