BILL NUMBER: AB 2374 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 2014
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
that a telephonic report be submitted to the
department a telephonic report within 24 hours
within one working day , 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 authorize prohibit
the department to revoke approval of from
approving a certifying organization for those purposes
that if the organization 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.
The bill would require a certifying organization to deny a
counselor's request for registration if the counselor's registra
tion or certification has been previously revoked, and to
send the counselor a written notice of denial.
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
(c) A telephonic report
described in required under subdivision (b),
that which includes the event or
incident and all information required pursuant to
under subdivision (b) that is known at the time of the
report, shall be submitted to the department within
24 hours one working day of the event
or incident.
(d) A licensed facility shall submit a
(d) A written report
described in required under subdivision (b),
that which includes all information
required pursuant to under subdivision
(b), shall be submitted 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 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.
(2) The department may revoke approval of
shall not approve 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) If a counselor's registration or certification has been
previously revoked, the certifying organization shall deny the
request for registration and shall send the counselor a written
notice of denial. The notice shall specify the counselor's right to
appeal the denial in accordance with applicable statutes and
regulations.
(c)
(d) The department may shall
have the authority to conduct periodic reviews of a
certifying organization organizatio
ns to determine compliance with all applicable
laws and regulations, including subdivision (b)
(c), and to take actions for noncompliance, including
revocation of the department's approval .
(d)
(e) (1) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, the department , without taking any further regulatory
action, 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 that regulations
pursuant to paragraph (2) are adopted .
(2) The department shall, shall adopt
regulations 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.