BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          AB 2374 (Mansoor) - Substance abuse: recovery and treatment  
          services.
          
          Amended: July 1, 2014           Policy Vote: Health 8-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: August 14, 2014                           
          Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.
          
          
          Bill Summary: AB 2374 would require deaths at licensed  
          residential treatment facilities to be reported to the  
          Department of Health Care Services in a timely manner. The bill  
          would require private organizations that register or certify  
          substance abuse counsellors to verify that an applicant has not  
          had another registration or certification revoked.

          Fiscal Impact (as approved on August 14, 2014): 
              One-time costs up to $250,000 to revise regulations and  
              verify that certifying organizations comply with the  
              requirements of the bill (General Fund and federal funds).

              Minor ongoing costs to periodically review policies and  
              performance of certifying organizations (General Fund and  
              federal funds).

          Background: Under current law, the Department of Health Care  
          Services licenses adult residential treatment facilities for  
          substance abuse treatment. Residential treatment facilities  
          provide 24-hour, non-medical services to adults recovering from  
          drug and/or alcohol abuse. 

          Current regulations require residential treatment facilities to  
          report deaths, injuries, and other incidents by telephone within  
          one working day with a written report within seven working days

          Under current law, drug and alcohol counsellors are not required  
          to be licensed health care professionals. Current regulation  
          requires drug and alcohol counsellors who are not licensed  
          health care professionals to be registered or certified by one  
          of several private certifying organizations approved by the  








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          Department. Before certifying an applicant as a drug and alcohol  
          counsellor, those organizations are required to verify with all  
          other approved certifying organizations that an applicant has  
          not had a prior registration or certification revoked.
          
          Proposed Law: AB 2374 would require deaths at licensed  
          residential treatment facilities to be reported to the  
          Department of Health Care Services in a timely manner. The bill  
          would require reports to the Department of a resident death to  
          include information on the event, information on actions taken  
          in response by the facility, and proposed follow-up actions.

          The bill would require counselors (except licensed health care  
          professionals) to be registered or certified by a certifying  
          organization approved by the Department. The bill would require  
          private organizations that register or certify substance abuse  
          counsellors to verify that an applicant has not had another  
          registration or certification revoked.

          Related Legislation: AB 40 (Mansoor) would have required  
          residential treatment facilities to report resident deaths to  
          the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (the predecessor to  
          the Department of Health Care Services for this program) and  
          would have required medical detoxification services to be  
          provided under the supervision of a medical doctor. That bill  
          was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's Suspense  
          File.

          Staff Comments: The requirements of this bill largely codify  
          existing regulations. However, concerns have been raised that  
          the Department has not actively ensured that certifying  
          organizations are verifying that applicants have not previously  
          had a certification revoked. It is likely that the Department  
          will incur additional staff work to verify that certifying  
          organizations are following the requirements of this bill.

          Author's amendments: would require the Department to adopt  
          implementing regulations by 2018, but would allow the Department  
          to implement the bill thorough all-county letters until then,  
          and would make technical and clarifying changes.












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