BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        SB 609|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520         Fax: (916) |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           
                                           
                                 UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 609
          Author:   Wolk (D)
          Amended:  8/7/13
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 4/9/13
          AYES:  Yee, Berryhill, Emmerson, Evans, Liu, Wright

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 4/22/13
          AYES:  De León, Walters, Gaines, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Hill

           SENATE FLOOR  :  37-0, 4/29/13 (Consent)  
          AYES:  Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Calderon, Cannella,  
            Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller,  
            Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff,  
            Jackson, Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Monning, Nielsen, Padilla,  
            Pavley, Price, Roth, Steinberg, Walters, Wolk, Wright, Wyland,  
            Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Liu, Vacancy, Vacancy

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 76-0, 9/3/13 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill increases fines for willfully interfering  
          with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program's lawful actions from  
          a maximum of $1,000 to a maximum of $2,500, and makes other  
                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 609
                                                                     Page  
          2

          minor and technical changes.  

           Assembly Amendments  provide that funds in the Access to  
          Facilities Account shall be available to the Office of the  
          Long-Term Care Ombudsman (Office) to fund the training costs,  
          and to reimburse the travel expenses, of local ombudsman  
          programs throughout the state, provide that each instance of  
          willful interference may be reported to local law enforcement  
          and the appropriate licensing agency as an act of isolation, and  
          delete the provision requiring that no less than 75% of the  
          penalties collected shall be dedicated to fund the direct travel  
          costs associated with local Ombudsmen visits or training of  
          local Ombudsmen throughout the state.  

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1.Establishes the Special Deposit Fund as a trust fund in the  
            State Treasury to provide a depository for money received in  
            trust for specific purposes by a department for which no other  
            fund has been created to receive those funds. 

          2.Establishes the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (Program)  
            within the CDA in order to encourage community contact and  
            involvement with elderly patients or residents of long-term  
            health care facilities or residential facilities. 

          3.Requires the Ombudsman to identify, investigate, and resolve  
            complaints that may adversely affect the health, safety,  
            welfare, or rights of residents of long-term care facilities. 

          4.Requires that representatives of the Program shall have access  
            to long-term care facilities and residents, appropriate access  
            to review the medical and social records of a resident. 

          5.Prohibits willful interference with the functions of the  
            Ombudsman representative and the Program. 

          6.Provides that representatives of the Ombudsman shall have the  
            right to enter and move about long-term care facilities to  
            identify, hear, investigate, resolve complaints observe and  
            monitor conditions of facilities. 


                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 609
                                                                     Page  
          3

          7.Requires the Office to solicit and receive funds, gifts, and  
            contributions and permits the office to form a foundation  
            eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions for this  
            purpose. 


          This bill:

          1.Increases the civil monetary penalty assessed by the Director  
            of CDA against any person who willfully interferes with any  
            lawful action of the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman  
            from $1,000 to $2,500. 

          2.Establishes the "Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Improvement  
            Act Account" within the state's Special Deposit Fund to  
            receive funds, gifts, and contributions, of which the receipt  
            or solicitation would not jeopardize the independence and  
            objectivity of the Office, to support the operations of the  
            Program. 

          3.Establishes the "Access to Facilities Account" within the  
            state's Special Deposit Fund for the purposes of receiving  
            civil monetary penalties collected as a result of enforcement  
            of a statutory prohibition against willfully interfering with  
            a Program representative's attempt to access a long-term care  
            facility, or to meet confidentially with a resident of a  
            long-term care facility. 

           Background
           
           Office of the State Ombudsman  .  The state's Program is  
          administered through the CDA and 35 local programs contracted  
          through the network of local area agencies on aging.  The  
          program utilizes approximately 950 volunteers and 155 paid  
          full-time and part-time staff to serve as resident/patient  
          advocates of residents in over 9,000 long-term care facilities.   
          Volunteers initially receive a minimum of 36 hours of training  
          to carry-out their duties.  According to the CDA Web site, the  
          primary responsibility of the Program is to investigate and  
          endeavor to resolve complaints made by, or on behalf of,  
          individual residents in long-term care facilities.  The goal of  
          the program is to advocate for the rights of all residents of  
          long-term care facilities. 


                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 609
                                                                     Page  
          4

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No


          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:


           Minor projected annual revenue increases, based on recent  
            administrative penalties issues (General Fund).  In 2012, the  
            CDA issued two such civil penalties.

           Minor ongoing expenditures for state Long-Term Care Ombudsman  
            activities and for local ombudsman activities (General Fund).

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  4/23/13 - unable to reverify at time of  
          writing)

          Alliance on Aging Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program for Monterrey  
          County
          California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform 
          California Catholic Conference, Inc.
          California Commission on Aging
          California Long Term-Care Ombudsman Association
          California Senior Legislature
          Consumer Federation of California
          Council on Aging-Orange County
          Humboldt-Del Norte Long Term Care Ombudsman Program
          Long Term Care Services of Ventura County
          Older Women's League of California
          Ombudsman Services of Northern California-Shasta Region 
          Ombudsman Services of San Mateo County, Inc.
          Ventura County Board of Supervisor


           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, the  
          State Long-Term Care Ombudsman reports recent incidences where  
          local offices have approached long term care facilities and were  
          refused entry into the facility despite state law requiring  
          facilities to grant unhindered access.  In response, the  
          Ombudsman requested the CDA to initiate actions against those  
          facilities.  One facility paid the penalty of $1,000 but another  
          facility has ignored the fine forcing the Ombudsman to initiate  
          a claim in small claims court.  Because the Ombudsman did not  
          have an account set up to receive the funds, nor authority to  

                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 609
                                                                     Page  
          5

          expend the funds, the fines reverted to the General Fund.  

          The author's office further states that the current penalty of  
          $1,000 has been in place for 30 years and is an insufficient  
          deterrent against violations.  By increasing the penalty to  
          $2,500 and establishing it for each incident of willful  
          interference, the Ombudsman will have a stronger tool to ensure  
          local Ombudsmen legal access to residents and facilities.  The  
          author's office states that any penalties collected would fund  
          more outreach to facilities by local Ombudsmen and training for  
          volunteers to perform site visits. 

          Several local ombudsman programs state that, for years, some  
          facilities have refused to allow Ombudsman representatives to  
          enter facilities without an escort, in violation of state and  
          federal law.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  76-0, 9/3/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,  
            Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth  
            Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray,  
            Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,  
            Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,  
            Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,  
            V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,  
            Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Donnelly, Hall, Vacancy, Vacancy


          JL:RM:d:n  9/3/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

                                   ****  END  ****






                                                                CONTINUED