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