BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 74
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
74 (Calderon) - As Amended April 7, 2015
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|Policy |Human Services |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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| |Aging and Long Term Care | |7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill revises inspection schedules of facilities
licensed by the Department of Social Services, except Foster
Care Homes. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to increase
the frequency of annual unannounced licensing visits of
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community care facilities, residential care facilities for the
elderly (RCFEs), licensed child day care centers and family
day care homes, from once every 5 years to:
a. Once every 3 years beginning July 1, 2016.
b. Once every 2 years beginning July 1, 2017.
c. Annually beginning July 1, 2018.
Unless, (for a and b above), the license for a facility is on
probation, the facility is under annual inspection orders
based upon a plan of correction, a formal accusation against a
facility license is pending, or the terms of federal financial
participation already dictate annual unannounced inspections.
2)Provides for a random sampling process to select which
facilities will be subject to a once-every-three year
unannounced inspection beginning July 1, 2016, and a
once-every-two year inspection beginning July 1, 2017.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Ongoing major future costs in the range of $20 million (GF)
once the frequency of inspections in all facility types is
completed annually.
2)The Governor's 2015-16 January budget proposal includes $3
million (GF) and 28.5 positions for CCLD to address a backlog
of complaint cases and to expand training and technical
assistance. In addition, the proposal requires DSS to
phase-in increased inspection frequency to once every three
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years starting January 2017, for all facilities, once every
two years by 2018 for all facility types except child care,
and annually by 2019 for adult day care and residential care
facilities for the elderly. Ongoing staffing costs are
estimated at $14 million (GF).
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This legislation seeks to significantly increase the
number of inspection visits to licensed facilities such as
child care centers, residential care facilities for the
elderly, and family child care homes. The author notes that
increasing the frequency of licensing visits "will demonstrate
that California is serious about addressing the deficiency in
our inspection process for Community Care Facilities and will
put California on par with the inspection procedures of other
states. Currently we have a complaint based oversight system
that is reactive to issues in our facilities instead of being
proactive to prevent issues or fix and stop these issues
before they become deadly. Facilities are in need of frequent
inspections because of the vulnerability of the clients these
facilities serve and it is our job to make sure these
individuals are being properly taken care of."
2)Background. The Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) of
DSS is responsible for the regulatory and licensing activities
related to residential and non-residential programs licensed
by DSS. These include 24-hour senior, adult, and child
residential care homes, as well as non-residential programs
(e.g., child care centers and adult day programs). CCLD is
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responsible for conducting facility inspections, pursuing
administrative actions when licensing standards are not met,
and assisting providers to maintain compliance with licensing
regulations.
Prior to 2003, the required frequency of CCLD licensing visits
was annually for most facility types. Subsequently, in
response to the state's fiscal situation, legislation was
enacted to lengthen the interval between visits in an effort
to reduce program costs. CCLD now conducts unannounced visits
annually only when a facility is experiencing program
compliance problems, or when it is required as a condition of
federal funding participation. For all other facilities not
subject to annual inspections, CCLD is required to conduct
comprehensive compliance inspections of a 20% random sample of
facilities each year, with no facility being visited less than
once every five years.
In response to health and safety issues discovered at
facilities licensed by the CCLD, the 2014-15 Governor's Budget
included a comprehensive plan to reform the CCLD program. The
plan included an increase of $7.5 million ($5.8 million GF)
and 71.5 positions to improve the timeliness of
investigations, ensure the CCLD inspects all facilities at
least once every five years, increase staff training, and
establish clear fiscal, program, and corporate accountability.
The plan did not change the mandated inspection frequency, but
the number and frequency of visits was expected to increase
due to the additional resources dedicated to specialized
workloads, thereby permitting licensing program analysts to
conduct more facility inspections.
In addition, SB 855 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review)
Chapter 29, Statutes of 2014, included legislative intent
language stating "it is the intent of the Legislature to, over
a period of time, increase the frequency of facility
inspections resulting in annual inspections for some or all
facility types."
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3)Prior Legislation.
a) AB 1454 (Calderon), 2014, was substantially similar to
this bill. It would have phased in annual licensing
inspection visits by July 1, 2017. It was held on the
Senate Appropriations Suspense File.
b) AB 364 (Calderon), 2013, required CCL to conduct
licensing inspections in most community care facilities at
least once every two years. It was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Suspense File.
c) AB 419 (Mitchell), 2011, would have required DSS to
conduct an unannounced inspection of a care facility, using
prescribed inspection protocols, at least once each year
and as often as necessary to ensure the quality of care
provided, except for family day care centers, which the
department would have been required to inspect at least
once every 2 years. It was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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