BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
BILL NO: AB 2629
A
AUTHOR: Lowenthal
B
VERSION: June 16, 2010
HEARING DATE: June 22, 2010
2
FISCAL: Appropriations
6
2
CONSULTANT:
9
Hailey
SUBJECT
Residential facilities
SUMMARY
Clarifies admission and retention requirements for
temporarily bedridden individuals in adult residential care
facilities and residential care facilities for the
chronically ill.
ABSTRACT
Current law
1) Establishes the California Community Care Act to govern
the licensing of community care facilities, including
residential facilities, adult day programs, therapeutic day
services, foster family agencies, foster family homes,
child care centers and family child care homes, and other
community and residential services.
2) Establishes the Department of Social Services (DSS) as
the entity overseeing residential care facilities,
Continued---
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including the following categories:
a) Residential care facilities for the elderly
(RCFEs);
b) Community care facilities, including adult
residential care facilities; and,
c) Residential care facilities for the
chronically-ill.
3) Requires a prospective applicant for licensure as a
residential care facility to secure and maintain fire
clearance approval from the local fire enforcement agency
or the state fire marshal.
4) Defines "bedridden" as either requiring assistance in
turning and repositioning in bed, or being unable to
transfer independently to and from bed, except in
facilities with appropriate and sufficient staff,
mechanical devices if necessary, and safety precautions as
determined by DSS.
5) Allows a bedridden individual to be admitted to, and
remain in, a facility if the facility secures and maintains
an appropriate fire clearance. A fire clearance will be
issued to a facility in which a bedridden individual
resides if the fire safety requirements are met, or
alternative methods of protection are approved.
6) Specifies that residents who are unable to transfer
independently to and from bed, but who do not need
assistance to turn or reposition in bed, shall be
considered nonambulatory for determining the appropriate
fire safety requirements.
7) Prohibits an RCFE from admitting or retaining a
resident if the resident requires 24-hour, skilled nursing
or intermediate care.
8) Allows an RCFE to retain a bedridden resident beyond 14
days if all of the following requirements are satisfied:
a) The facility notifies DSS in writing regarding the
temporary illness or recovery from surgery;
b) The facility submits to DSS, the notification and a
physician and surgeon's written statement to the effect
that the resident's illness or recovery is of a temporary
nature. The statement must contain an estimated date upon
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which the resident will no longer be confined to a bed;
c) DSS determines that the health and safety of the
resident is adequately protected in the facility and that
the transfer to a higher level of care is not necessary;
and,
d) Allowing the resident to remain at the RCFE does
not expand the scope of care and supervision of a RCFE.
9) Requires an RCFE admitting or retaining a bedridden
resident to notify the local fire authority within 48 hours
of the resident's admission or, in the case of retaining a
bedridden individual, the estimated length of time the
resident will retain his or her bedridden status in the
facility.
This bill
1) Specifies that the status of being bedridden shall not
include a temporary illness or recovery from surgery that
persists for less than two weeks.
2) Specifies that no client shall be admitted to or
retained in a residential facility if he or she requires
24-hour skilled nursing care.
3) Allows a bedridden client to be retained in a
residential facility in excess of 14 days if the following
requirements are met:
a) The facility notifies DSS in writing that the
person is recovering from a temporary illness or surgery;
b) The facility submits to DSS a physician and
surgeon's written statement to the effect that the client's
illness or recovery is of a temporary nature. The
statement must contain an estimated date upon which the
illness or recovery is expected to end or upon which the
client is expected to no longer be confined to bed; and,
c) DSS determines that the client's health and safety
is adequately protected in the facility and that transfer
to a higher level of care is not necessary.
4) Specifies that by allowing temporarily bedridden
individuals to remain in a residential care facility, the
scope of care and supervision of that facility is not
expanded.
5) States that notwithstanding the length of stay of a
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bedridden client, every residential facility admitting or
retaining a bedridden client shall, within 48 hours of the
client's admission or retention in the facility, notify the
local fire authority of the estimated length of time that
the client will be bedridden.
6) Makes clarifying, technical changes to existing law.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Assembly Appropriations Committee believes that DSS's
workload to implement this bill is absorbable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The Department of Social Services is responsible for
licensing several types of residential facilities, however
only RCFEs have flexibility when it comes to admitting or
retaining a temporarily bedridden resident. This bill will
extend the same allowances for temporarily bedridden
residents or clients that exist in RCFEs to adult
residential facilities and residential care facilities for
the chronically-ill licensed by DSS.
Residential care facilities are currently allowed to admit
and retain "bedridden" residents provided the facility
meets certain criteria, including fire safety precautions.
This bill does not expand the admission or retention
criteria for those facilities, nor does it relax existing
standards for fire safety, care, or staffing.
California has approximately 5,310 licensed adult
residential facilities, with a total capacity of 41,364
residents. In addition, DSS licenses 21 residential care
facilities for the chronically-ill, with a total capacity
of 347 residents.
According to the author, AB 2629 will provide uniformity
across licensed, non-medical, adult community care
facilities regarding fire safety protections for
nonambulatory residents who wish to remain in their "home"
when they have a condition that renders them temporarily
bedridden.
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Previous Legislation:
AB 762 (Lowenthal), Chapter 471, Statutes of 2009,
clarified the fire clearance requirements for bedridden
residents of RCFEs to distinguish between residents who are
nonambulatory and residents who are unable to turn or
reposition in bed.
AB 749 (Wolk), Chapter 477, Statutes of 2008, required
RCFEs to have an emergency plan that includes specific
provisions and is available, upon request, to residents
onsite and available to local emergency responders.
SB 1896 (Ortiz), Chapter 817, Statutes of 2000, revised the
definition of "bedridden" to mean either requiring
assistance in turning and repositioning in bed, or being
unable to independently transfer to and from bed, except in
facilities with appropriate and sufficient care staff and
other precautions. SB 1896 also allowed a bedridden person
to be admitted to, and remain in, an RCFE that secures and
maintains an appropriate fire clearance.
Assembly votes
Aging and Long-term Care 5-0
Appropriations 16-0
Floor 72-0
POSITIONS
Support: Community Residential Care Association of
California (sponsor)
Oppose: None received
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