BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1572
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1572 (Eggman)
As Amended April 8, 2014
Majority vote
AGING 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-1
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|Ayes:|Yamada, Wagner, Brown, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Daly, Gray, Grove, Levine | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| | | |Gomez, Holden, Jones, |
| | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Donnelly |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Modernizes "resident councils" and "family councils"
in Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires RCFEs to orient resident council and family council
members of their rights to participate in facility regulatory
inspections and to promote resident or family councils by
informing residents of meeting dates, times, place, as well as
resident or facility contacts.
2)Clarifies that facility staff, Long-Term Care Ombudsman (LTCO)
program representatives, and other participants at resident
council and family council activities is permissive, upon
invitation of the council.
3)Requires RCFEs to consider and respond to written resident
council or family council inquiries within 14 calendar days,
and provides for a staff liaison for facilities with 16 or
more beds.
4)Requires RCFEs to share family and resident council
information with LTCO.
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5)Directs RCFEs with no family council to provide new residents,
new residents' families, friends and representatives with
information on their right to form a family council.
6)Prohibits willful interference with the formation,
maintenance, or promotion of a resident or family council.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the California Community Care Facilities Act for
the licensure and regulation of adult residential facilities,
group homes, and RCFEs.
2)Establishes that RCFEs provide a model of residential care for
persons 60 years of age or over, and permits varying levels
and intensities of care and supervision based upon a
resident's needs.
3)Provides for the licensure and regulation of RCFEs by the
State Department of Social Services (DSS) and establishes the
requirements for licensure and license renewal, including
facilitating the formation of resident-oriented facility
councils, and allowing the formation of family councils.
4)Requires every facility, at the request of a majority of the
residents, to assist with the formation of a resident-oriented
facility council composed of residents or family members, to
make recommendations to facility management to improve quality
of life, and strategies to enforce resident rights.
5)Allows the formation of family councils when requested by a
member of a resident's family or responsible party, and grants
the family council a private meeting room during agreed upon
times; allows family councils to meet privately with outside
persons, such as LTCO and other nonprofit or government
organizations, or with facility personnel during nonworking
hours.
6)Requires facilities to grant family councils access to space
on bulletin boards to post and display agendas, meeting
notices, and newsletters.
7)Declares that a willful or repeated violation of these
provisions is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to
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$1,000, imprisonment in county jail for up to one year, or
both.
8)Establishes the LTCO Program, administered pursuant to the
Mello-Grandlund Long-Term Care Act of 1996, to assist
residents in the assertion of their civil and human rights
through the encouragement of community contact and
involvement.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor and absorbable one-time and ongoing costs to DSS to
enforce the bill's provisions.
2)Unknown, likely minor penalty revenue, to the extent RCFEs are
cited for non-compliance and fines are assessed and collected.
COMMENTS : The primary purpose of resident councils and family
councils is for families or residents to influence the quality
of care within an RCFE. Facility staff is typically invited to
specific meetings at specific times to discuss specific
concerns. Effective councils provide a way to resolve concerns
through collaborative discussion before they rise to the level
of an official complaint.
The Governor's 2014-15 budget proposes an additional 71.5
positions, as well as other enhancements, to allow the
Continuing Care Licensing division of DSS to enhance their
oversight of licensed facilities.
Analysis Prepared by : Robert MacLaughlin / AGING & L.T.C. /
(916) 319-3990
FN: 0003274