BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2374 (Mansoor) - Substance abuse: recovery and treatment
services.
Amended: July 1, 2014 Policy Vote: Health 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 14, 2014
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: AB 2374 would require deaths at licensed
residential treatment facilities to be reported to the
Department of Health Care Services in a timely manner. The bill
would require private organizations that register or certify
substance abuse counsellors to verify that an applicant has not
had another registration or certification revoked.
Fiscal Impact (as approved on August 14, 2014):
One-time costs up to $250,000 to revise regulations and
verify that certifying organizations comply with the
requirements of the bill (General Fund and federal funds).
Minor ongoing costs to periodically review policies and
performance of certifying organizations (General Fund and
federal funds).
Background: Under current law, the Department of Health Care
Services licenses adult residential treatment facilities for
substance abuse treatment. Residential treatment facilities
provide 24-hour, non-medical services to adults recovering from
drug and/or alcohol abuse.
Current regulations require residential treatment facilities to
report deaths, injuries, and other incidents by telephone within
one working day with a written report within seven working days
Under current law, drug and alcohol counsellors are not required
to be licensed health care professionals. Current regulation
requires drug and alcohol counsellors who are not licensed
health care professionals to be registered or certified by one
of several private certifying organizations approved by the
AB 2374 (Mansoor)
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Department. Before certifying an applicant as a drug and alcohol
counsellor, those organizations are required to verify with all
other approved certifying organizations that an applicant has
not had a prior registration or certification revoked.
Proposed Law: AB 2374 would require deaths at licensed
residential treatment facilities to be reported to the
Department of Health Care Services in a timely manner. The bill
would require reports to the Department of a resident death to
include information on the event, information on actions taken
in response by the facility, and proposed follow-up actions.
The bill would require counselors (except licensed health care
professionals) to be registered or certified by a certifying
organization approved by the Department. The bill would require
private organizations that register or certify substance abuse
counsellors to verify that an applicant has not had another
registration or certification revoked.
Related Legislation: AB 40 (Mansoor) would have required
residential treatment facilities to report resident deaths to
the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (the predecessor to
the Department of Health Care Services for this program) and
would have required medical detoxification services to be
provided under the supervision of a medical doctor. That bill
was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's Suspense
File.
Staff Comments: The requirements of this bill largely codify
existing regulations. However, concerns have been raised that
the Department has not actively ensured that certifying
organizations are verifying that applicants have not previously
had a certification revoked. It is likely that the Department
will incur additional staff work to verify that certifying
organizations are following the requirements of this bill.
Author's amendments: would require the Department to adopt
implementing regulations by 2018, but would allow the Department
to implement the bill thorough all-county letters until then,
and would make technical and clarifying changes.
AB 2374 (Mansoor)
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