REPORT TITLE:
ARCH; Liability for Damages


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes the adult residential care home personal injury and
property damage compensation special fund to compensate the
operators of adult residential care homes and other persons for
personal injuries and property damage caused by residents who are
placed in adult residential care homes by the State.

 
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                                                           552
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                                
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                      A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO ADULT RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

   1       SECTION 1.  Chapter 321, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
   2  by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
   3  read as follows:
 
   4       "321-     Adult residential care home personal injury and
 
   5  property damage compensation special fund.  (a)  There is
 
   6  established in the state treasury the adult residential care home
 
   7  personal injury and property damage compensation special fund.
 
   8       (b)  The purpose of the special fund shall be to:
 
   9       (1)  Compensate the operators of adult residential care
 
  10            homes and other persons for personal injuries and
 
  11            property damage caused by residents who are placed in
 
  12            adult residential care homes by the State; provided
 
  13            that nothing in this section or chapter 351 shall be
 
  14            construed to prevent the operator of an adult
 
  15            residential care home or any other person from being
 
  16            awarded compensation under chapter 351; and
 
  17       (2)  Offer training and education programs in handling
 
  18            violent residents.
 
  19       (c)  The special fund shall consist of moneys appropriated
 

 
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                                        H.B. NO.           H.B. 1
                                                           
                                                           

 
   1  by the legislature for the purposes of the special fund; and a
 
   2  monthly contribution of $5 per resident deducted from state
 
   3  payments to adult residential care homes prior to the
 
   4  disbursement of these payments.  For the purposes of this
 
   5  subsection, "resident" means an individual who has been placed in
 
   6  an adult residential care home by the State.
 
   7       (d)  The monthly contribution in subsection (c) shall be
 
   8  suspended by the director of finance when the unencumbered
 
   9  balance in the special fund exceeds $100,000, and shall be
 
  10  reinstated when the unencumbered balance in the special fund
 
  11  drops below $75,000.
 
  12       (e)  Disbursements from the special fund shall be made by a
 
  13  five-member ad hoc panel consisting of the director of human
 
  14  services or the director's representative, the director of health
 
  15  or the director's representative, one representative from a
 
  16  patient advocacy group or patient advocacy agency appointed
 
  17  jointly by the director of human services and the director of
 
  18  health, one representative from an adult residential care home
 
  19  organization appointed by the director of human services, and one
 
  20  representative from an adult residential care home organization
 
  21  appointed by the director of health.
 
  22       (f)  The ad hoc panel shall be chaired alternately by the
 
  23  director of health and director of human services, or their
 

 
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                                        H.B. NO.           H.B. 1
                                                           
                                                           

 
   1  representatives; provided that the ad hoc panel shall be attached
 
   2  to the department of health for administrative purposes.
 
   3       (g)  The department of health shall adopt rules in
 
   4  accordance with chapter 91 to implement this section, including
 
   5  procedures to receive and pay claims for compensation, convene
 
   6  meetings of the ad hoc panel, and appoint representatives of
 
   7  patient advocacy groups, patient advocacy agencies, and adult
 
   8  residential care home organizations."
 
   9       SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
  10  revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $50,000, for fiscal
 
  11  year 1999-2000, to be paid into the adult residential care home
 
  12  personal injury and property damage compensation special fund
 
  13  created in section 1 of this Act.  The sum appropriated shall be
 
  14  expended by the department of health for the purposes of the
 
  15  adult residential care home personal injury and property damage
 
  16  compensation special fund.
 
  17       SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
  18  New statutory material is underscored.
 
  19       SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 

 
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