STAND. COM. REP. NO.640
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: S.B. No. 1061
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1061 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADULT RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to codify licensing qualifications and personnel, staff, and family requirements for Type I and Type II adult residential care homes (ARCHs) and expanded ARCHs, and to require unannounced annual inspections of ARCHs and expanded ARCHs during or outside of normal business hours.
Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman; the Hawaii Long-Term Care Association; Kokua Council; AARP Hawaii; and twenty-two concerned citizens. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Health; the United Group of Home Operators; the Hawaii Coalition of Care Home Administrators; and two concerned citizens.
Your Committees find that about 8,400 elders live in licensed nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and adult residential care homes in the State of Hawaii, according to the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Your Committees find that unannounced inspections can help to ensure the safety of vulnerable elders in adult residential care homes. According to a February 17, 2003, Honolulu Advertiser article, at least twenty-five other states have enacted laws that allow unannounced inspections of adult residential care homes. Your Committees further find that proposed changes to the Department of Health's administrative rules that would permit unannounced inspections have been debated for over four years now, with no resolution in sight. Therefore, your Committees recommend passing this measure to facilitate further discussion of this important issue.
Your Committees have amended this measure as follows:
(1) Amending the requirements for a Type I adult residential care home (ARCH) by requiring that the primary caregiver be at least a nurse aide;
(2) Requiring each individual over eighteen years of age who either resides in or provides care or services to residents in a Type I ARCH to submit documented evidence of an initial criminal background check as a condition of licensure, and allowing the Department of Health to deny or revoke an application for a Type I ARCH license if an individual's past criminal conviction places the residents at risk;
(3) Requiring a Type II ARCH with eight or more residents to have a registered nurse on duty twenty-four hours a day;
(4) Requiring the administrator of a Type II ARCH to provide at least thirty days written notice prior to a forthcoming closure;
(5) Requiring the primary caregiver in an expanded ARCH be a licensed nurse;
(6) Requiring the Department of Health to conduct unannounced inspections, during or outside of regular business hours, of adult residential care homes on an annual basis and at such intervals as required to determine compliance with licensing requirements; and
(7) Making other technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and formatting.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1061, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1061, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Health,
|
____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair |
|