Bill Text: HI HCR117 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Urging The Department Of Health To Foster A More Supportive Regulatory Structure And Environment For Licensed Or Certified Care Facilities, Including Adult Residential Care Homes, Expanded Adult Residential Care Homes, And Community Care Foster Family Homes.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-11 - Referred to HLT/HSH, CPC, referral sheet 40 [HCR117 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2020-HCR117-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

117

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO foster a more supportive regulatory structure and environment for licensed or certified care facilities, including adult residential care homes, expanded adult residential care homes, and community care foster family homes.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the proportion of Hawaii residents aged sixty-five and older in relation to the State's total population increased from 7.9 percent in 1980 to 17.1 percent in 2016, and is expected to keep rising through 2030; and

 

WHEREAS, the growth of the State's senior population is likely to bring about increased consumer demand for long-term care options, including community-based living options such as adult residential care homes, expanded adult residential care homes, and community care foster family homes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health's Office of Health Care Assurance is tasked with regulating these types of care facilities, in addition to other facilities that provide day care or assisted living services to seniors; and

 

     WHEREAS, in recent years, the Legislature has required increasingly stringent oversight of licensed adult residential care homes, licensed expanded adult residential care homes, and certified community care foster family homes, including mandatory home and automobile liability insurance and mandatory posting of inspection reports on the Department of Health's website; and

 

     WHEREAS, other recently enacted legislation has provided the Department of Health with more aggressive enforcement authority, for example:

 

     (1)  Act 184, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, codified in part as section 321-1.9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which requires the Department to conduct unannounced visits and inspections, including inspections for relicensing or recertification and follow-up visits to confirm the correction of deficiencies or to investigate complaints, of various types of licensed or certified care facilities, including adult residential care homes, expanded adult residential care homes, and community care foster family homes; and

 

     (2)  Act 148, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, codified as part XXXVIIIA of Chapter 321, Hawaii Statutes, which, among other things, grants the Department authority to obtain access to an alleged unlicensed or uncertified care facility, including through a court-issued search warrant; provides the Department with the right of entry to care facilities for investigation purposes; and establishes the misdemeanor offense of intentionally operating a care facility without a license or certificate; and

 

     WHEREAS, the testimony of the State's Long-Term Care Ombudsman dated February 14, 2018, on House Bill No. 1911, H.D. 1, which was subsequently amended and enacted as Act 148, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, referenced the multitude of requirements that licensed or certified care facilities are subject to, including "staffing requirements, criminal background check requirements, building and fire code requirements, substitute caregiver requirements, Resident Rights requirements, knowledge of CPR requirements, TB clearance requirements, reading and speaking English requirements, housing design and self-preservation requirements, confidentiality requirements, medical records requirements, billing and financial record requirements, medication pass requirements (especially regarding the use of antipsychotic medications), infection control requirements, [and] waste removal requirements," among others; and

 

     WHEREAS, given the complexity of navigating the applicable care facility laws and regulations, it is conceivable that some care facility operators would have difficulty staying abreast of the latest mandates, and that a certain number of alleged violations would, upon investigation, prove to have been unintentionally or unknowingly committed; and

 

WHEREAS, the Legislature believes that in the interest of ensuring an adequate supply of quality long-term care options, it would be beneficial to foster a regulatory atmosphere of openness and mutual cooperation, rather than one that is perceived by some to be intimidating and overly punitive; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is urged to foster a more supportive regulatory structure and environment for licensed or certified care facilities, including adult residential care homes, expanded adult residential care homes, and community care foster family homes, and to amend its administrative rules accordingly, where applicable; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health endeavor to be more proactive in providing training and consultation to operators and staff of licensed adult residential care homes and expanded adult residential care homes pursuant to sections 321-15.6 and 321-15.62, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and to offer educational and outreach activities to all licensed or certified care facilities that are designed to encourage and enhance compliance; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Director of Health.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

 

 

Report Title: 

Licensed and Certified Care Facilities; Supportive Regulatory Structure and Environment

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