FINAL BILL REPORT

                    I 775

                           C 3 L 02

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Regulating and improving long-term in-home care services.

Sponsors:  By People of the State of Washington.

Background:  Currently there are approximately 33,500 individuals in the state who receive state-funded long term care at home. People receive this home care in one of two ways:  either from employees of home care agencies, or from caregivers who work as independent contractors and provide their services through the Individual Provider Program (IPP).  Caregivers in the IPP program are employed by the client, but paid by the state.  Before the passage of I-775, there was no employer of record for home care workers in the IPP program.  There has also never been a formal system for matching people who need home care services with caregivers in the IPP program. Each community uses a referral list which is generally  maintained by the local Area Agency on Aging.  The Department of Social and Health Services is responsible for providing background checks on IPP workers, and withholding certain taxes.

Summary:  The Home Care Quality Authority is created, a nine-member board representing constituent groups, and appointed by the Governor.  The Authority serves as employer for individual providers solely for the purposes of engaging in collective bargaining.  The initiative mandates that the funds needed to implement any collective bargaining agreement be included in the Governor's budget request to the Legislature.

The Authority is authorized to set qualifications standards for workers, and to oversee referral, recruitment, training, background checks, and related activities.  It is directed to establish a statewide referral service of individual providers, listing only those who meet minimum standards, and eliminating those who have been found to have mistreated clients.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee is directed to conduct a review of the Authority every two years.  The first report is due before December 1, 2006.

Effective:  December 6, 2001