BILL REQ. #:  H-0265.2 

Read first time 01/16/13.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety.

     AN ACT Relating to adult family homes; amending RCW 9.94A.843 and 70.128.230; adding a new section to chapter 9.94A RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 70.128 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 9.94A RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) If it appears that a person required to register as a sex offender under RCW 9A.44.130 may be seeking residence within an adult family home upon release from total confinement, the agency with jurisdiction over the person must notify the department of social and health services' aging and disability services administration three months before the anticipated release from total confinement.
     (b) The agency must inform the department of social and health services' aging and disability services administration of the person's name, identifying factors, anticipated future residence, and offense history.
     (2) The department of social and health services' aging and disability services administration must relay the information provided to it to all providers licensed to operate an adult family home and if a person required to register as a sex offender is admitted to an adult family home, require the adult family home provider to notify every resident, residents' representative, and, when possible, an interested family member for each resident of the information described in subsection (1)(b) of this section.
     (3) The agency with jurisdiction, its employees, and officials, and the department of social and health services, its employees, and officials are immune from liability for any good-faith conduct under this section, including the release of information.
     (4) For the purposes of this section, "agency with jurisdiction" means an agency with the authority to direct the release of a person serving a sentence of a term of confinement and includes the department of corrections, the indeterminate sentence review board, eastern and western state hospitals, and the department of social and health services.

Sec. 2   RCW 9.94A.843 and 1990 c 3 s 123 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department, its employees, and officials, shall be immune from liability for release of information regarding sex offenders that complies with RCW 4.24.550 or section 1(1) of this act.

Sec. 3   RCW 70.128.230 and 2012 c 164 s 705 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (a) "Caregiver" includes all adult family home resident managers and any person who provides residents with hands-on personal care on behalf of an adult family home, except volunteers who are directly supervised.
     (b) "Indirect supervision" means oversight by a person who has demonstrated competency in the core areas or has been fully exempted from the training requirements pursuant to this section and is quickly and easily available to the caregiver, but not necessarily on-site.
     (2) Training must have three components: Orientation, basic training, and continuing education. All adult family home providers, resident managers, and employees, or volunteers who routinely interact with residents shall complete orientation. Caregivers shall complete orientation, basic training, and continuing education.
     (3) Orientation consists of introductory information on residents' rights, communication skills, fire and life safety, and universal precautions. Orientation must be provided at the facility by appropriate adult family home staff to all adult family home employees before the employees have routine interaction with residents.
     (4) Basic training consists of modules on the core knowledge and skills that caregivers need to learn and understand to effectively and safely provide care to residents. Basic training must be outcome-based, and the effectiveness of the basic training must be measured by demonstrated competency in the core areas through the use of a competency test. Basic training must be completed by caregivers within one hundred twenty days of the date on which they begin to provide hands-on care. Until competency in the core areas has been demonstrated, caregivers shall not provide hands-on personal care to residents without indirect supervision.
     (5) For adult family homes that serve residents with special needs such as dementia, developmental disabilities, or mental illness, specialty training is required of providers and resident managers.
     (a) Specialty training consists of modules on the core knowledge and skills that providers and resident managers need to effectively and safely provide care to residents with special needs. Specialty training should be integrated into basic training wherever appropriate. Specialty training must be outcome-based, and the effectiveness of the specialty training measured by demonstrated competency in the core specialty areas through the use of a competency test.
     (b) Specialty training must be completed by providers and resident managers before admitting and serving residents who have been determined to have special needs related to mental illness, dementia, or a developmental disability. Should a resident develop special needs while living in a home without specialty designation, the provider and resident manager have one hundred twenty days to complete specialty training.
     (6) For adult family homes that serve residents who are registered sex offenders, specialty training is required of providers and resident managers.
     (a) Specialty training consists of modules on the core knowledge and skills that providers and resident managers need to effectively and safely provide care to residents, given the special needs of residents who are registered sex offenders. The specialty training must include, at a minimum, modules on pathology, triggers, and response tactics. Specialty training must be outcome-based, and the effectiveness of the specialty training measured by demonstrated competency in the core specialty areas through the use of a competency test.
     (b) Specialty training must be completed by providers and resident managers before admitting and serving residents who have been determined to have special needs related to mental illness, dementia, or a developmental disability. Should a resident develop special needs while living in a home without specialty designation, the provider and resident manager have one hundred twenty days to complete specialty training.
     (7) Continuing education consists of ongoing delivery of information to caregivers on various topics relevant to the care setting and care needs of residents. Competency testing is not required for continuing education. Continuing education is not required in the same calendar year in which basic or modified basic training is successfully completed. Continuing education is required in each calendar year thereafter. If specialty training is completed, the specialty training applies toward any continuing education requirement for up to two years following the completion of the specialty training.
     (((7))) (8) Persons who successfully challenge the competency test for basic training are fully exempt from the basic training requirements of this section. Persons who successfully challenge the specialty training competency test are fully exempt from the specialty training requirements of this section.
     (((8))) (9) Licensed persons who perform the tasks for which they are licensed are fully or partially exempt from the training requirements of this section, as specified by the department in rule.
     (((9))) (10) In an effort to improve access to training and education and reduce costs, especially for rural communities, the coordinated system of long-term care training and education must include the use of innovative types of learning strategies such as internet resources, videotapes, and distance learning using satellite technology coordinated through community colleges, private associations, or other entities, as defined by the department.
     (((10))) (11) Adult family homes that desire to deliver facility-based training with facility designated trainers, or adult family homes that desire to pool their resources to create shared training systems, must be encouraged by the department in their efforts. The department shall develop criteria for reviewing and approving trainers and training materials. The department may approve a curriculum based upon attestation by an adult family home administrator that the adult family home's training curriculum addresses basic and specialty training competencies identified by the department, and shall review a curriculum to verify that it meets these requirements. The department may conduct the review as part of the next regularly scheduled inspection authorized under RCW 70.128.070. The department shall rescind approval of any curriculum if it determines that the curriculum does not meet these requirements.
     (((11))) (12) The department shall adopt rules by September 1, 2002, for the implementation of this section.
     (((12))) (13)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, the orientation, basic training, specialty training, and continuing education requirements of this section commence September 1, 2002, and shall be applied to (i) employees hired subsequent to September 1, 2002; or (ii) existing employees that on September 1, 2002, have not successfully completed the training requirements under RCW 70.128.120 or 70.128.130 and this section. Existing employees who have not successfully completed the training requirements under RCW 70.128.120 or 70.128.130 shall be subject to all applicable requirements of this section.
     (b) Beginning January 7, 2012, long-term care workers, as defined in RCW 74.39A.009, employed by an adult family home are also subject to the training requirements under RCW 74.39A.074.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 70.128 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department must adopt rules and standards to provide enhanced payments to a provider for each resident in an adult family home under its operation who is a registered sex offender and who is a medicaid resident. The payments must be calculated to compensate the providers for any extraordinary expenses due to the presence of sex offenders in the adult family home.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "extraordinary expenses" includes, but is not limited to, any demonstrated increase in liability insurance costs due to the presence of a registered sex offender in the adult family home and the costs of specialty training required under RCW 70.128.230(6).