BILL REQ. #:  H-4032.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/11/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to investigative costs for residential services and supports programs; adding new sections to chapter 71A.12 RCW; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   INTENT. The legislature finds that Washington's system to support persons with intellectual disabilities in the residential services and supports program should more aggressively investigate and resolve complaints of abuse or neglect for the vulnerable populations it serves. The legislature intends to address current funding levels that limit the department of social and health services' ability to promote vulnerable adult protections in the program. The legislature further intends that the cost of complaint investigation should be supported by an appropriate certification fee paid by the regulated businesses, rather than by the general taxpayers.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   RESIDENTIAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTS CERTIFICATION FEES. (1) Before the issuance of initial certification for the residential services and supports program, the applicant shall pay a certification fee. After initial certification, the certified provider must also pay an annual certification fee. Beginning July 1, 2014, and thereafter, the initial and annual certification fees must be established in the omnibus appropriations act and any amendment or additions made to that act. The certification fees established in the omnibus appropriations act and any amendment or additions made to that act may not exceed the department's costs for investigation of complaints about provider practice and individuals alleged to have abused, neglected, abandoned, or exploited clients. The certification fees must include all of the department's cost of paying providers for the amount of the certification fee attributed to medicaid clients.
     (2) No fee may be required of government-operated programs, the portion of certified residential services and supports clients for whom the program pays licensing fees under chapter 70.128 or 18.20 RCW, or court-appointed receivers.
     (3) The department may not collect the certification fee established in subsection (1) of this section if federal matching funds are unavailable for paying providers the amount of the license fee attributed to medicaid clients, or if federal matching funds are unavailable for investigative resources hired as a result of this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   DEPARTMENT DUTIES. The department shall use additional investigative resources to address a significant growth in the residential services and supports program complaint workload. The department shall use the resources to intervene for clients in a timelier manner when there is possible abuse or neglect. "Complaints," as used in this section, include both complaints about provider practice, under this chapter, and complaints about individuals alleged to have abused, neglected, abandoned, or exploited clients, under chapter 74.34 RCW. The department shall submit annual reports to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the legislature, starting December 1, 2015, and ending December 1, 2019. Each annual report must show how many investigators have been hired as a result of this chapter, and the number of cases investigated by these new staff. The report must also show how the percentage of total complaints investigated, and the average length of time to close a case, have changed as a result of this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 71A.12 RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect July 1, 2014.