SENATE BILL REPORT

                   HB 2152

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

          Health & Long-Term Care, February 22, 1996

Title:  An act relating to registration of adult family home providers and resident managers.

Brief Description:  Revising provisions for adult family home licensing and operation.

Sponsors:  Representatives Dyer, Backlund, Cody, Morris, Carlson, Thompson, Costa and Murray; by request of Department of Health.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Health & Long-Term Care:  2/16/96, 2/22/96 [DPA].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH & LONG-TERM CARE

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.

  Signed by Senators Quigley, Chair; Wojahn, Vice Chair; Deccio, Fairley, Franklin, Moyer, Thibaudeau and Wood.

Staff:  Rhoda Jones (786-7198)

Background:  Adult family homes are licensed by the state to provide residential care for up to six frail and functionally disabled persons in a homelike setting. There are approximately 1,850 licensed adult family homes statewide caring for over 8,000 individuals.  Approximately 2,000 of these residents are state funded.  Of the state-funded residents, 65 percent are disabled persons under 60 years of age, and the remaining are elderly.

In 1995, the Legislature passed a law requiring adult family home providers to register with the Department of Health (DOH), effective July 1, 1996.  This meant that for the first time the operators of adult family homes would be subject to disciplinary action under the state's Uniform Disciplinary Act.  The intent was to protect residents from conduct by caregivers that would threaten their health and safety.

Confusion has arisen over who exactly must register with the Department of Health.  While the 1995 legislation states that adult family home "providers" must register, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), which licenses adult family homes, uses other terminology to describe the operators. They describe "providers" as the owners who sometimes also operate the home, and "resident managers" as people hired by the provider to run the day-to-day operations of the home.

Summary of Amended Bill:  "Provider" and "resident manager" are used consistently throughout both DOH statutes pertaining to registration and DSHS statutes pertaining to licensing.  The Department of Social and Health Services must screen multiple adult family home operators for financial solvency, ability to operate their homes safely and proof they can mitigate the impact of vehicular traffic generated by their homes.

Amended Bill Compared to Original Bill:  The department is given authority to screen multiple family home operators for financial solvency, operating standards and traffic mitigation.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  The bill takes effect on July 1, 1996.

Testimony For:  This correction is necessary to clarify the intent of previous legislation.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Ron Weaver, DOH (pro); Carl Nelson, WSMA (pro).