SB 6544-S - DIGEST

(SUBSTITUTED FOR - SEE 2ND SUB)

     Directs that the minimum training standards for licensees serving residents with special needs, such as mental illness, dementia, or a developmental disability, be reviewed, and that licensees receive additional appropriate training, and that the training delivery system be improved.

     Directs the department of health to review, in coordination with the department of social and health services, the nursing care quality assurance commission, adult family home providers, boarding home providers, in-home personal care providers, and long-term care consumers and advocates, training standards for administrators and resident caregiving staff.  The departments and the commission shall submit to the appropriate committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 1, 1998, specific recommendations on training standards and the delivery system, including necessary statutory changes and funding requirements.

     Provides that the facility shall only admit or retain individuals whose needs it can safely and appropriately serve in the facility with appropriate available staff or through the provision of reasonable accommodations required by state or federal law.

     Requires that each resident and his or her representative must be informed in writing in advance of changes in the availability or the charges for services, items, or activities, or of changes in the facility's rules.