BILL REQ. #: H-0163.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/29/13. Referred to Committee on Early Learning & Human Services.
AN ACT Relating to services for people with developmental disabilities; amending RCW 71A.16.040; and adding new sections to chapter 71A.20 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 A new section is added to chapter 71A.20 RCW
to read as follows:
The department:
(1) May, within sixty days of admission to a residential
habilitation center, ensure that each resident's individual
habilitation plan includes a plan for discharge to the community;
(2) Shall use a person-centered approach in developing the
discharge plan to assess the resident's needs and identify services the
resident requires to successfully transition to the community,
including:
(a) Employees of the residential habilitation centers and the
department providing transition planning for residents. To strengthen
continuity of care for residents leaving residential habilitation
centers, the department shall provide opportunities for residential
habilitation center employees to obtain employment in state-operated
living alternatives;
(b) Providing choice of community living options and providers,
consistent with federal requirements, including offering to place, with
the consent of the resident or his or her guardian, each resident of
the residential habilitation center on the appropriate home and
community-based waiver, as authorized under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396n, and
provide continued access to the services through medicaid and through
state funds made available for this purpose that meet his or her
assessed needs;
(c) Providing residents and their families or guardians
opportunities to visit state-operated living alternatives and supported
living options in the community;
(d) Offering residents leaving a residential habilitation center a
"right to return" to a residential habilitation center for two years
following their move;
(e) Addressing services in addition to those that will be provided
by residential services providers that are necessary to address the
resident's assessed needs, including:
(i) Medical services;
(ii) Nursing services;
(iii) Dental care;
(iv) Behavioral and mental health supports;
(v) Habilitation services; and
(vi) Employment or other day support;
(3) Shall assure that, prior to discharge from a residential
habilitation center, clients continue to be eligible for services for
which they have an assessed need;
(4) Shall maximize federal funding for transitioning clients
through the roads to community living grant;
(5) Shall limit the ability of a state-operated living alternative
to reject clients;
(6) Shall use any savings achieved through efficiencies to extend
services, including state-staffed and private contractor-staffed crisis
stabilization and respite services, to people with developmental
disabilities currently receiving limited or no services;
(7)(a) Shall employ the quality assurance process currently in use
by the department to monitor the adjustment of each resident who leaves
a residential habilitation center; and
(b) Shall convene a work group to review findings from the quality
assurance for people moving process and provide feedback on the
transition process. The work group shall include representatives of
the developmental disabilities council, disability rights Washington,
University of Washington center for human development and disability,
providers, families and advocates of persons with disabilities, and a
parent, sibling, or guardian of a resident of a residential
habilitation center; and
(8) Shall ensure that no paid caregiver is acting as a guardian for
someone they are caring for as a part of their occupation. Any client
without a guardian must be afforded one consistent with chapters 11.88
and 11.92 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 71A.20 RCW
to read as follows:
Beginning November 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, the department
shall submit information to the appropriate committees of the
legislature regarding persons who have transitioned from residential
habilitation centers to the community, for the first two years
following each person's new placement, including:
(1) Progress toward meeting the requirements of this act;
(2) Client and guardian satisfaction with services;
(3) Stability of placement and provider turnover, including
information on returns to a residential habilitation center under
section 1(2)(d) of this act;
(4) Safety and health outcomes;
(5) Types of services received by clients transitioned to the
community; and
(6) Continued accessibility of former residents to family.
Sec. 3 RCW 71A.16.040 and 1989 c 175 s 141 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) On receipt of an application for services submitted under RCW
71A.16.030, the secretary in a timely manner shall make a written
determination as to whether the applicant is eligible for services
provided under this title for persons with developmental disabilities.
(2) The secretary shall give notice of the secretary's
determination on eligibility to the person who submitted the
application and to the applicant, if the applicant is a person other
than the person who submitted the application for services. The notice
shall also include a statement advising the recipient of the right to
an adjudicative proceeding under RCW 71A.10.050 and the right to
judicial review of the secretary's final decision.
(3) The secretary shall not redetermine the eligibility of a
current eligible adult person, except where a comprehensive assessment
of the person shows a significant increase in the functional abilities
of the person such that he or she will no longer benefit from the
services available through this title.
(4) The secretary may establish rules for redetermination of
eligibility for services under this title.