SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 5360

As of February 2, 2017

Title: An act relating to reducing training requirements for developmental disability respite providers working three hundred hours or less in any calendar year.

Brief Description: Reducing training requirements for developmental disability respite providers working three hundred hours or less in any calendar year.

Sponsors: Senators Bailey, Rivers, Cleveland, Darneille, Brown, O'Ban, Conway, Walsh, Rolfes, Zeiger, Hasegawa, Keiser, Wellman, Kuderer and Fain.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Health Care: 1/31/17.

Staff: Kathleen Buchli (786-7488)

Background: Individual providers are people who have contracted with the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to provide personal care or respite care services to functionally disabled persons.

Individual providers who provide respite services and work less than 300 hours in a calendar year must complete 35 hours of training within 120 days after becoming an individual provider. Five hours of training must be completed before the individual provider may provide care; two of these hours must be devoted to an orientation training regarding the role of caregiver and three of these hours must be on safety training.

The training partnership develops training programs for long-term care workers, including individual providers.

Summary of Bill: Individual providers who provide respite care services for individuals with developmental disabilities and who work 300 hours or less in a calendar year must complete 14 hours of training within 120 days of becoming an individual provider. Five hours of training must be completed before providing care; this includes two hours of orientation training and 3 hours of safety training. The training partnership must offer at least 12 hours of training online and individual providers must be able to select elective course for at least five online courses.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Creates Committee/Commission/Task Force that includes Legislative members: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: This is a good bill which helps care providers, many of whom are family members. Respite providers assist families who deserve to have a break. Parents find that it is hard to hire and train respite providers; reducing training hours will open up the pool of providers. This will benefit parent providers who have regular jobs and it is hard to take time off to get the required training; lowering the training hours and offering classes online will make it easier for parent providers. There is no workforce of respite providers, you have to find your own provider who then has to take the training. These providers usually have other jobs which makes the online training so important and more accessible. There are a lack of training opportunities and the classes are inconveniently located. Some of the training has nothing to do with the work the provider will be performing. Parents want training that is relevant to the developmental disability population; this bill provides for the opportunity to individualize the training. The recent audit by the Auditor's Office shows that many providers start the training and then drop out before completing it; the training requirements are barriers to becoming an provider. This is an important step forward but other training elements need to be addressed.

Persons Testifying: PRO: Senator Barbara Bailey, Prime Sponsor; Audrey Adams, Developmental Disabilities Council; Demas Nesterenko, SEIU775; Sylvia Liang, parent provider; Frank Metully, parent provider; Donna Patrick, Developmental Disabilities Council; Bethany Maertens, student, The Evergreen State College; Marcie Taylor, Community Employment Alliance; Diana Stadden, The Arc Of WA; Maxford Nelsen, Freedom Foundation.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: No one.