An adult family home is a residential home that provides personal care, specialty care, necessary supervision, laundry, and room and board for up to eight adults who need long-term care. The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) licenses and regulates adult family homes. The adult family homes must meet facility standards, which include ensuring that the maximum and minimum temperature of any room used by a resident is comfortable for the resident and does not compromise the resident's health and safety. At a minimum, room temperatures must be kept at 68 degrees Fahrenheit or more during waking hours and 60 degrees Fahrenheit or more during sleeping hours. There are about 3600 licensed adult family homes in Washington and approximately 300 new adult family homes licensed each year.
 
In the past, Washington State experienced record breaking heat. DSHS previously reported on how extreme heat impacts long-term care residents and found that a number of long-term care resident deaths were caused by heat stroke.  In response to this, DSHS has increased training opportunities for long-term care staff to learn about working with residents during a heat wave.

An appropriation of $5 million is made to DSHS to establish a grant program to expand the use of air conditioning in adult family homes that serve individuals whose services are funded through Medicaid, or state funded long-term care programs. An adult family home may receive up to $5,000 in grant funds to use to equip and install portable air conditioning units in resident's bedrooms and common areas, or updating the home's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to include air conditioning. DSHS must verify the grant was used appropriately at the inspection immediately following the home's receipt of the grant.
 
By December 1, 2024, DSHS must include a survey of each adult family home's air conditioning capabilities during their regular inspection of the home and report their survey findings to the Legislature. The report must break out their findings by the number of homes using portable air conditioning, the number of homes with air conditioning as part of the home's HVAC system, and whether the home is private pay or publicly funded, and include recommendations for increasing the number of homes with air conditioning.
 
Applications for a new adult family license received on or after July 1, 2025, must demonstrate that the home has air conditioning or another cooling system. DSHS must consult with consumers, advocates, and organizations representing adult family homes when implementing this requirement.

PRO: This bill was originally brought in response to the heat wave of summer 2021 where many residents in adult family homes passed away. With the increase of triple digit temperatures throughout our summers, many adult family homes will benefit from this grant program. The future requirement in section 4 of the bill should be modified to apply to new adult family homes and not newly licensed adult family homes which could result from a homeowner changing their business structure.