Bill Text: CA SB1259 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Licensed adult residential facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly: SSI/SSP recipients: report.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-08-20 - August 20 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB1259 Detail]
Download: California-2019-SB1259-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Senate
June 18, 2020 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
May 21, 2020 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
March 25, 2020 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 1259
| Introduced by Senator Hurtado |
February 21, 2020 |
An act to add Section 1501.5 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to care facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1259, as amended, Hurtado.
Licensed adult residential facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly: SSI/SSP recipients: report.
Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities by the State Department of Social Services, including various adult residential facilities, as described. Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly, as defined, by the department.
Existing law provides for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSP), which requires the department to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act.
This bill would
require the department to establish a task force for the purpose of issuing a report report, on or before January 1, 2023, that includes recommendations on how to meet the housing and care needs of recipients of SSI/SSP benefits. The bill would require the task force to, in the report, assess the unmet demand for licensed adult residential facility and residential care facility for the elderly placements for SSI/SSP recipients within each county and recommend how to build capacity of placements to those facilities for SSI/SSP recipients, among other things. The bill would also make related findings and declarations. The bill would require the department to update the Legislature on its progress in developing the report during the 2021–22
and 2022–23 budget process, as specified.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Over 200,000 Californians who cannot live independently due to physical limitations or behavioral health needs depend on licensed residential care facilities for housing and assistance with activities of daily living.
(b) These facilities, commonly referred to as board and care or assisted living facilities, are licensed as adult residential facilities (ARFs) or residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs).
(c) ARFs and RCFEs serve an important role in providing
housing, care, and supervision to people who cannot safely live on their own.
(d) California is home to more than 7 million people who are 60 years of age or older, and by 2060, that population is expected to reach 14.7 million people, an increase of 88 percent from 2016.
(e) As California’s population ages and other factors increase the number of individuals with behavioral health needs, the demand for ARF and RCFE placements will increase.
(f) This is especially true as more and more communities struggle with individuals experiencing homelessness who need more than just housing. They also need care and supervision.
(g) Older adults are at greater risk
of homelessness than at any time in recent history.
(h) Older adults are the fastest growing population of newly homeless.
(i) The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that California’s homeless population increased by 16.4 percent, or an additional 21,306 individuals from 2018.
(j) The number of individuals 62 years of age or older experiencing homelessness jumped 68.5 percent from 2007 to 2017.
(k) Researchers predict that the number of older adults experiencing homelessness will continue to grow if solutions are not found.
(l) Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSI/SSP) provides cash assistance to over 1.2 million low-income adults who are over 65 years of age, blind, or disabled.
(m) SSI/SSP benefits can be the sole factor that allows elderly and disabled individuals to avoid homelessness.
(n) Therefore, the state must act to ensure the housing and care needs of low-income older adults, adults with disabilities, and adults with serious mental illness are met.
SEC. 2.
Section 1501.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:1501.5.
(a) (1) The department shall establish a task force for the purpose of issuing a(2) At or before the first budget subcommittee hearings of the 2021–22 and 2022–23 budget process, the department shall update the Senate and Assembly Health and Human Services budget subcommittees on its progress in developing the report.
(b) The task force shall include representatives from the department, licensed adult residential facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly, State Department of Developmental Services, State Department of Health Care Services, county mental health and human services departments, advocates for individuals with behavioral and mental issues, antipoverty advocates, a representative of the long-term care ombudsperson, and advocates for older adults.
(c) In developing the report, the task force shall collaborate with stakeholders.
(d) The task force shall do all of the following in the report:
(1) Identify the existing capacity for licensed adult residential facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly that serve residents who receive SSI/SSP benefits, including identifying the existing capacity for residents with a serious mental illness.
(2) Assess the unmet demand for licensed adult residential facility and residential care facility for the elderly placements for SSI/SSP recipients within each county, including assessing the unmet demand for residents with a serious mental illness.
(3) Identify gaps in the data and recommend actions that would close the data gaps.
(4) Recommend how to build the capacity of licensed adult residential facility and residential care facility for the elderly
placements for SSI/SSP recipients.
(5) Identify strategies to ensure SSI/SSP recipients are residing in facilities that are appropriately licensed to meet the residents’ care needs.
(6) Make recommendations on implementing Section 1569.70.
(7) Make any other recommendations deemed appropriate by the majority of the task force members that would enhance the quantity or quality of licensed adult residential facilities and residential care facilities for the elderly that serve SSI/SSP recipients.
(e) For purposes of this section, “serious mental illness” means a mental disorder as identified
in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that is severe in degree and persistent in duration, presents a major risk to the person’s health and well-being, and causes behavioral functioning that interferes substantially with the primary activities of daily living and that results in an inability to maintain stable adjustment and independent functioning without treatment, support, and rehabilitation for a long or indefinite period of time. Serious mental illnesses may include, but are not limited to, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as major affective disorders or other severely disabling mental disorders.
