THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

82

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO REQUIRE ADULT RESIDENTIAL CARE HOME OPERATORS TO SUBMIT QUARTERLY REPORTS OF PERSONAL NEEDS ALLOWANCES DISTRIBUTED TO RESIDENTS.

 

 

WHEREAS, Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides supplemental payments to the aged, blind, and disabled who have very little income from Social Security or other resources; and

WHEREAS, SSI and Medicaid recipients in adult residential care homes (ARCHs) or long-term care homes retain, out of their SSI payments, a $30 per month personal needs allowance (allowance) under federal law, with the remaining funds directed to the care facility; and

WHEREAS, the allowance gives recipients the ability to pay for clothing and other personal items such as toiletries, bus fare, snacks, and other costs of day-to-day living; and

WHEREAS, additionally, the State provides a $20 monthly allowance to the recipient, providing the recipient a total of $50 per month in allowance; and

WHEREAS, accounting for the federal portion of the allowance paid to individuals in long-term care homes is sufficiently scrutinized and audited by the federal government; and

WHEREAS, the allowance distributed through ARCHs does not fall under the same scrutiny and has resulted in some cases of funds not being properly distributed to recipients, or recipients being charged out of their allowance for unnecessary personal items; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, that the Department of Human Services (DHS) is requested to incorporate into its contracts with ARCHs an auditing requirement on personal needs allowances distributed to residents of ARCHs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the audit is requested to be submitted quarterly by ARCHs to DHS and include a listing of each resident receiving or entitled to a personal needs allowance from the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the listing is requested to include the:

(1) Resident's name;

(2) Amount received by the ARCH from the State and federal government that is intended for distribution to the recipient for each month in the quarter;

(3) Monthly balance of the account if the account is maintained by the ARCH operator; and

(4) Amount of any funds that the ARCH operator deducted from the allowance and the reason for the deduction;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of DHS and the Chair of the Hawaii Coalition of Care Home Administrators.

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

DHS; Adult Residential Care Home Operators