CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. 42

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 914

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

C.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 914, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADULT RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this bill is to protect residents of adult residential care homes by:

(1) Establishing licensing qualifications and personnel, staffing, and family requirements for Type I and Type II adult residential care homes (ARCHs) and expanded adult residential care homes (expanded ARCHs); and

(2) Requiring the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct unannounced inspections of every licensed ARCH and expanded ARCH.

Your Committee on Conference has consulted with interested parties on the matter of unannounced inspections for ARCHs and expanded ARCHs and believes a compromise has been reached to satisfy the majority of those affected. While most ARCH and expanded ARCH operators do not object to having reasonable unannounced visits for purposes of ensuring the health and safety of residents, the operators are concerned about unannounced inspections for purposes of determining compliance with licensing requirements, because of the volume of paperwork that is involved and time consumed that could otherwise be spent caring for residents.

The managers of your Committee on Conference are committed to establishing a law that works properly and well, and will request that the House Speaker and Senate President convene a group to meet at least once within the next two years to monitor the effectiveness of this law, identify concerns, and recommend amendments to improve the law. Members of this group may include adult residential care home operators, representatives of AARP and DOH, and legislators from the subject-matter committees responsible for developing this law.

Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting reference to licensing qualifications and personnel, staffing, and family requirements;

(2) Changing the term "inspections" to "visits" except with regard to licensing inspections;

(3) Specifying that the purpose of unannounced visits is to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of residents rather than to determine compliance with licensing requirements;

(4) Specifying that unannounced visits may be conducted during or outside regular business hours;

(5) Specifying that annual inspections for relicensing shall be conducted with notice during regular business hours or at intervals determined by DOH; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and style.

 

 

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 914, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 914, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

____________________________

DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Co-Chair

____________________________

ROSALYN BAKER, Co-Chair

____________________________

MICHAEL P. KAHIKINA, Co-Chair

____________________________

COLLEEN HANABUSA, Co-Chair

____________________________

SCOTT Y. NISHIMOTO, Co-Chair