REPORT TITLE:
Long-term Care Vol. Ombudsman


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates funds to DOH to establish a long term care volunteer
ombudsman program.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                             
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           128
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                     
STATE OF HAWAII                                                 
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO ESTABLISH A LONG TERM CARE VOLUNTEER
   OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the long term care
 
 2 ombudsman program is a federally mandated program which is funded
 
 3 through the Older Americans Act of 1965.  The program is charged
 
 4 with the responsibility of serving as an advocate for residents
 
 5 living in licensed nursing facilities and adult residential care
 
 6 homes; especially those who may be unable or afraid to speak for
 
 7 themselves.  Situated within the executive office on aging, this
 
 8 statewide program requires the ombudsman to visit all forty-four
 
 9 nursing homes and five hundred thirty-seven adult residential
 
10 care homes on six islands.  There are approximately six thousand
 
11 three hundred beds in these facilities currently under the long
 
12 term care ombudsman program's purview.  The program is currently
 
13 staffed by two full-time program specialists.
 
14      The program's primary function is to respond to complaints
 
15 and requests for information or assistance.  Outreach to
 
16 residents in these facilities and homes is an essential component
 
17 of the program since the residents served are usually frail and
 
18 dependent with physical, mental, or emotional needs.  Often,
 
19 their dependency on others for care presents the potential for
 

 
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 1 reluctance in speaking out when they are the recipients of
 
 2 inappropriate care.  Outreach to these residents is particularly
 
 3 crucial in order to assure them that they do have external
 
 4 supports should they need them.
 
 5      It was recently pointed out at the Governor's Conference on
 
 6 Adult Residential Care Homes that the long term care options in
 
 7 Hawaii are expanding.  There is an increase in assisted living
 
 8 and expanded care facilities.  While there is much supervision
 
 9 and family involvement in nursing homes, in a care home the only
 
10 supervision is from the care home operator.  Current regulations
 
11 require the department of health to notify the care home operator
 
12 in advance before surveying the home for renewal of its license.
 
13 Presently the long term care ombudsman is the only one allowed to
 
14 enter a care home without an appointment. 
 
15      Some of these homes are now receiving special waivers to
 
16 accept residents at a higher acuity level who are also less
 
17 likely to be able to speak for themselves.  In order to assure
 
18 proper services for these elderly residents, the long term care
 
19 ombudsman program's jurisdiction will increase.
 
20      As the State's elderly population continues to grow, the two
 
21 full-time staff members of the program will be unable to provide
 
22 the necessary outreach services.  Other states have developed a
 
23 successful volunteer component to their long term care ombudsman
 

 
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 1 programs.  The American Association of Retired Persons has
 
 2 developed a training manual specifically for the long term care
 
 3 ombudsman program which many states have used as a starting
 
 4 point.  According to the Legal Counsel for the Elderly's 1995
 
 5 Report, "the presence and work of the volunteers make a major
 
 6 contribution towards the enhancement of the quality of life for
 
 7 residents of long term care facilities."
 
 8      The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to establish
 
 9 a long term care volunteer ombudsman program to ensure that
 
10 quality outreach services are provided to the increasing number
 
11 of elderly people residing in long term care facilities in the
 
12 State.
 
13      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
14 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $90,721, or so much
 
15 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999-2000, to
 
16 establish a long term care volunteer ombudsman program, to
 
17 include but not be limited to a volunteer coordinator, clerk
 
18 steno, ground and air travel, training, and miscellaneous
 
19 volunteer reimbursements.
 
20      SECTION 3.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
21 department of health for the purposes of this Act.
 
22      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
23 
 
24                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________
 

 
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