STAND. COM. REP. NO.1119

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 914

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 914, H.D. 2, entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow the Department of Health to conduct unannounced annual inspections of adult residential care homes and expanded adult residential care homes and allow the Department of Human Services to conduct unannounced annual inspections of community-care foster family homes.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by: the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu; Hawaii Long-Term Care Association; Hawaii Disability Rights Center; National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter; Advocates for Consumer Rights; Healthcare Association of Hawaii; AARP Hawaii; Waikiki Health Center's Friendly Neighbor Program; and four concerned citizens. Testimony in support of the intent of this measure was submitted by the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Coalition of Care Home Administrators. The Department of the Attorney General and the Judiciary's Office of the Public Guardian submitted comments on this measure.

Your Committees find that the State has a significant interest in protecting the safety and welfare of residents of care homes. Residents of care homes are generally elders or individuals with disabilities who are unable to care for themselves, and whose disabilities may affect their ability to report maltreatment. As a result, residents of care homes are particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

Your Committees find that allowing for unannounced inspections of residential care homes can help to ensure the safety and well-being of vulnerable adult care home residents. Your Committees further find that proposed changes to the Department of Health's administrative rules that would permit unannounced inspections have been debated for over four years now, with no resolution in sight, and believe that further delay is unwarranted.

Your Committees have amended this measure by deleting the contents of H.B. 914, H.D. 2, and inserting the contents of S.B. 1061, S.D. 1, which:

(1) Codify licensing qualifications and personnel, staff, and family requirements, including requirements for initial criminal background checks, for Type I and Type II adult residential care homes (ARCHs) and expanded adult residential care homes (expanded ARCHs); and

(2) Require the Department of Health to conduct unannounced inspections of ARCHs and expanded ARCHs during and outside of normal business hours, on an annual basis and at such intervals as required to determine compliance with licensing requirements.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 914, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 914, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Health,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair