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Elder home reforms move forward

Legislative committees approve overhaul for assisted living

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Legislation aimed at reforming California’s assisted-living industry pushed through separate committees at the state Capitol on Tuesday, making it more likely that rules governing senior homes will get tighter.

Advocates for residents of the state’s 7,500 board-and-care facilities lined up to support legislation before the Senate Human Services Committee and its counterpart in the state Assembly.

Some trade groups withheld support or opposed portions of the bills, which are collectively known as the RCFE Reform Act of 2014, using the state acronym for residential care facilities for the elderly.

But the majority of testimony urged lawmakers to enact an overhaul that would, among other things, require homes to carry liability insurance, increase fines and inspections, protect whistle-blowers and require more timely investigations by regulators.

Other bills would raise the fee for a license to operate a home, require violation records to be posted online and boost training required to work inside an assisted living home or to serve as an administrator.

“It’s hard to overemphasize how important to the inspection process is,” testified Eric Carlson, an attorney with the National Senior Citizens Law Center. “Relying on complaints is unrealistic.”

The reform legislation — now nearly 20 different bills authored by lawmakers from both political parties — stems from reporting by U-T San Diego and other media organizations in 2013 that disclosed neglect and abuse in senior homes.

“Deadly Neglect,” a series published by the U-T in September and December, documented 27 deaths in San Diego County assisted living homes since 2008 — seniors who died after caregivers ignored or overlooked dangerous injuries.

The series, produced in partnership with the CHCF Center for Health Reporting, also identified scores of medication errors that resulted in residents suffering debilitating illnesses or being rushed to local emergency rooms.

Additional reporting showed investigations by state regulators often languished for years and penalties for violations — currently capped at $150, even for violations that cause death — went uncollected.

“If we’re going to be licensing facilities, then those licenses have to mean something,” said Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, whose bill to speed up investigations by the Department of Social Services was sent along to the Assembly’s aging and long-term care committee.

Like the news reports from last year, the testimony Tuesday included numerous examples of dramatic abuse and ineffective oversight by state licensing officials.

Aaron Byzak created the advocacy group Hazel’s Army to honor his late grandmother, who died after she broke her leg in an accident and staff at the home she lived in failed to respond to her injuries.

Now Byzak clutches a photo of Hazel Mensching whenever he testifies in favor of stricter laws.

One of the bills Byzak lobbied for on Tuesday would require Social Services to post compliance records online. Currently, the only way to view complaints and correction orders is by making an appointment in advance and visiting a state office in person.

“In the year 2014, such an antiquated approach is ridiculous,” Byzak said. “This will allow consumers to make educated decisions about where to live themselves or where to place beloved family members.”

Byzak also testified that he received special approval from San Diego County to alert state lawmakers that county supervisors support all of the legislation.

Opposition to the reform package likely has been muted by publicity surrounding abuses within the senior care industry as well as acknowledged failures by the Department of Social Services.

Many licensees actually support raising their operating costs to improve the level of service they receive from regulators.

The California Assisted Living Association, for example, which represents senior home operators, withheld support from one proposal but only because it did not specify how the money raised would be spent.

“We do have concerns,” association representative Heather Harrison told lawmakers. “Our concern is not with the fee increase but to the fact it is not tied to any additional inspections or any additional work from the Department of Social Services.”

Sen. Marty Block, the San Diego Democrat who introduced that particular legislation, told committee members he was trying to provide regulators more flexibility in their budgeting.

“We wanted to avoid this type of micromanagement,” Block said, before pledging to add language that would specify how the funds would be spent.

The bills that make up the RCFE Reform Act of 2014 will be sent to other committees within the state Assembly and Senate, including appropriations and judiciary.

They are expected to undergo some changes as they make their way through the statehouse, but advocates say they are more likely than ever to be adopted based on the groundswell of support due to publicity.

At least two witnesses specifically credited U-T San Diego with drawing attention to the abuses inside assisted living homes in their testimony.

“This has been going on for years,” Pat McGinnis of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform told lawmakers. “San Diego’s Union-Tribune did very detailed stories about abuse and neglect in the facilities resulting in numerous deaths.”

Watchdog

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