§321-15.6  Adult residential care homes;licensing.  (a)  All adult residential care homes shall be licensed toensure the health, safety, and welfare of the individuals placed therein.  Thedepartment shall conduct unannounced visits, other than the inspection forrelicensing, to every licensed adult residential care home and expanded adultresidential care home on an annual basis and at such intervals as determined bythe department to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of each resident. Unannounced visits may be conducted during or outside regular business hours. All inspections relating to follow-up visits, visits to confirm correction ofdeficiencies, or visits to investigate complaints or suspicion of abuse orneglect shall be conducted unannounced during or outside regular businesshours.  Annual inspections for relicensing may be conducted during regularbusiness hours or at intervals determined by the department.  Annualinspections for relicensing shall be conducted with notice, unless otherwisedetermined by the department.

(b)  The director shall adopt rules regardingadult residential care homes in accordance with chapter 91 that shall bedesigned to:

(1)  Protect the health, safety, and civil rights ofpersons residing in facilities regulated;

(2)  Provide for the licensing of adult residentialcare homes; provided that the rules shall allow group living in two categoriesof adult residential care homes as licensed by the department of health:

(A)  Type I allowing five or fewer residents;provided that up to six residents may be allowed at the discretion of thedepartment to live in a type I home; provided further that the primarycaregiver or home operator is a certified nurse aide who has completed astate-approved training program and other training as required by thedepartment; and

(B)  Type II allowing six or more residents,including but not limited to the mentally ill, elders,  persons withdisabilities, the developmentally disabled, or totally disabled persons who arenot related to the home operator or facility staff;

(3)  Comply with applicable federal laws andregulations of Title XVI of the Social Security Act, as amended; and

(4)  Provide penalties for the failure to comply withany rule.

For the purposes of this subsection:

"Developmentally disabled" means aperson with developmental disabilities as defined under section 333F-1.

"Elder" has the same meaning asdefined under section 356D-1.

"Mentally ill" means a mentally illperson as defined under section 334-1.

"Persons with disabilities" meanspersons having a disability under section 515-2.

"Totally disabled person" has thesame meaning as a person totally disabled as defined under section 235-1.

(c)  The department may provide for thetraining of and consultations with operators and staff of any facility licensedunder this section, in conjunction with any licensing thereof, and shall adoptrules to ensure that adult residential care home operators shall have theneeded skills to provide proper care and supervision in a home environment asrequired under department rules.

(d)  The department shall establish a standardadmission policy and procedure which shall require the provision of informationthat includes the appropriate medical and personal history of the patient aswell as the level of care needed by the patient prior to the patient's referraland admission to any adult residential care home facility.  The departmentshall develop appropriate forms and patient summaries for this purpose.

(e)  The department shall maintain an inventoryof all facilities licensed under this section and shall maintain a currentinventory of vacancies therein to facilitate the placement of individuals insuch facilities.

(f)  The department shall develop and adopt asocial model of health care to ensure the health, safety, and welfare ofindividuals placed in adult residential care homes.  The social model of careshall provide for aging in place and be designed to protect the health, safety,civil rights, and rights of choice of the persons to reside in a nursingfacility or in home- or community-based care.

(g)  Any fines collected by the department ofhealth for violations of this section shall be deposited into the office ofhealth care assurance special fund. [L 1978, c 107, pt of §3; am L 1979, c 9,§1 and c 105, §33; am L 1982, c 54, §2; am L 1985, c 272, §5; am L 1986, c 177,§2; am L 1987, c 283, §21; am L 1988, c 334, §2; am L 1990, c 67, §5; am L1993, c 227, §1; am L 1997, c 341, §2 and c 350, §15; am L 1998, c 132, §4; amL 2002, c 166, §3 and c 188, §2; am L 2003, c 202, §1; am L 2006, c 270, §2; amL 2007, c 90, §3 and c 249, §20]

 

Cross References

 

  Coordination and development of caregiver support services,see §349-15.

  Dependent elder abuse; suits by the State; civil penalties,see §28-94.

  Long term care, see chapter 346D.