Residential care facilities for the elderly: categorization of citations., the official text

An act to add Section 1569.493 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to residential care facilities for the elderly.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act (act), requires the State Department of Social Services to license, inspect, and regulate residential care facilities for the elderly, as defined, and imposes criminal penalties on a person who violates the act or who willfully or repeatedly violates any rule or regulation adopted under the act. Existing law authorizes the department to also impose civil penalties for violations of the act. Existing law gives residents of those facilities specified rights, including, but not limited to, the right to be free from neglect, financial exploitation, involuntary seclusion, and verbal, mental, or physical abuse.
Existing law, the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, establishes various procedures for the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of elder and dependent adult abuse and defines various forms of abuse, such as abandonment, isolation, and financial abuse.
Beginning July 1, 2027, this bill would require the department, when it substantiates a violation of the act that constitutes abuse in violation of a resident’s rights, to categorize the type of abuse using the definitions from the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. The bill would require that the category of abuse be listed on a public-facing database maintained by the department.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 1569.493 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
1569.493.
(a) When the department substantiates a violation in a residential care facility for the elderly that constitutes abuse under paragraph (10) of subdivision (a) of Section 1569.269, the department shall categorize and cite the violation according to the specific type of abuse established by the evidence.
(b) For purposes of subdivision (a), the department shall categorize and cite violations as one or more of the following, as applicable:
(1) Physical abuse, as defined in Section 15610.63 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) Abandonment, as defined in Section 15610.05 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(3) Abduction, as defined in Section 15610.06 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(4) Financial abuse, as defined in Section 15610.30 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(5) Isolation, as defined in Section 15610.43 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(6) Mental suffering, as defined in Section 15610.53 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(7) Neglect, as defined in Section 15610.57 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(8) Undue influence, as defined in Section 15610.70 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(c) This section does not do any of the following:
(1) Limit the department’s authority to assess civil penalties under Section 1569.49 or any other law.
(2) Require the department to assess a civil penalty where none is otherwise authorized by law.
(3) Alter the elements required to substantiate abuse under existing law.
(d) The department shall ensure that citations categorized pursuant to this section are reflected in any public-facing transparency, licensing, or enforcement databases maintained by the department.
(e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2027.