(a) (1) The department shall license residential care facilities for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness under a separate category.

(2) A residential care facility for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness may allow a person who has been diagnosed by his or her physician or surgeon as terminally ill, as defined in subdivision (l) of Section 1568.01, to become a resident of the facility if the person receives hospice services from a hospice certified in accordance with federal Medicare conditions of participation and is licensed pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 1725) or Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 1745).

Ask a business law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified business lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) The licensee of every facility required to be licensed pursuant to this chapter shall provide the following basic services for each resident:

(1) Room and board. No more than two residents shall share a bedroom, except that the director, in his or her discretion, may waive this limitation.

(2) Access to adequate common areas, including recreation areas and shared kitchen space with adequate refrigerator space for the storage of medications.

(3) Consultation with a nutritionist, including consultation on cultural dietary needs.

(4) Personal care services, as needed, including, but not limited to, activities of daily living. A facility may have a written agreement with another agency to provide personal care services, except that the facility shall be responsible for meeting the personal care needs of each resident.

(5) Access to case management for social services. A facility may have a written agreement with another agency to provide case management.

(6) Development, implementation, and monitoring of an individual services plan. All health services components of the plan shall be developed and monitored in coordination with the home health agency or hospice agency and shall reflect the elements of the resident’s plan of treatment developed by the home health agency or hospice agency.

(7) Intake and discharge procedures, including referral to outplacement resources.

(8) Access to psychosocial support services.

(9) Access to community-based and county services system.

(10) Access to a social and emotional support network of the resident’s own choosing, within the context of reasonable visitation rules established by the facility.

(11) Access to intermittent home health care services in accordance with paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).

(12) Access to substance abuse services in accordance with paragraph (3) of subdivision (c).

(13) Adequate securable storage space for personal items.

(c) The licensee of every facility required to be licensed pursuant to this chapter shall demonstrate, at the time of application, all of the following:

(1) Written agreement with a licensed home health agency or hospice agency. Resident information may be shared between the home health agency or hospice agency and the residential care facility for a person with a chronic, life-threatening illness relative to the resident’s medical condition and the care and treatment provided to the resident by the home health agency or hospice agency, including, but not limited to, medical information, as defined by the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Part 2.6 (commencing with Section 56) of Division 1 of the Civil Code. Any regulations, policies, or procedures related to sharing resident information and development of protocols, established by the department pursuant to this section, shall be developed in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services and persons representing home health agencies, hospice agencies, and residential care facilities for persons with chronic, life-threatening illness.

(2) Written agreement with a psychosocial services agency, unless the services are provided by the facility’s professional staff.

(3) Written agreement with a substance abuse agency, unless the services are provided by the facility’s professional staff.

(4) Ability to provide linguistic services for residents who do not speak English.

(5) Ability to provide culturally appropriate services.

(6) Ability to reasonably accommodate residents with physical disabilities, including, but not limited to, residents with motor impairments, physical access to areas of the facility used by residents, and access to interpreters for deaf or hard-of-hearing residents.

(7) Written nondiscrimination policy, which shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the facility.

(8) Written policy on drug and alcohol use, including, but not limited to, a prohibition on the use of illegal substances.

(d) A facility licensed pursuant to this chapter that intends to serve a specific population, such as women, family units, minority and ethnic populations, or homosexual men or women, shall demonstrate, at the time of application, the ability and resources to provide services that are appropriate to the targeted population.

(e) A facility licensed pursuant to this chapter shall not house more than 25 residents, except that the director may authorize a facility to house up to 50 residents.

(f) If the administrator is responsible for more than two facilities, the facility manager shall meet the qualifications of both the administrator and the facility manager, as described in Sections 87864 and 87864.1 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(g) Each licensee shall employ additional personnel as necessary to meet the needs of the residents and comply with the requirements of this chapter and the regulations adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter. On-call personnel shall be able to be on the facility premises within 30 minutes of the receipt of a telephone call.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 94, Sec. 18. (AB 1709) Effective January 1, 2017.)