BILL NUMBER: SB 524 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lara
( Coauthors: Senators Liu
and McGuire )
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 1505 of, and to add Section 1502.2 to, the
Health and Safety Code, relating to care facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 524, as amended, Lara. Private alternative therapeutic
institutions residential care facilities for
youth.
Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act (the
act), provides for the licensure and regulation of community care and
residential facilities by the State Department of Social Services.
Under existing law, the act does not apply to certain facilities,
including, among others, any school dormitory or similar facility
determined by the department. Existing law makes a violation of any
of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor.
This bill would define "private alternative therapeutic
institution residential care facility for youth,"
for purposes of the act, and would specify that the act applies to
those institutions. facilities. The
bill would prohibit a person, firm, partnership, association,
organization, or corporation corporation, or
other entity from operating, establishing, managing,
conducting, or maintaining this type of institution
facility unless the institution
facility is licensed by the department.
The bill would require the department, no later than June 1, 2016,
to adopt regulations establishing oversight and monitoring of private
alternative therapeutic institutions for youth that, at a minimum,
ensure the physical and mental well-being of youth in those
institutions, and create mandated personal rights for those youth.
The bill would require the department to license and
inspect these facilities as community care facilities. The bill
would prohibit the department from licensing a private
alternative therapeutic institution residential care
facility for youth unless all therapeutic components of the
programs provided at the institution facility
are licensed by the appropriate agency or department.
By The bill would prohibit transferring a license.
This bill would require an applicant for a license to file an
application on forms furnished by the department and include
specified evidence and information, including, but not limited to, a
criminal record clearance. The bill would authorize the department to
charge a license application fee and annual regulatory fee in an
amount not to exceed the costs reasonably borne by the department in
licensing and regulating these facilities. The bill would make moneys
from these fees available to the department, upon appropriation of
the Legislature, solely for purposes of licensing and regulating
these facilities. The bill would require a facility to submit to the
department a training plan for facility staff to be approved by the
department prior to the facility implementing the training plan. The
bill would specify the minimum number of hours of staff training,
specify required training content, and require the department to
adopt related regulations.
By adding private alternative therapeutic
institutions residential care facilities for
youth to the act, this bill would create a new crime, thereby
imposing a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Since the 1990s, hundreds of nontraditional treatment programs
that are intended to be less restrictive treatment options for
children with significant behavioral issues have been established
nationwide, with thousands of allegations of abuse, including death.
(b) There are currently facilities operating within California
that are not licensed by the State Department of Social Services.
(c) These facilities are often owned and operated by nonprofit
organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code.
(d) These facilities advertise services for youth with behavioral
issues to families who may feel they have no other options.
(e) Former students have formed national and local organizations
to expose the trauma and abuse they experienced at these facilities.
(f) Students at these facilities are previous victims of trauma,
have experienced parental rejection based on actual or perceived
sexual orientation or gender identity, and have mental health and
substance use issues.
(g) It is the role of the Legislature to ensure proper licensing
and regulation of residential facilities for the protection and care
of all citizens.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state license
private residential care for youth as a community care facility to
ensure the safety of children residing in those facilities.
SEC. 2. Section 1502.2 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
1502.2. (a) "Private alternative therapeutic
institution As used in this section, the
following definitions apply:
(1) "Administrator" means the individual designated by the
licensee to act on behalf of the licensee in the overall management
of the facility. The licensee, if an individual, and the
administrator may be one and the same person.
(2) "Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
(3) "Director" means the Director of Social Services.
(4) "License" means a basic permit to operate a private
residential care facility for youth.
(5) "Private residential care facility
for youth" means any 24 -hour residential
facility or program operated by a private entity with a
focus on serving providing nonmedical care,
counseling, educational or vocational support to persons
from 12 to 18 years of age and younger with
social, emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues or
disorders, and that including a program that
provides any of the following:
(1)
( A) A program with wilderness or outdoor
experience, expedition, or intervention.
(2)
( B) A boot camp experience or other
experience designed to simulate characteristics of basic military
training or correctional regimes.
(3)
( C) A therapeutic boarding school.
(4)
( D) A behavior modification program.
(b) (1) A person, firm, partnership,
association, organization, or corporation
corporation, or other entity shall not operate, establish,
manage, conduct, or maintain a private alternative
therapeutic institution residential care facility
for youth, unless the facility is licensed by the department.
(c) The department shall adopt regulations no later than June 1,
2016, establishing oversight and monitoring of private alternative
therapeutic institutions for youth that, at a minimum, ensure the
physical and mental well-being of youth in those institutions, and
create mandated personal rights for those youth.
(d) The
(2) The department shall license and inspect a private residential
care facility for youth as a community care facility. A license is
not transferable.
(c) The department shall not
license a private alternative therapeutic institution
residential care facility for youth unless all
therapeutic components of the programs provided at the
institution facility are licensed by the
appropriate agency or department.
(d) Any person desiring issuance of a license for a private
residential care facility for youth under this chapter shall file an
application on forms furnished by the department. The application
shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Evidence satisfactory to the department of the ability of the
applicant to comply with this section and any rules and regulations
adopted by the department under this section.
(2) (A) Evidence satisfactory to the department that the applicant
is of reputable and responsible character.
(B) The evidence under this paragraph shall include, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
(i) (I) A criminal record clearance pursuant to Section 1522. The
law enforcement agency from which a criminal record is requested may
charge a reasonable fee sufficient to cover its cost in providing the
criminal record in accordance with this paragraph.
(II) The department shall review the criminal record to determine
whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime other than a
minor traffic violation or arrested for any crime specified in
subdivision (c) of Section 290 of the Penal Code, or for violating
Section 245, 273ab, or 273.5, subdivision (b) of Section 273a, or,
prior to January 1, 1994, paragraph (2) of Section 273a, of the Penal
Code, or for any crime for which the department is prohibited from
granting a criminal record exemption. If the applicant has been
convicted of one of these crimes, the department shall not license
the applicant.
(ii) Employment history.
(iii) Character references.
(C) If the applicant is a firm, association, organization,
partnership, business trust, corporation, or other entity, the
evidence required by this paragraph shall be submitted for members or
shareholders of the entity and the person who will act as
administrator.
(3) Evidence satisfactory to the department that the applicant has
sufficient financial resources to maintain the standards of service
required by this section.
(4) Disclosure of any revocation or other disciplinary action
taken, or in the process of being taken, against a license held or
previously held by the applicant.
(5) Evidence satisfactory to the department of the applicant's
ability to meet regulatory requirements for the level of care the
facility intends to provide.
(6) Evidence satisfactory to the department of adequate knowledge
of supportive services and other community supports that may be
necessary to meet the needs of youth residents.
(7) Designation by the applicant of the individual who shall be
the administrator of the facility, including, if the applicant is an
individual, whether the licensee shall also be the administrator.
(8) A signed statement that the individual submitting the
application for a license has read and understands the laws and
regulations governing a private residential care facility for youth.
(9) Any other information as may be required by the department for
the proper administration and enforcement of this chapter.
(10) The facilities plan of operation in accordance with Section
80022 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(e) The department shall notify a prospective applicant for
licensure of all of the following:
(1) At the time of the initial request for information regarding
the application for licensure, that, prior to obtaining a license,
the facility shall secure and maintain a fire clearance approval from
the appropriate local fire enforcing agency or the State Fire
Marshall, whichever has primary fire protection jurisdiction.
(2) The provisions of Section 13235 relating to the fire safety
clearance application.
(3) That the fire clearance shall be in accordance with state and
local fire safety regulations.
(f) (1) The department shall deny an application to issue a
license if the applicant fails to cooperate with the department in
completing the application.
(2) An applicant shall have failed to cooperate if the applicant
has not provided the information described in this section and in
applicable regulations of the department, or has not provided that
information in the form requested by the department.
(g) Any duly authorized officer, employee, or agent of the
department may, upon presentation of proper identification, enter and
inspect any place within a private residential care facility for
youth providing personal care, supervision, or services at any time,
with or without advance notice, to secure compliance with, or to
prevent a violation of, this chapter.
(h) (1) The department may charge an application fee, adjusted by
capacity, for the issuance of a license to operate a private
residential care facility for youth, in an amount not to exceed the
costs reasonably borne by the department in licensing these
facilities.
(2) The department may charge a regulatory fee on each annual
anniversary of the effective date of the license, in an amount not to
exceed the costs reasonably borne by the department in regulating
these facilities.
(3) Fee moneys collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be
available to the department, upon appropriation of the Legislature,
solely for the purposes of this section.
(i) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that the quality of
services provided to residents of a private residential care facility
for youth is dependent upon the training and skills of the staff. It
is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to ensure
that a direct-care staff member has the knowledge and proficiency to
carry out the tasks of his or her job.
(2) A staff member of a private residential care facility for
youth who supervises residents shall receive appropriate training
consisting of 10 hours within the first four weeks of employment and
eight hours annually thereafter. This training shall be administered
while the staff is working at the facility, or in a classroom
setting, or a combination of those settings.
(3) A facility shall submit its training plan to the department
and shall implement the training plan only after the department has
approved the plan. The training plan shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following subject areas:
(A) Residents' rights as described in subdivision (j).
(B) Psychosocial needs of youth.
(C) Appropriate response to emergencies.
(D) Physical needs for youth residents.
(E) Cultural competency and sensitivity in issues relating to the
underserved, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
(F) Laws and regulations pertaining to community care facilities
and programs of private residential care facilities for youth.
(G) The department shall adopt regulations that establish
additional subject matter required to be included in this training.
(j) A resident of a private residential care facility for youth
has all of the following rights:
(1) To be accorded dignity in his or her personal relationships
with staff, residents, and other persons.
(2) To be granted a reasonable level of personal privacy in
accommodations, medical care, personal care and assistance, visits,
written and electronic communications, and telephone conversations.
(3) To confidential care of his or her records and personal
information, and to approve release of those records prior to their
release, except as otherwise authorized or required by law.
(4) To care, supervision, and services that meet his or her
individual needs and are delivered by staff that are sufficient in
numbers, qualifications, and competency to meet his or her needs and
ensure his or her safety.
(5) To be served food of the quality and in the quantity necessary
to meet his or her nutritional needs.
(6) (A) To present grievances and recommend changes in policies,
procedures, and services to the facility's staff, management, and
governing authority, and any other person without restraint,
coercion, discrimination, reprisal, or other retaliatory actions.
(B) To have the licensee take prompt actions to respond to those
grievances.
(7) To have frequent contact with parents or guardians, including
scheduled and unscheduled telephone conversations, unrestricted
written correspondence, and electronic communications.
(8) To be fully informed, as evidenced by the resident's written
acknowledgment, prior to, or at the time of, admission to the
facility, of all the rules governing the resident's conduct and
responsibilities.
(9) To receive in the admission agreement, information that
details the planned treatments and care for the resident.
(10) For parents or guardians to remove the resident from the
facility.
(11) To consent to have a relative or other person of the resident'
s choosing visit or telephone during reasonable hours, privately and
without prior notice.
(12) To be free of corporal punishment, deprivation of basic
necessities, including education, as a punishment, deterrent, or
incentive, and physical restraints of any kind.
(13) To receive supportive mental and emotional health-related
services from trained staff who are licensed or are overseen by
licensed mental health professionals.
(14) To be free from abusive, humiliating, degrading, or
traumatizing actions.
(k) (1) A private residential care facility for youth shall not
accept for placement, or provide care or supervision to, a child
assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed, unless the State
Department of Health Care Services has certified the facility as a
program meets the standards to provide mental health treatment
services for a seriously emotionally disturbed child set forth in
Section 4096.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(2) "Seriously emotionally disturbed" has the meaning defined in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
(l) Unless a private residential care facility for youth has been
licensed as an alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment
facility pursuant to Section 11834.01, the facility shall not
advertise or promote services designed to promote the treatment of,
or maintain recovery from, alcohol or drug use, which services
include one or more of the following types of treatment:
(1) Detoxification.
(2) Group sessions.
(3) Individual sessions.
(4) Educational sessions.
(5) Alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment planning.
(m) A private residential care facility for youth shall not
provide secure containment or use restraints of any kind unless the
program components are subject to program standards developed and
enforced by the State Department of Health Care Services pursuant to
Section 4094 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(n) A private residential care facility for youth is not an
eligible placement option pursuant to Section 319, 361.2, 450, or 727
of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(o) A private residential care facility for youth is not eligible
for a rate pursuant to Section 11462 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
(p) A private residential care facility for youth shall not accept
for residential placement a child younger than 12 years of age.
(q) A licensee of a private residential care facility for youth
that advertises or promotes special care, programming, or
environments for persons with a mental health, emotional, or social
challenge, shall provide each prospective resident and his or her
parent or guardian an accurate narrative description of these
programs and services. The facility shall provide the description in
writing prior to admitting the prospective resident.
SEC. 3. Section 1505 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
1505. This chapter does not apply to any of the following:
(a) Any health facility, as defined by Section 1250.
(b) Any clinic, as defined by Section 1202.
(c) Any juvenile placement facility approved by the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice, or any
juvenile hall operated by a county.
(d) Any place in which a juvenile is judicially placed pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 727 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(e) Any child day care facility, as defined in Section 1596.750.
(f) Any facility conducted by and for the adherents of any
well-recognized church or religious denomination for the purpose of
providing facilities for the care or treatment of the sick who depend
solely upon prayer or spiritual means for healing in the
practice of the religion of the church or denomination.
(g) Any school dormitory or similar facility determined by the
department, except a private alternative therapeutic
institution residential care facility for youth
as defined in Section 1502.2.
(h) Any house, institution, hotel, homeless shelter, or other
similar place that supplies board and room only, or room only, or
board only, provided that no resident thereof requires any element of
care as determined by the director.
(i) Recovery houses or other similar facilities providing group
living arrangements for persons adults
recovering from alcoholism or drug addiction where the facility
provides no care or supervision.
(j) Any alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility
serving adults as defined by Section 11834.11.
(k) Any arrangement for the receiving and care of persons by a
relative or any arrangement for the receiving and care of persons
from only one family by a close friend of the parent, guardian, or
conservator, if the arrangement is not for financial profit and
occurs only occasionally and irregularly, as defined by regulations
of the department. For purposes of this chapter, arrangements for the
receiving and care of persons by a relative shall include relatives
of the child for the purpose of keeping sibling groups together.
(l) (1) Any home of a relative caregiver of children who are
placed by a juvenile court, supervised by the county welfare or
probation department, and the placement of whom is approved according
to subdivision (d) of Section 309 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
(2) Any home of a nonrelative extended family member, as described
in Section 362.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, providing
care to children who are placed by a juvenile court, supervised by
the county welfare or probation department, and the placement of whom
is approved according to subdivision (d) of Section 309 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(3) On and after January 1, 2012, any supervised independent
living placement for nonminor dependents, as defined in subdivision
(w) of Section 11400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, who are
placed by the juvenile court, supervised by the county welfare
department, probation department, Indian tribe, consortium of tribes,
or tribal organization that entered into an agreement pursuant to
Section 10553.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and whose
placement is approved pursuant to subdivision (k) of Section 11400 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(4) A Transitional Housing Program-Plus, as defined in subdivision
(s) of Section 11400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, that
serves only eligible former foster youth over 18 years of age who
have exited from the foster care system on or after their 18th
birthday, and that has obtained certification from the applicable
county in accordance with subdivision (c) of Section 16522 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(m) Any supported living arrangement for individuals with
developmental disabilities, as defined in Section 4689 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code.
(n) (1) Any family home agency, family home, or family teaching
home as defined in Section 4689.1 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, that is vendored by the State Department of Developmental
Services and that does any of the following:
(A) As a family home approved by a family home agency, provides
24-hour care for one or two adults with developmental disabilities in
the residence of the family home provider or providers and the
family home provider or providers' family, and the provider is not
licensed by the State Department of Social Services or the State
Department of Public Health or certified by a licensee of the State
Department of Social Services or the State Department of Public
Health.
(B) As a family teaching home approved by a family home agency,
provides 24-hour care for a maximum of three adults with
developmental disabilities in independent residences, whether
contiguous or attached, and the provider is not licensed by the State
Department of Social Services or the State Department of Public
Health or certified by a licensee of the State Department of Social
Services or the State Department of Public Health.
(C) As a family home agency, engages in recruiting, approving, and
providing support to family homes.
(2) No part of this subdivision shall be construed as establishing
by implication either a family home agency or family home licensing
category.
(o) Any facility in which only Indian children who are eligible
under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (Chapter 21 (commencing
with Section 1901) of Title 25 of the United States Code) are placed
and that is one of the following:
(1) An extended family member of the Indian child, as defined in
Section 1903 of Title 25 of the United States Code.
(2) A foster home that is licensed, approved, or specified by the
Indian child's tribe pursuant to Section 1915 of Title 25 of the
United States Code.
(p) (1) (A) Any housing occupied by elderly or disabled persons,
or both, that is initially approved and operated under a regulatory
agreement pursuant to Section 202 of Public Law 86-372 (12 U.S.C.
Sec. 1701q), or Section 811 of Public Law 101-625 (42 U.S.C. Sec.
8013), or whose mortgage is insured pursuant to Section 236 of Public
Law 90-448 (12 U.S.C. Sec. 1715z), or that receives mortgage
assistance pursuant to Section 221d (3) of Public Law 87-70 (12
U.S.C. Sec. 1715 l ), where supportive services are made
available to residents at their option, as long as the project owner
or operator does not contract for or provide the supportive services.
(B) Any housing that qualifies for a low-income housing credit
pursuant to Section 252 of Public Law 99-514 (26 U.S.C. Sec. 42) or
that is subject to the requirements for rental dwellings for
low-income families pursuant to Section 8 of Public Law 93-383 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 1437f), and that is occupied by elderly or disabled
persons, or both, where supportive services are made available to
residents at their option, as long as the project owner or operator
does not contract for or provide the supportive services.
(2) The project owner or operator to which paragraph (1) applies
may coordinate, or help residents gain access to, the supportive
services, either directly, or through a service coordinator.
(q) A resource family, as defined in Section 16519.5 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(r) Any similar facility determined by the director.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.