SB 10: "An Act relating to home and community-based waiver services under Medicaid; relating to personal care services; establishing an adult foster care home license and procedures in the Department of Health and Social Services; and providing for the transition of severely disabled individuals from foster care to adult foster care homes."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 10 01 "An Act relating to home and community-based waiver services under Medicaid; 02 relating to personal care services; establishing an adult foster care home license and 03 procedures in the Department of Health and Social Services; and providing for the 04 transition of severely disabled individuals from foster care to adult foster care homes." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 47.07.045 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 07 (e) The department shall provide payment under this section for residential 08 habilitation services if the 09 (A) recipient is a child with complex medical conditions, an 10 adult with physical and developmental disabilities, or an individual with 11 intellectual and developmental disabilities as defined by the department in 12 regulations adopted under this chapter; 13 (B) department approves the services as part of the recipient's 14 plan of care;
01 (C) department authorizes the services in advance; and 02 (D) services are provided in accordance with regulations 03 adopted by the department under this chapter. 04 (f) In addition to the payment under (e) of this section, the department shall 05 provide payment for personal care services for a recipient who receives residential 06 habilitation services in a personal residence or home 07 (1) that provides 24-hour care; 08 (2) where the primary caregiver lives in the personal residence or 09 home; 10 (3) where the health, safety, and welfare of the recipient is not at risk 11 because of the primary caregiver's other obligations; and 12 (4) where a caregiver in the personal residence or home, paid or 13 unpaid, is not a member of the recipient's immediate family. 14 (g) In this section, 15 (1) "home" includes a facility licensed under AS 47.32 as an assisted 16 living home that is authorized to care for not more than eight adults, an adult foster 17 care home, or a foster care home; 18 (2) "personal residence" means a dwelling that a recipient considers to 19 be the recipient's established or principal dwelling. 20 * Sec. 2. AS 47.07.900 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 21 (20) "residential habilitation services" means services that 22 (A) help a recipient to acquire, retain, or improve skills related 23 to activities of daily living and the self-help, social, and adaptive skills 24 necessary to enable the recipient to reside in a noninstitutional setting; and 25 (B) are provided in a recipient's personal residence, an assisted 26 living home licensed under AS 47.32 to care for not more than eight adults, a 27 foster care home licensed under AS 47.32, or an adult foster care home 28 licensed under AS 47.32. 29 * Sec. 3. AS 47.18.300(a) is amended to read: 30 (a) The department, in coordination with local public and private agencies, 31 shall design, develop, and implement a foster care transition program to provide
01 support and services to individuals who 02 (1) reach or have reached the age of 03 (A) 16 or older while in state foster care and have not yet 04 reached 23 years of age; or 05 (B) 18 or older while in state foster care and are severely 06 disabled; and 07 (2) meet other eligibility criteria established by the department under 08 (b) of this section. 09 * Sec. 4. AS 47.18 is amended by adding a new section to read: 10 Sec. 47.18.340. Transition for an individual who is severely disabled. (a) 11 The department shall assist an individual who is 18 years of age or older while in state 12 foster care and who is severely disabled in the transition from a placement in a state 13 foster care home to an adult foster care home licensed under AS 47.32. 14 (b) If the foster parent of an individual who is severely disabled requests that 15 the placement and services be maintained after the individual is released from state 16 custody under AS 47.10.100, the department shall provide information and services 17 necessary to continuously maintain the placement of the individual who is severely 18 disabled in the same home with the same services, including personal care services, 19 available to the individual while in state foster care to the extent needed for the 20 individual. 21 (c) The department may approve the transition of an individual who is 22 severely disabled from state foster care to an adult foster care home only if the adult 23 foster care home is licensed under AS 47.32 and the department finds that the needs of 24 the individual can be adequately and safely met. 25 (d) The department shall adopt regulations to implement this section. The 26 regulations must include standards for approval of a transition from state foster care to 27 a licensed adult foster care home of an individual who is severely disabled and 28 periodic review of the condition of the individual while residing in an adult foster care 29 home to ensure that an adequate level of accessible services and facilities is provided 30 to adequately meet the individual's health and safety needs. 31 (e) In this section, "adult foster care home" has the meaning given in
01 AS 47.32.900. 02 * Sec. 5. AS 47.18.390 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 03 (4) "severely disabled" means that an individual requires a nursing 04 facility level of care, as defined by the department in regulations adopted under this 05 chapter. 06 * Sec. 6. AS 47.32.010(b) is amended to read: 07 (b) This chapter and regulations adopted under this chapter apply to the 08 following entities: 09 (1) ambulatory surgical centers; 10 (2) assisted living homes; 11 (3) child care facilities; 12 (4) child placement agencies; 13 (5) foster homes; 14 (6) free-standing birth centers; 15 (7) home health agencies; 16 (8) hospices, or agencies providing hospice services or operating 17 hospice programs; 18 (9) hospitals; 19 (10) intermediate care facilities for individuals with an intellectual 20 disability or related condition; 21 (11) maternity homes; 22 (12) nursing facilities; 23 (13) residential child care facilities; 24 (14) residential psychiatric treatment centers; 25 (15) runaway shelters; 26 (16) rural health clinics; 27 (17) adult foster care homes. 28 * Sec. 7. AS 47.32 is amended by adding a new section to read: 29 Sec. 47.32.033. Adult foster care license; variance. The department shall 30 streamline the application and licensing paperwork necessary for a person to be 31 approved to operate an adult foster care home if the person has a foster care license
01 issued under this chapter. The department shall approve a variance for an adult foster 02 care home as provided for a foster care license under AS 47.32.032(b). 03 * Sec. 8. AS 47.32.900(2) is amended to read: 04 (2) "assisted living home" 05 (A) means a residential facility that serves three or more adults 06 who are not related to the owner by blood or marriage, or that receives state or 07 federal payment for services regardless of the number of adults served; the 08 department shall consider a facility to be an assisted living home if the facility 09 (i) provides housing and food services to its residents; 10 (ii) offers to provide or obtain for its residents 11 assistance with activities of daily living; 12 (iii) offers personal assistance as defined in 13 AS 47.33.990; or 14 (iv) provides or offers any combination of these 15 services; 16 (B) does not include 17 (i) a correctional facility; 18 (ii) an emergency shelter; 19 (iii) a program licensed under AS 47.10.310 for 20 runaway minors; 21 (iv) a type of entity listed in AS 47.32.010(b)(5), (8), 22 (9), (10), (11), or (12); 23 (v) an adult foster care home licensed under this 24 chapter; 25 * Sec. 9. AS 47.32.900 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 26 (22) "adult foster care home" means a residence in which the adult head 27 of household provides 24-hour care on a continuing basis to not more than three adults 28 for compensation or reimbursement; in this paragraph, "care" means to provide for the 29 physical, mental, and social needs of an individual. 30 * Sec. 10. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 31 read:
01 AMENDMENT TO STATE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PLAN; ADULT FOSTER 02 CARE. The Department of Health and Social Services shall submit for approval by the United 03 States Department of Health and Human Services an amendment to the state medical 04 assistance plan to provide for necessary home and community-based waiver services, 05 including personal care services and daily reimbursement rates for residential habilitation 06 services for an individual who has transitioned to an adult foster care home from a state foster 07 care home under the transition program established under AS 47.18.300(a), as amended by 08 sec. 3 of this Act, and AS 47.18.340, enacted by sec. 4 of this Act. In this section, 09 (1) "adult foster care home" has the meaning given in AS 47.32.900; 10 (2) "residential habilitation services" has the meaning given in AS 47.07.900.