1562.3
. (a) The Director of Social Services, in consultation with
the Director of Health Care Services and the Director of
Developmental Services, shall establish a training program to ensure
that licensees, operators, and staffs of adult residential care
facilities, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section
1502, have appropriate training to provide the care and services for
which a license or certificate is issued. The training program shall
be developed in consultation with provider organizations.
(b) (1) An administrator of an adult residential care facility, as
defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, shall
successfully complete a department-approved certification program
pursuant to subdivision (c) prior to employment.
(2) In those cases where the individual is both the licensee and
the administrator of a facility, the individual shall comply with
both the licensee and administrator requirements of this section.
(3) Failure to comply with this section shall constitute cause for
revocation of the license of the facility.
(4) The licensee shall notify the department within 30 days of any
change in administrators.
(c) (1) The administrator certification program shall require a
minimum of 35 hours of classroom instruction that provides training
on a uniform core of knowledge in each of the following areas:
(A) Laws, regulations, and policies and procedural standards that
impact the operations of the type of facility for which the applicant
will be an administrator.
(B) Business operations.
(C) Management and supervision of staff.
(D) Psychosocial needs of the facility residents.
(E) Community and support services.
(F) Physical needs for facility residents.
(G) Use, misuse, and interaction of medication commonly used by
facility residents.
(H) Resident admission, retention, and assessment procedures.
(I) Nonviolent crisis intervention for administrators.
(J) Cultural competency and sensitivity in issues relating to the
underserved aging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
(2) The requirement for 35 hours of classroom instruction pursuant
to this subdivision shall not apply to persons who were employed as
administrators prior to July 1, 1996. A person holding the position
of administrator of an adult residential facility on June 30, 1996,
shall file a completed application for certification with the
department on or before April 1, 1998. In order to be exempt from the
35-hour training program and the test component, the application
shall include documentation showing proof of continuous employment as
the administrator of an adult residential facility between, at a
minimum, June 30, 1994, and June 30, 1996. An administrator of an
adult residential facility who became certified as a result of
passing the department-administered challenge test, that was offered
between October 1, 1996, and December 23, 1996, shall be deemed to
have fulfilled the requirements of this paragraph.
(3) Unless an extension is granted to the applicant by the
department, an applicant for an administrator's certificate shall,
within 60 days of the applicant's completion of classroom
instruction, pass the written test provided in this section.
(d) The department shall not begin the process of issuing a
certificate until receipt of all of the following:
(1) A certificate of completion of the administrator training
required pursuant to this chapter.
(2) The fee required for issuance of the certificate. A fee of one
hundred dollars ($100) shall be charged by the department to cover
the costs of processing the application for certification.
(3) Documentation from the applicant that he or she has passed the
written test.
(4) Submission of fingerprints. The department and the Department
of Justice shall expedite the criminal record clearance for holders
of certificates of completion. The department may waive the
submission for those persons who have a current clearance on file.
(e) It shall be unlawful for any person not certified under this
section to hold himself or herself out as a certified administrator
of an adult residential facility. A person willfully making any false
representation as being a certified administrator is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
(f) (1) Certificates issued under this section shall be renewed
every two years and renewal shall be conditional upon the certificate
holder submitting documentation of completion of 40 hours of
continuing education related to the core of knowledge specified in
subdivision (c). No more than one-half of the required 40 hours of
continuing education necessary to renew the certificate may be
satisfied through online courses. All other continuing education
hours shall be completed in a classroom setting. For purposes of this
section, an individual who is an adult residential facility
administrator and who is required to complete the continuing
education hours required by the regulations of the State Department
of Developmental Services, and approved by the regional center, shall
be permitted to have up to 24 of the required continuing education
course hours credited toward the 40-hour continuing education
requirement of this section. Community college course hours approved
by the regional centers shall be accepted by the department for
certification.
(2) Every licensee and administrator of an adult residential
facility is required to complete the continuing education
requirements of this subdivision.
(3) Certificates issued under this section shall expire every two
years, on the anniversary date of the initial issuance of the
certificate, except that any administrator receiving his or her
initial certification on or after January 1, 1999, shall make an
irrevocable election to have his or her recertification date for any
subsequent recertification either on the date two years from the date
of issuance of the certificate or on the individual's birthday
during the second calendar year following certification. The
department shall send a renewal notice to the certificate holder 90
days prior to the expiration date of the certificate. If the
certificate is not renewed prior to its expiration date,
reinstatement shall only be permitted after the certificate holder
has paid a delinquency fee equal to three times the renewal fee and
has provided evidence of completion of the continuing education
required.
(4) To renew a certificate, the certificate holder shall, on or
before the certificate expiration date, request renewal by submitting
to the department documentation of completion of the required
continuing education courses and pay the renewal fee of one hundred
dollars ($100), irrespective of receipt of the department's
notification of the renewal. A renewal request postmarked on or
before the expiration of the certificate is proof of compliance with
this paragraph.
(5) A suspended or revoked certificate is subject to expiration as
provided for in this section. If reinstatement of the certificate is
approved by the department, the certificate holder, as a condition
precedent to reinstatement, shall submit proof of compliance with
paragraphs (1) and (2) and shall pay a fee in an amount equal to the
renewal fee, plus the delinquency fee, if any, accrued at the time of
its revocation or suspension. Delinquency fees, if any, accrued
subsequent to the time of its revocation or suspension and prior to
an order for reinstatement, shall be waived for one year to allow the
individual sufficient time to complete the required continuing
education units and to submit the required documentation. Individuals
whose certificates will expire within 90 days after the order for
reinstatement may be granted a three-month extension to renew their
certificates during which time the delinquency fees shall not accrue.
(6) A certificate that is not renewed within four years after its
expiration shall not be renewed, restored, reissued, or reinstated
except upon completion of a certification training program, passing
any test that may be required of an applicant for a new certificate
at that time, and paying the appropriate fees provided for in this
section.
(7) A fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) shall be charged for the
reissuance of a lost certificate.
(8) A certificate holder shall inform the department of his or her
employment status within 30 days of any change.
(g) The certificate shall be considered forfeited under the
following conditions:
(1) The administrator has had a license revoked, suspended, or
denied as authorized under Section 1550.
(2) The administrator has been denied employment, residence, or
presence in a facility based on action resulting from an
administrative hearing pursuant to Section 1522 or 1558.
(h) (1) The department, in consultation with the State Department
of Health Care Services and the State Department of Developmental
Services, shall establish, by regulation, the program content, the
testing instrument, the process for approving certification training
programs, and criteria to be used in authorizing individuals,
organizations, or educational institutions to conduct certification
training programs and continuing education courses. These regulations
shall be developed in consultation with provider organizations, and
shall be made available at least six months prior to the deadline
required for certification. The department may deny vendor approval
to any agency or person in any of the following circumstances:
(A) The applicant has not provided the department with evidence
satisfactory to the department of the ability of the applicant to
satisfy the requirements of vendorization set out in the regulations
adopted by the department pursuant to subdivision (i).
(B) The applicant person or agency has a conflict of interest in
that the person or agency places its clients in adult residential
facilities.
(C) The applicant public or private agency has a conflict of
interest in that the agency is mandated to place clients in adult
residential facilities and to pay directly for the services. The
department may deny vendorization to this type of agency only as long
as there are other vendor programs available to conduct the
certification training programs and conduct education courses.
(2) The department may authorize vendors to conduct the
administrator's certification training program pursuant to provisions
set forth in this section. The department shall conduct the written
test pursuant to regulations adopted by the department.
(3) The department shall prepare and maintain an updated list of
approved training vendors.
(4) The department may inspect certification training programs and
continuing education courses, including online courses, at no charge
to the department, to determine if content and teaching methods
comply with regulations. If the department determines that any vendor
is not complying with the intent of this section, the department
shall take appropriate action to bring the program into compliance,
which may include removing the vendor from the approved list.
(5) The department shall establish reasonable procedures and
timeframes not to exceed 30 days for the approval of vendor training
programs.
(6) The department may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed one
hundred fifty dollars ($150) every two years to certification program
vendors for review and approval of the initial 35-hour training
program pursuant to subdivision (c). The department may also charge
the vendor a fee not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) every two
years for the review and approval of the continuing education courses
needed for recertification pursuant to this subdivision.
(7) (A) A vendor of online programs for continuing education shall
ensure that each online course contains all of the following:
(i) An interactive portion in which the participant receives
feedback, through online communication, based on input from the
participant.
(ii) Required use of a personal identification number or personal
identification information to confirm the identity of the
participant.
(iii) A final screen displaying a printable statement, to be
signed by the participant, certifying that the identified participant
completed the course. The vendor shall obtain a copy of the final
screen statement with the original signature of the participant prior
to the issuance of a certificate of completion. The signed statement
of completion shall be maintained by the vendor for a period of
three years and be available to the department upon demand. Any
person who certifies as true any material matter pursuant to this
clause that he or she knows to be false is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(B) This subdivision shall not prohibit the department from
approving online programs for continuing education that do not meet
the requirements of subparagraph (A) if the vendor demonstrates to
the department's satisfaction that, through advanced technology, the
course and the course delivery meet the requirements of this section.
(i) The department shall establish a registry for holders of
certificates that shall include, at a minimum, information on
employment status and criminal record clearance.