(a) Upon request of an applicant who is a member of a church or religious denomination, recognized by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, that owns and operates a faith-based skilled nursing facility in California, and whose teachings historically prohibit the acquisition of the formal education that would otherwise be required to qualify for the AIT Program and the licensing examination, that applicant may seek an educational waiver. That applicant shall be required to possess at least an accredited high school diploma or proof of successfully passing a General Educational Development (GED) test of the American Council on Education or the California High School Proficiency Examination, as well as 10 years of full-time work experience in business, health, or rehabilitation fields, with at least five of the 10 years of work experience in business, health, or rehabilitation management or administration.

(b) The department may review the applicant’s church’s or religious denomination’s Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) application, including attachments, the Internal Revenue Service’s Letter of Determination of tax-exempt status to the church or religious denomination, and the church’s or religious denomination’s bylaws, constitution, or member orientation information to confirm an applicant’s eligibility for the educational waiver. The applicant’s church or religious denomination shall provide the foregoing information to the department for its review and processing of the educational waiver application. The department shall accept notarized copies of these documents.

(c) If the educational requirements are waived, the applicant successfully completes the program-approved 1,000 hour AIT Program, and is successful in passing the national and state licensing examinations, the applicant may only serve as a nursing home administrator in a facility that is owned and operated by the applicant’s church or religious denomination.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 397, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2009.)