(a) Notwithstanding that a community care facility means a place that provides nonmedical care under subdivision (a) of Section 1502, pursuant to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 4684.50) of Chapter 6 of Division 4.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the department shall jointly implement with the State Department of Developmental Services a licensing program to provide special health care and intensive support services to adults in homelike community settings.

(b) The State Department of Social Services may license, subject to the following conditions, an Adult Residential Facility for Persons with Special Health Care Needs to provide 24-hour services to up to five adults with developmental disabilities who have special health care and intensive support needs, as defined in subdivisions (f) and (g) of Section 4684.50 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(1) The State Department of Developmental Services shall be responsible for granting the certificate of program approval for an Adult Residential Facility for Persons with Special Health Care Needs (ARFPSHN). The State Department of Social Services shall not issue a license unless the applicant has obtained a certification of program approval from the State Department of Developmental Services.

(2) The State Department of Social Services shall ensure that the ARFPSHN meets the administration requirements under Article 2 (commencing with Section 1520) including, but not limited to, requirements relating to fingerprinting and criminal records under Section 1522.

(3) The State Department of Social Services shall administer employee actions under Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 1558).

(4) The regional center shall monitor and enforce compliance of the program and health and safety requirements, including monitoring and evaluating the quality of care and intensive support services. The State Department of Developmental Services shall ensure that the regional center performs these functions.

(5) The State Department of Developmental Services may decertify any ARFPSHN that does not comply with program requirements. When the State Department of Developmental Services determines that urgent action is necessary to protect clients of the ARFPSHN from physical or mental abuse, abandonment, or any other substantial threat to their health and safety, the State Department of Developmental Services may request the regional center or centers to remove the clients from the ARFPSHN or direct the regional center or centers to obtain alternative services for the consumers within 24 hours.

(6) The State Department of Social Services may initiate proceedings for temporary suspension of the license pursuant to Section 1550.5.

(7) The State Department of Developmental Services, upon its decertification, shall inform the State Department of Social Services of the licensee’s decertification, with its recommendation concerning revocation of the license, for which the State Department of Social Services may initiate proceedings pursuant to Section 1550.

(8) The State Department of Developmental Services and the regional centers shall provide the State Department of Social Services all available documentation and evidentiary support necessary for any enforcement proceedings to suspend the license pursuant to Section 1550.5, to revoke or deny a license pursuant to Section 1551, or to exclude an individual pursuant to Section 1558.

(9) The State Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the State Department of Developmental Services to outline a formal protocol to address shared responsibilities, including monitoring responsibilities, complaint investigations, administrative actions, and closures.

(10) The licensee shall provide documentation that, in addition to the administrator requirements set forth under paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 4684.63 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the administrator, prior to employment, has completed a minimum of 35 hours of initial training in the general laws, regulations and policies and procedural standards applicable to facilities licensed by the State Department of Social Services under Article 2 (commencing with Section 1520). Thereafter, the licensee shall provide documentation every two years that the administrator has completed 40 hours of continuing education in the general laws, regulations and policies and procedural standards applicable to adult residential facilities. The training specified in this section shall be provided by a vendor approved by the State Department of Social Services and the cost of the training shall be borne by the administrator or licensee.

(c) This article shall only be implemented to the extent that funds are made available through an appropriation in the annual Budget Act.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 717, Sec. 13. (SB 853) Effective October 19, 2010.)