(1) The Office of the State Long-Term Care Facilities Ombudsman shall establish a training and certification program. The State Ombudsman shall specify by rule the content of the training program. Each long-term care facilities ombudsman program shall bear the cost of training its own employees.

(2) The State Ombudsman shall establish minimum qualifications and recertification requirements for representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Facilities Ombudsman. Such training shall include instruction in at least the following subjects as they relate to long-term care:

(a) The responsibilities and duties of community ombudsmen;

(b) The laws and regulations governing the receipt, investigation and resolution of issues of the well-being of a resident;

(c) The role of local, state and federal agencies that regulate long-term care facilities;

(d) The different kinds of long-term care facilities in Mississippi and the services provided in each kind;

(e) The special needs of the elderly and of the physically and mentally handicapped;

(f) The role of the family, the sponsor, the legal representative, the physician, the church, and other public and private agencies, and the community;

(g) How to work with long-term care facility staff;

(h) The aging process and characteristics of the long-term care facility resident or institutionalized elderly;

(i) Familiarity with and access to information concerning the laws and regulations governing Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, the Veterans Administration and Workers’ Compensation; and

(j) The training program shall include an appropriate internship to be performed in a long-term care facility.

(3) Persons selected by area agencies on aging who have satisfactorily completed the training arranged by the State Ombudsman shall be designated as representatives of the Office of the State Long-Term Care Facilities Ombudsman by the State Ombudsman.

(4) Each area agency on aging may appoint an advisory committee to advise it in the operation of its community ombudsman program. The number and qualifications of members of the advisory committee shall be determined by the area agency on aging.

(5) Ombudsmen who have successfully completed the training and certification program under this section shall be given identification cards which shall be presented to employees of a long-term care facility upon request.