Aging and Disability Services Information for Professionals

AGING AND DISABILITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

January 5, 2001

AASA: BH #2000-027
BH WAC Revision Status Meetings
Implementation of SSB 6502 Long Term Care Training
Amendments to RCW 18.20

Dear Boarding Home Provider:

This letter is written to share information with you about three important matters. They are set out in separate sections below.

The boarding home licensing statute, Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 18.20, was amended by the 2000 Legislature as we informed you in AASA: BH 2000-010 in April. Some of the more significant amendments are:

Permanently transferring the responsibility for boarding home licensing from the Department of Health to the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS),
Changing the definition of a boarding home from a facility serving three or more aged persons to a facility serving seven or more aged persons,
Establishing minimum training requirements for boarding home staff, and
Creating a Boarding Home Advisory Board.

Enclosed for your use is a copy of the current RCW 18.20.

Scheduled “status meetings”

Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 388-78A Boarding Homes, implements RCW 18.20. Aging and Disability Services Administration (AASA) is in the process of reviewing and amending WAC 388-78A Boarding Homes. Throughout this multi-year process, AASA plans on holding a series of meetings for all stakeholders The purpose of these “status meetings” is to:

Summarize to date the work that has been done on the boarding home rules revision project,
Identify the work that is planned and the work that is currently in progress,
Identify any decisions that have been made regarding amendments to boarding home licensing rules, and
Provide an opportunity for stakeholders to:
- Ask questions about the process, work, or decisions,
- Respond to and discuss the information provided, and
- Suggest additional actions for the rule revision process.

At this time, AASA has scheduled six “status meetings” to be held in 2001. You, as well as other stakeholders and the public, are invited to attend these meetings. The dates, times, and locations of the 2001 status meetings are:

March 6, 2001, Tuesday, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
NWCET Building, Room N-201
3000 Landerholm Circle SE
Bellevue Community College
Bellevue, Washington 98007

March 8, 2001, Thursday, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Mother Joseph Room, Floor L-3
Sacred Heart Hospital
101 West 8th Street
Spokane, Washington 99220

June 5, 2001, Tuesday, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
First floor training room, AASA Headquarters
640 Woodland Square Loop SE
Lacey, Washington 98503

June 6, 2001, Wednesday, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Auditorium
Memorial Hospital
2811 Tieton Drive
Yakima, Washington 98902

September 11, 2001, Tuesday, 9:30 AM – 11:30 PM
Auditorium, State Office Building 2, Capitol Campus
1115 Washington Street
Olympia, Washington 98504

September 17, 2001, Monday, 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Mother Joseph Room, Floor L-3
Sacred Heart Hospital
101 West 8th Street
Spokane, Washington 99220

Please note that some evening meetings have been scheduled as well as meetings during the normal business day. This was done in order to accommodate family members and others who may not be able to leave work during normal business hours.

Individuals also may obtain information about scheduled meetings and provide input on the boarding home rule revision project via the Internet by logging on to a website at:

http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/Professional/bhrule/
It would be appreciated if you would distribute this information regarding the web site and status meetings, (e.g. post this information on your bulletin boards, publish it in your newsletters, announce it at your meetings, post it on your websites, and/or forward it to other interested parties such as facility resident and family councils).

Please call Denny McKee at (360) 725-2590 or Lori Melchiori at (360) 725-2589 if you have any questions regarding these status meetings or the boarding home rules revision project.

Implementation of SSB 6502 Long Term Care Training

As a result of legislation passed during the 2000 session, Aging and Disability Services Administration (AASA) filed a second “CR 101” (Preproposal Statement of Inquiry) with the Office of the Code Reviser on November 13, 2000 to announce AASA is considering amending sections of WAC 388-78A.

DSHS is required to adopt rules by March 1, 2002 to implement the long term care training requirements specified in SSB 6502. A Steering Committee for Community Long Term Care Training and Education has been established to advise DSHS on the development of these rules. Therefore, there are currently two separate but coordinated processes in effect to amend WAC 388-78A:

A process to review the entire chapter of WAC 388-78A (the subject of the status meetings mentioned above), and
A process to amend WAC 388-78A to implement the training requirements of SSB 6502.

If you have comments, questions, or ideas about implementing the long term care training requirements of SSB 6502, please contact:
Dotti Wilke, Program Manager
AASA
PO Box 45600
Olympia, Washington 98504-5600
E-Mail: wilkedc@dshs.wa.gov

Sincerely,

Patricia K. Lashway, Director
Residential Care Services

Enclosures