(a) A residential facility licensed as an adult residential facility, group home, short-term residential therapeutic program, small family home, foster family home, or a family home certified by a foster family agency may install and utilize delayed egress devices of the time delay type.

(b) As used in this section, “delayed egress device” means a device that precludes the use of exits for a predetermined period of time. These devices shall not delay any resident’s departure from the facility for longer than 30 seconds.

Terms Used In California Health and Safety Code 1531.1

  • County: includes city and county. See California Health and Safety Code 14
  • department: means State Department of Health Services. See California Health and Safety Code 20
  • Foster family agency: means any public agency or private organization, organized and operated on a nonprofit basis, engaged in any of the following:

    California Health and Safety Code 1502

  • Foster family home: means any residential facility providing 24-hour care for six or fewer foster children that is owned, leased, or rented and is the residence of the foster parent or parents, including their family, in whose care the foster children have been placed. See California Health and Safety Code 1502
  • Group home: means a residential facility that provides 24-hour care and supervision to children, delivered at least in part by staff employed by the licensee in a structured environment. See California Health and Safety Code 1502
  • Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Health and Safety Code 19
  • Residential facility: means any family home, group care facility, or similar facility determined by the department, for 24-hour nonmedical care of persons in need of personal services, supervision, or assistance essential for sustaining the activities of daily living or for the protection of the individual. See California Health and Safety Code 1502
  • Short-term residential therapeutic program: means a residential facility operated by a public agency or private organization and licensed by the department pursuant to Section 1562. See California Health and Safety Code 1502
  • Small family home: means any residential facility, in the licensee's family residence, that provides 24-hour care for six or fewer foster children who have mental disorders or developmental or physical disabilities and who require special care and supervision as a result of their disabilities. See California Health and Safety Code 1502
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Health and Safety Code 23
  • state department: means the State Department of Social Services. See California Health and Safety Code 1502

(c) Within the 30 seconds of delay, facility staff may attempt to redirect a resident who attempts to leave the facility.

(d) Any person accepted by a residential facility or family home certified by a foster family agency utilizing delayed egress devices shall meet all of the following conditions:

(1) The person shall have a developmental disability as defined in § 4512 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(2) The person shall be receiving services and case management from a regional center under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 4500) of the Welfare and Institutions Code).

(3) An interdisciplinary team, through the individual program plan (IPP) process pursuant to § 4646.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall have determined that the person lacks hazard awareness or impulse control and requires the level of supervision afforded by a facility equipped with delayed egress devices, and that but for this placement, the person would be at risk of admission to, or would have no option but to remain in, a more restrictive state hospital or state developmental center placement.

(e) The facility shall be subject to all fire and building codes, regulations, and standards applicable to residential care facilities for the elderly utilizing delayed egress devices, and shall receive approval by the county or city fire department, the local fire prevention district, or the State Fire Marshal for the installed delayed egress devices.

(f) The facility shall provide staff training regarding the use and operation of the egress control devices utilized by the facility, protection of residents’ personal rights, lack of hazard awareness and impulse control behavior, and emergency evacuation procedures.

(g) The facility shall develop a plan of operation approved by the State Department of Social Services that includes a description of how the facility is to be equipped with egress control devices that are consistent with regulations adopted by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 13143.

(h) The plan shall include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) A description of how the facility will provide training for staff regarding the use and operation of the egress control devices utilized by the facility.

(2) A description of how the facility will ensure the protection of the residents’ personal rights consistent with Sections 4502, 4503, and 4504 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(3) A description of how the facility will manage the person’s lack of hazard awareness and impulse control behavior.

(4) A description of the facility’s emergency evacuation procedures.

(i) Delayed egress devices shall not substitute for adequate staff. Except for facilities operating in accordance with Section 1531.15, the capacity of the facility shall not exceed six residents.

(j) Emergency fire and earthquake drills shall be conducted at least once every three months on each shift, and shall include all facility staff providing resident care and supervision on each shift.

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 561, Sec. 108. (AB 1516) Effective January 1, 2018.)

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