(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 children in homelike community settings.

(b) The State Department of Social Services may license, subject to the following conditions, a Group Home for Children with Special Health Care Needs (GHCSHN) to provide 24-hour services to up to five children with developmental disabilities who have special health care and intensive support needs, as defined in subdivisions (f) and (h) of § 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 a GHCSHN. 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 GHCSHN 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 GHCSHN that does not comply with program requirements. If the State Department of Developmental Services determines that urgent action is necessary to protect clients of the GHCSHN 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 GHCSHN 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 may 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 of a GHCSHN shall provide documentation that, in addition to the administrator requirements set forth under paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of § 4684.63 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the administrator of a GHCSHN, prior to employment, has completed a minimum of 40 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 group homes. 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.

(11) Section 1507.35 shall apply to a GHCSHN that allows a client who has been diagnosed as terminally ill by their physician or surgeon to remain in the facility, or allows a client who has been diagnosed as terminally ill by their physician or surgeon to be placed in the facility.

(c) (1)  Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of § 4684.53 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Developmental Services may adopt regulations to implement this section.

(2) (A) The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Developmental Services may adopt emergency regulations to implement this section. The departments may readopt any emergency regulation authorized by this section that is the same as, or substantially equivalent to, emergency regulations previously adopted under this section.

(B) The initial adoption of regulations pursuant to this section and one readoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare. Initial emergency regulations and the one readoption of emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be exempt from review by the Office of Administrative Law. The initial emergency regulations and the one readoption of emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State, and each shall remain in effect for no more than 180 days, by which time final regulations shall be adopted.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 76, Sec. 13. (AB 136) Effective July 16, 2021.)