Residential care facilities for the elderly: housing protections.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on how local long-term care ombudsmen will use the information provided in eviction notices.

Housing Protections for Elderly Care Facilities

The bill extends eviction notice periods and requires detailed discharge plans for elderly care facilities, ensuring better protection for residents.

What This Bill Does

• Extends the notice period before an elderly resident can be evicted from a care facility to either 30, 60, or 90 days based on how long they have lived there and other factors such as nonpayment of basic services within 10 days.
• Requires care facilities to provide detailed discharge plans when giving eviction notices, including information about post-eviction needs and suitable housing options that meet specified criteria.
• Ensures that residents can stay in the facility until their notice period ends and the eviction process is complete.
• Makes it illegal for a care facility to refuse entry to a resident during this time or prevent them from staying until the notice period expires, subjecting violators to civil and criminal penalties.
• Requires copies of eviction notices to be sent to local long-term care ombudsmen.

Who It Names or Affects

• Residents of residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs)
• Operators and managers of RCFEs
• Local long-term care ombudsmen

Terms To Know

Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE)

A type of housing where older adults live with support services provided by staff.

Discharge Plan

A plan that outlines what will happen after a resident leaves an RCFE, including their needs and preferences for future living arrangements.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact criteria for determining which notice period (30, 60, or 90 days) applies to each resident.
• It is unclear how local long-term care ombudsmen will use the information provided in eviction notices.

Official Summary Text

SB 434, as amended, Wahab.
Residential care facilities for the elderly: housing protections.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) by the State Department of Social Services. Under existing law,
in addition to complying with other applicable regulations,
a licensee of an RCFE that sends a notice of eviction to a resident is required to include in that notice specified information, including the effective date of the eviction and resources available to assist the resident in identifying alternative housing.
The
Under existing law, the
RCFE is also required to notify, or mail a copy of the notice to quit to, the resident’s responsible
person. Existing law requires that a licensee of an RCFE provide a resident
with
a 30-day notice of eviction, except where the department has approved the RCFE to provide a 3-day notice. Under existing law, a violation of those provisions is generally a misdemeanor.
This bill would extend the length of notice
that
a licensee is required to provide
to
a resident to 30, 60, or 90 days, depending on the length of the resident’s residency in the
RCFE.
RCFE, among other factors relating to
nonpayment of the rate for basic services within 10 days of the due date.
The bill would additionally require a licensee of an RCFE to include in a notice of eviction documentation of the licensee’s reasonable efforts to create a safe discharge plan, and would require the plan to include a list of the resident’s posteviction needs, goals, and preferences, and a list of discharge locations that meet specified criteria, such as being financially practicable for the resident. The bill would require that a copy of the notice be provided to the local long-term care ombudsman.
The
The
bill would prohibit an RCFE from refusing entry to a resident or prohibit a resident from residing in the facility until the notice period has elapsed and the eviction process has concluded. The bill would make
a
refusal of entry in
violation of these provisions subject to civil and criminal penalties.
Because the bill would create a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would
provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF