08 LC 33
2285
House
Bill 970
By:
Representatives Collins of the
27th,
Lunsford of the
110th,
Cooper of the
41st,
Hamilton of the
23rd,
Burkhalter of the
50th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Code Section 31-7-12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to personal care homes, so as to revise the definition of "personal care home";
to amend Code Section 37-1-20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and
Addictive Diseases, so as to provide guidelines for and oversight of host homes
by the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive
Diseases of the Department of Human Resources; to define "host home"; to provide
for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Code
Section 31-7-12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to personal
care homes, is amended by revising paragraph (1) of subsection (a) as
follows:
"(1)
'Personal care home' means any dwelling, whether operated for profit or not,
which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide or arrange for
the provision of housing, food service, and one or more personal services for
two or more adults who are not related to the owner or administrator by blood or
marriage.
This term
shall not include host homes, as defined in paragraph (16) of subsection (b) of
Code Section 37-1-20."
SECTION
2.
Code
Section 37-1-20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases,
is amended by revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b)
The department, through the division, shall:
(1)
Establish, administer, and supervise the state programs for mental health,
developmental disabilities, and addictive diseases;
(2)
Direct, supervise, and control the medical and physical care, treatment, and
rehabilitation provided by the institutions and programs under its control,
management, or supervision;
(3)
Have authority to contract for services
with:
community service boards, private agencies, and other public entities for the
provision of services within a service area so as to provide an adequate array
of services, choice of providers for consumers, and to comply with the
applicable federal laws, rules and regulations related to public or private
hospitals; hospital authorities; medical
schools,
and training and educational institutions; departments and agencies of this
state; county or municipal governments; any person, partnership, corporation, or
association, whether public or private;
and
the United States government or the government of any other state;
(4)
Establish and support programs for the training of professional and technical
personnel as well as regional planning boards and community service
boards;
(5)
Have authority to conduct research into the causes and treatment of disability
and into the means of effectively promoting mental health;
(6)
Assign specific responsibility to one or more units of the division for the
development of a disability prevention program. The objectives of such program
shall include, but are not limited to, monitoring of completed and ongoing
research related to the prevention of disability, implementation of programs
known to be preventive, and testing, where practical, of those measures having a
substantive potential for the prevention of disability;
(7)
Establish a system for regional administration of mental health, developmental
disability, and addictive disease services in institutions and in the community
under the supervision of a regional coordinator;
(8)
Make and administer budget allocations to regional offices of the division
established by the board pursuant to Code Section
37-2-4.1,
to fund the operation of mental health, developmental disabilities, and
addictive diseases facilities and programs;
(9)
Coordinate in consultation with providers, professionals, and other experts the
development of appropriate outcome measures for client centered service delivery
systems;
(10)
Establish, operate, supervise, and staff programs and facilities for the
treatment of disabilities throughout this state;
(11)
Disseminate information about available services and the facilities through
which such services may be obtained;
(12)
Supervise the regional office´s exercise of its responsibility and
authority concerning funding and delivery of disability services;
(13)
Supervise the regional offices concerning the receipt and administration of
grants, gifts, moneys, and donations for purposes pertaining to mental health,
developmental disabilities, and addictive diseases;
(14)
Supervise the regional offices concerning making contracts with any hospital,
community service board, or any public or private providers without regard to
regional or state boundaries for the provision of disability services and in
making and entering into all contracts necessary or incidental to the
performance of the duties and functions of the division and the regional
offices;
(15)
Regulate the delivery of care, including behavioral interventions and medication
administration by licensed staff, or certified staff as determined by the
division, within residential settings serving only persons who are receiving
services authorized or financed, in whole or in part, by the division;
and
(16)
Establish
Classify
'community living arrangements'
and 'host
homes' for persons whose services are financially supported, in whole or in
part, by funds authorized through the Division of Mental Health, Developmental
Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases of the Department of Human Resources. As
used in this Code section, the term:
(A)
'Community living arrangement' means
which shall
be defined as any residence, whether
operated for profit or not, which undertakes through its ownership or management
to provide or arrange for the provision of housing, food, one or more personal
services, supports, care, or treatment exclusively for two or more persons who
are not related to the owner or administrator of the residence by blood or
marriage
and whose
services are financially supported, in whole or in part, by funds authorized
through the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive
Diseases of the Department of Human
Resources.
(B)
'Host home' means a private residence in a residential area in which the
occupant owner or lessee provides housing and provides or arranges for the
provision of food, one or more personal services, supports, care, or treatment
exclusively for one or two persons who are not related to the occupant owner or
lessee by blood or marriage. A host home shall be occupied by the owner or
lessee, who shall not be an employee of a community provider which provides
services by contract with the division. The division shall approve and enter
into agreements with community providers which, in turn, contract with host
homes. The occupant owner or lessee shall not be the guardian of any person
served or of their property nor the agent in such person´s advance
directive for health care; and
(17)
Provide guidelines for and oversight of host
homes."
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.