PRINTER'S NO. 1209
No. 1066 Session of 1991
INTRODUCED BY HAGARTY, BLAUM, NAHILL, KASUNIC, ARGALL, TELEK,
STURLA, HARPER, HERMAN, FAIRCHILD, NAILOR, TRICH, DEMPSEY,
PESCI, MELIO, CARLSON, TRELLO, DeLUCA, McHUGH, HECKLER,
MICOZZIE, McGEEHAN, FOX, GALLEN, SAURMAN, STABACK, BELARDI,
ROEBUCK, GERLACH, BUSH, GODSHALL, GLADECK, KENNEY, BUNT,
ITKIN, WAMBACH, PRESTON, RICHARDSON, CIVERA, E. Z. TAYLOR,
BUTKOVITZ, HARLEY AND JAMES, APRIL 9, 1991
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND YOUTH, APRIL 9, 1991
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), entitled
2 "An act providing for and reorganizing the conduct of the
3 executive and administrative work of the Commonwealth by the
4 Executive Department thereof and the administrative
5 departments, boards, commissions, and officers thereof,
6 including the boards of trustees of State Normal Schools, or
7 Teachers Colleges; abolishing, creating, reorganizing or
8 authorizing the reorganization of certain administrative
9 departments, boards, and commissions; defining the powers and
10 duties of the Governor and other executive and administrative
11 officers, and of the several administrative departments,
12 boards, commissions, and officers; fixing the salaries of the
13 Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and certain other executive
14 and administrative officers; providing for the appointment of
15 certain administrative officers, and of all deputies and
16 other assistants and employes in certain departments, boards,
17 and commissions; and prescribing the manner in which the
18 number and compensation of the deputies and all other
19 assistants and employes of certain departments, boards and
20 commissions shall be determined," providing for a training
21 program to encourage the establishment of older adult
22 advocacy programs.
23 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
24 hereby enacts as follows:
25 Section 1. The act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known
1 as The Administrative Code of 1929, is amended by adding a
2 section to read:
3 Section 2213-A. Older Adult Advocacy Programs.--(a) The
4 Department of Aging shall encourage the establishment of older
5 adult advocacy programs, which may be known as Care Watch
6 Programs, in any facility providing long-term care services to
7 more than three older adults. To encourage the establishment of
8 older adult advocacy programs, the department shall develop a
9 training curriculum through which older adults being provided
10 long-term care, their families and friends, and other volunteers
11 are shown how to organize and operate an advocacy program within
12 a facility.
13 (b) The training curriculum shall include, but not be
14 limited to, the following:
15 (1) Information on the rights of older adults receiving
16 long-term care and the rights of their families and friends to
17 access to the older adult and to information about the older
18 adult.
19 (2) How to identify abuse, what to do if abuse is suspected,
20 how to monitor the facility's response to allegations of older
21 adults' abuse, how to monitor the care given to victims and
22 witnesses of abuse after a report of abuse has been made and
23 what to do if the care is inadequate.
24 (3) Methods of organizing the advocacy program and ensuring
25 the presence of an advocate in the facility at all times, if
26 possible, and, if not possible, at the most critical times of
27 day.
28 (4) Methods of stimulating involvement of community
29 volunteers.
30 (c) The department shall initially present the training
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1 curriculum at each existing facility providing long-term care
2 services to more than three older adults as soon as feasible but
3 in no event later than three years after the effective date of
4 this section. Within one year of the establishment of future
5 facilities providing long-term care services to more than three
6 older adults, the department shall present the training
7 curriculum. In facilities where a Care Watch Program is not
8 established after the initial curriculum presentation, the
9 department shall offer the curriculum on an annual basis and
10 shall take further steps to encourage the establishment of the
11 program until such time that one is established.
12 (d) The department shall take appropriate steps to ensure
13 that all older adults receiving care, their families and
14 friends, and community organizations that might participate in
15 the advocacy program are given adequate notice of any training
16 presentation.
17 (e) The department is authorized to take whatever action is
18 necessary to assist in the establishment of a Care Watch Program
19 in each appropriate facility. When a Care Watch Program is
20 established, the department shall be available to provide advice
21 and assistance necessary to the efficiency of the program. The
22 department shall meet with the Care Watch Program volunteers at
23 least annually to review and evaluate the program and suggest
24 improvements.
25 (f) The department shall ensure that all Care Watch Programs
26 are coordinated with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and
27 any other existing advocacy programs in facilities providing
28 care to older adults.
29 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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