CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1083

Introduced by Assembly Member Nazarian

February 18, 2021

An act to add and repeal Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 50223) of Part 1 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to health services.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1083, as introduced, Nazarian. Senior affordable housing: nursing pilot program.
Existing law establishes the California Department of Aging to provide leadership to the area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes or the least restrictive homelike environments. Existing law permits age restrictions in connection with housing and defines senior citizen housing developments for these purposes as a residential development for senior citizens that has at least 35 dwelling units.
This bill would require the department to establish and administer the Housing Plus Services Nursing Pilot Program in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, and Sonoma. The program would provide grant funds to qualified nonprofit organizations that specialize in resident services for the purposes of hiring one full-time registered nurse to work at 3 senior citizen housing developments in each county to provide health education, navigation, coaching, and care to residents. The bill would require the department to submit a report to specified legislative committees and state agencies on or before January 1, 2026, and would repeal the program as of January 1, 2027.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that, by the year 2030, the state’s population that is 65 years of age or older will nearly double, increasing by 4,000,000 people to nearly 8,000,000, while becoming more racially and economically diverse.
(b) The aging of California’s population will impact all areas of the service delivery system, increasing the demand for long-term services and supports, transportation, oral health, health care, behavioral health services, and housing.
(c) Service-enriched housing for the aging population is an important tool for solving our state’s housing, long-term services and supports, and health care challenges.
(d) The collaboration of on-site service coordinators, who provide support for social services needs, and onsite registered nurses, who provide health education, navigation, transitions of care, and coaching, enables older residents to receive more appropriate and better care, to remain living independently, and to avoid costly health care issues, including unnecessary hospitalization and long-term care facility stays.
(e) The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted older adults more than any other age group and has demonstrated that keeping older adults, especially those with chronic conditions and high frailty levels, in their homes and out of the hospital and long-term care is even more crucial than before. Health care and social services must be brought to residents where they live.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 50223) is added to Part 1 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER  7. Housing Plus Services Nursing Pilot Program

50223.
 (a) The California Department of Aging shall establish and administer the Housing Plus Services Nursing Pilot Program. The department shall choose projects in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, and Sonoma.
(b) The department shall provide grant funds to qualified nonprofit organizations that specialize in resident services for the purposes of hiring one full-time registered nurse to work at three properties in each county to provide health education, navigation, coaching, and care to residents. The three properties served by the registered nurse shall be senior citizen housing developments, as described in Sections 51.2 and 51.3 of the Civil Code.
(c) The department shall establish criteria, guidelines, and an application process for grants. Grant recipients shall be required, as a condition of receiving the grant, to agree to provide data as required by the department to meet the reporting requirements in Section 50223.2.

50223.2.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2026, the department shall provide to the Senate Committee on Health, the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care, the Assembly Committee on Health, the California Health and Human Services Agency, and the Department of Housing and Community Development a report that contains, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) An evaluation of the success of the program and challenges to implementation.
(2) Data on the types of services utilized and the outcomes of those services.
(3) The number of residents who participated.
(4) The number of participating residents who moved from the program sites to long-term care facilities.
(b) A report to be submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

50223.4.
  This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2027, and as of that date is repealed.