The care and services provided by Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs) have significantly changed over the past several years. RCFEs provide services and supports to a wide range of residents; some residents who are very independent and other residents who need assistance with the activities of daily living, are living with a diagnosis of dementia, or may be receiving home health care and/or hospice services.
Accordingly, RCFE providers have had the responsibility to understand and operationalize increasingly complex requirements. The Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division has also experienced significant change. Requirements to conduct inspections annually from at least once every 5 years and persistent budget cuts resulted in a more streamlined inspection process.
In 2016, the legislature and new Division leadership resulted in an initiative to develop a more comprehensive inspection process, draft inspection tools, identify requirement domains and pilot this new process. At the time of this writing, the outcome of the pilot is not yet known. Regardless of the final design of the inspection process, it is important that licensees and administrators have an opportunity to review statutory and regulatory requirements, refresh their understanding of these requirements in the context of their own facility operations, and reset those operational areas that may not meet the requirements. Register today to participate in a multi-part webinar series which will review each new domain element in the new inspection process. Veteran policy consultant Brenda Klütz will guide members through the requirements and answer questions. Register here.