Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

As used in this chapter: (a) “Community care facility” means any facility, place, or building that is maintained and operated to provide nonmedical residential care, day treatment, adult daycare, or foster family agency services for children, adults, or children and adults, inclu…

(a) Commencing January 1, 2018, the department shall license private alternative boarding schools, as defined in paragraph (19) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, as a group home pursuant to this chapter. A licensed private alternative boarding school shall comply with all provi…

(a) Commencing January 1, 2019, the department shall license private alternative outdoor programs, as defined in paragraph (20) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, as a group home pursuant to this chapter. A private alternative outdoor program shall comply with the provisions of …

For purposes of this chapter, a “community care facility,” pursuant to Section 1502, includes a transitional shelter care facility. A “transitional shelter care facility” means a short-term residential care program that meets all of the following requirements: (a) It is owned by …

(a) The department shall license a youth homelessness prevention center as a group home pursuant to this section. A youth homelessness prevention center shall meet all of the following requirements: (1) The center shall offer short-term, 24-hour, nonmedical care and supervision a…

(a) A licensed short-term residential therapeutic program, as defined in paragraph (18) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, may only accept for placement a child who does not require inpatient care in a licensed health facility and who has been assessed pursuant to Section 11462.…

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 1502.4, a community care facility licensed as a group home for children pursuant to this chapter may only accept for placement, and provide care and supervision to, a child assessed as seriously emotionally disturbed as long as the child does not n…

Notwithstanding Section 1502, residential care facilities for the elderly, as defined in Section 1569.2, shall not be considered community care facilities and shall be subject only to the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act (Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Sec…

The department shall deny a private adoption agency a license, or revoke an existing private adoption agency license, unless the applicant or licensee demonstrates that it currently and continuously employs either an executive director or a supervisor who has had at least five ye…

(a) On or before July 1, 2012, the department, in consultation with representatives of the Legislature, the County Welfare Directors Association, the Chief Probation Officers of California, the California Youth Connection, the Judicial Council, former foster youth, child advocacy…

The department shall adopt regulations consistent with paragraph (24) of subdivision (a) of Section 16001.9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

As used in this chapter, “license” means a basic permit to operate a community care facility. A license shall not be transferable.

(a) An adoption agency is subject to licensure and regulation by the department and shall comply with both of the following requirements: (1) Meet applicable licensing standards as set forth in this chapter, comply with the rules, regulations, and interim licensing standards adop…

Every facility licensed or certified pursuant to this chapter shall have one or more carbon monoxide detectors in the facility that meet the standards established in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 13260) of Part 2 of Division 12. The department shall account for the presence …

(a) A facility shall be deemed to be an “unlicensed community care facility” and “maintained and operated to provide nonmedical care” if it is unlicensed and not exempt from licensure and any one of the following conditions is satisfied: (1) The facility is providing care or supe…

As used in this chapter, “special permit” means a permit issued by the state department authorizing a community care facility to offer specialized services as designated by the director in regulations. A special permit shall not be transferable.

(a) (1) This chapter does not apply to any independent living arrangement or supportive housing, described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), for individuals with disabilities who are receiving community living support services, as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).…

This chapter does not apply to any of the following: (a) A health facility, as defined by Section 1250. (b) A clinic, as defined by Section 1200. (c) A juvenile placement facility approved by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, or an…

(a) The director shall adopt regulations authorizing residential facilities, as defined in Section 1502, to fill unused capacity on a short-term, time-limited basis to provide temporary respite care for persons who are frail and elderly, adults with functional impairments, and pe…

(a) (1) A foster family agency may use only a certified family home or a resource family that has been certified or approved by that agency or, pursuant to Section 1506.5, a licensed foster family home or a county-approved resource family approved for this use by the county. (2) …

(a) A foster family agency shall prepare and maintain a current, written plan of operation as required by the department. (b) (1) A foster family agency shall have national accreditation from an entity identified by the department pursuant to the process described in paragraph (8…

(a) A foster family agency shall employ one full-time social work supervisor for every eight social workers or fraction thereof in the agency. (b) A foster family agency shall employ one full-time social worker for every 18 children or fraction thereof in placement.

(a) Foster family agencies shall not use foster family homes licensed by a county or resource families approved by a county without the approval of the licensing or approving county. When approval is granted, a written agreement between the foster family agency and the county sha…

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that public and private efforts to recruit foster parents not be competitive and that the total number of foster parents be increased. (b) A foster family agency shall not certify a family home that is licensed by the department or a county…

(a) A foster family agency shall require the owner or operator of a family home applying for certification to sign an application that shall contain, but shall not be limited to, the following information: (1) Whether the applicant has been certified, and by which foster family a…

(a) Before certifying a family home, a foster family agency shall contact any foster family agencies by whom an applicant has been previously certified and any state or county licensing offices that have licensed the applicant as a foster parent, and shall conduct a reference che…

(a) No person shall incur civil liability as a result of providing the department with any of the following: (1) The foster family agency providing to the department a log of family homes certified and decertified. (2) The foster family agency notifying the department of its dete…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, incidental medical services may be provided in a community care facility. If the medical services constitute a substantial component of the services provided by the community care facility as defined by the director in regulations, …

(a) An adult community care facility may permit incidental medical services to be provided through a home health agency licensed pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 1725) when all of the following conditions are met: (1) The facility, in the judgment of the department,…

Every community care facility that provides adult residential care or offers an adult day program shall, for the purpose of addressing issues that arise when an adult resident or an adult day program participant is missing from the facility, develop and comply with an absentee no…

Notwithstanding this chapter, a child with special health care needs, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 17710 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, may be accepted in a specialized foster care home, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 17710 of the Welfare and Institut…

(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a person described in paragraph (2), who is not a licensed health care professional, but who is trained to administer injections by a licensed health care professional practicing within the professional’s scope of practice, may administer em…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 1566.45 or any other provision of law, a residential facility that provides care to adults may obtain a waiver from the department for the purpose of allowing a resident who has been diagnosed as terminally ill by his or her physician and surgeon to re…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a group home for children with special health care needs, as defined in paragraph (22) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, may allow a client who has been diagnosed as terminally ill by their physician or surgeon to remain in the facility, or al…

(a) Beginning May 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, the department shall collect information and send a report to each county’s department of mental health or behavioral health of all licensed adult residential facilities in the county that accept the federal supplemental securit…

(a) In-home medical care and home and community-based services, as described in subdivisions (t) and (u) of Section 14132 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, may, when deemed medically appropriate by the State Department of Health Services, be provided by a licensed home health…

(a) Mental health services, as deemed necessary by the placing agency, may be provided to children in a group home. Except for the physical safety and direct care and supervision of children placed in a group home, the State Department of Social Services and its agents shall not …

No person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation within the state and no state or local public agency shall operate, establish, manage, conduct, or maintain a community care facility in this state, without a current valid license therefor as provided in this chapter. No …

The state department shall inspect and license community care facilities, except as otherwise provided in Section 1508. The state department shall inspect and issue a special permit to a community care facility to provide specialized services.

(a) The department and the licensing agencies with which it contracts for licensing shall review and make a final determination within 60 days of an applicant’s submission of a complete application on all applications for a license to operate a community care facility if the appl…

An applicant or licensee of an adult community care facility shall maintain an email address of record with the department. The applicant or licensee shall notify the department, in writing, of the email address and of any change to the email address within 10 business days of th…

An applicant or licensee of an adult community care facility shall maintain an email address of record with the department. The applicant or licensee shall provide written notification to the department of the email address and of any change to the email address within 10 busines…

The state department may provide consulting services upon request to any community care facility to assist in the identification or correction of deficiencies and in the upgrading of the quality of care provided by such community care facility.

The state department may contract for state, county, or other public agencies to assume specified licensing, approval, or consultation responsibilities. In exercising the authority so delegated, such agencies shall conform to the requirements of this chapter and to the rules, reg…

Each residential community care facility shall state, on its client information form or admission agreement, and on its patient’s rights form, the facility’s policy concerning family visits and other communication with resident clients and shall, except as otherwise provided in t…

(a) No residential facility may prohibit the formation of a family council, and, when requested by a member of the resident’s family or the resident’s responsible party, the family council shall be allowed to meet in a common meeting room of the facility during mutually agreed up…

No license or special permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall have any property value for sale or exchange purposes and no person, including any owner, agent, or broker, shall sell or exchange any license or special permit for any commercial purpose.

(a) Each residential care facility licensed under this chapter shall reveal its license number in all advertisements, publications, or announcements made with the intent to attract clients or residents. (b) Advertisements, publications, or announcements subject to the requirement…

(a) The department shall authorize county welfare departments to undertake comprehensive recruitment programs, including but not limited to media advertising, public awareness campaigns and public speaking engagements to ensure an adequate number of foster homes are available to …

(a) A crisis nursery, as defined in paragraph (17) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, shall be licensed by the department to operate a crisis residential overnight program. Notwithstanding Section 1596.80, a crisis nursery may also provide crisis day services. (b) A crisis nurse…