ACF and Assisted Living Regulatory Review Underway

LeadingAge NY has begun work with the Department of Health (DOH) and other stakeholders on Adult Care Facility (ACF) and assisted living regulatory reform. During the second official meeting of the group, which met last week, participants reviewed the Resident Funds and Valuables regulations, and will continue to do so at the next meeting. The group is seeking to identify how directives and Dear Administrator letters can be consolidated, simplified, updated and incorporate equivalencies. Once the group completes this section of review, the next topic will address Residency Agreements and related Resident Rights regulations. Ultimately, this group will develop recommendations for DOH to consider. Regulations will not be changed, however, until regulations undergo the state-mandated process, which allows for public input and comment. This initiative may very well take a long time to conduct, but will be extremely worthwhile.

The group will soon need to grapple with the question of where to ultimately land at the end of this process. Fundamentally, the group will have to determine whether or not one set of regulations that allows for the different models of ACF/assisted living is efficient; or, is it better to maintain some semblance of the current paradigm, which has several models with separate licensure and regulation?

LeadingAge NY members are encouraged to share their thoughts, concerns and ideas about this issue. Also, please let us know if you would like to participate in the LeadingAge NY workgroup, which will help guide advocacy efforts throughout process.

Contact: Diane Darbyshire, ddarbyshire@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8828