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Author Archives: Adam Peck

 About Adam Peck

Adam J. Peck, ESQ is a principal with Peck Law Group, APC. In 2008, Mr. Adam Peck received his Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School where he graduated Cum Laude. His practice is primarily dedicated to representing Elders, Dependent Adults, along with their loved ones and family members, who have suffered horrific personal injuries.
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Residential Care Facilities Advocated by CARR

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California needs more regulations for assisted living facilities

carrResidential care facilities advocated by CARR: Many senior advocacy and elder justice professionals use Consumer Advocates for RCFE Reform (CARR) as a resource regarding consumer advocacy issues surrounding California’s licensed residential care facilities for the elderly.

Consumer Advocates for RCFE Reform (CARR) www.rcfereform.org is a web-based consumer not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving resident care in assisted living facilities by educating consumers and increasing industry accountability.

CARR’s site has over 11,000 PDFs of public documents on the 700+ RCFEs (residential care facilities for the elderly, aka “assisted living”) located in San Diego and Imperial counties.  There are eight states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Texas, Virginia & Wisconsin) which offer some type of compliance information on the assisted living facilities in those states – and one NFP: CARR.

CARR is the only website available to Californians which offers 13 years’  data on the facilities in these two California counties.  We regularly add documents as our intern and volunteer staff can accommodate.  Public documents available on CARR’s site include the

  • license (the most current document available in the file as of CARR’s last file review)
  • authorization for hospice waivers,
  • fire marshal clearance
  • LIC809 Facility Evaluation Reports (inspections),
  • LIC9099s (Complaint Investigation Reports),
  • Civil Penalties,
  • noncompliance conference summaries, and a
  • variety of licensee documentation including organizational documents, financial estimates, etc.

Our site also offers extensive FAQ;  news and where possible, court documents, regarding elder abuse prosecutions by CA’s Department of Justice  BMFEA;  and of course, facility profiles with compliance histories for the 700+ facilities  noted above.  All documents have been obtained through physical surveillance of the public RCFE files available through California Public Record Act requests at the San Diego office of Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing.  Our work began in 2009, and our site was launched in June 2011. 

Because one of our goals is to empower consumers by giving them information about Title 22 regulations, how the industry operates, how the state regulates facilities and enforces Title 22, we field many consumer questions,  have an active community-speaking schedule, and participate in local community outreach events.  We are also an active field intern site for San Diego State University’s Social Work and Criminal Justice/Public Administration schools.

– from Steven Peck, Senior Attorney at Peck Law Group
 

California Needs More Regulation for Residential Care Facilities

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California needs more regulations for assisted living facilities

California needs more regulation for residential care facilities and is seeking a regulation on Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs aka assisted living and board and care facilities).

These facilities are not regulated in the State of California and because of this, facilities can charge what they want for resident needs including rent. Also, each facility has an assessment tool that is used to determine the level of care a resident needs. This tool assigns points to each category (bathing, diet, toileting, etc) and the dollars are assigned to each point.

There is no consistency or standardization across facilities on how these two items are determined. it is important that we seek the necessary information on how other States that regulate this industry and exactly what that regulations look like. For example, who at the state level is the regulator? Does the regulation have any standards on the assessment tools or how rent is determined

Both Pennsylvania and Ohio regulate residential homes. Neither standardizes the assessment instruments, though they both place responsibilities on the residences to have a fair amount of information about residents’ needs and they also require a physician’s examination as a part of what the facility must have available to them.

In PA, the responsible agency now is the Department of Public Welfare. Until a few months ago, the Department of Aging was responsible for Assisted Living facilities under an Assisted Living law that recognized that the assisted living industry was developed as largely a purpose-built set of communities designed primarily for older people.

The idea was to have legislation that would guide the “aging in place” process, consistent with the wishes of most consumers and providers. For decades, the Department of Public Welfare was responsible for Personal Care Homes, which are generally smaller and serve a broad range of populations.

For a lot of reasons too long to explain, mostly having to do with execution problems with starting up the new regulatory scheme, the two types of licensing are being run side-by-side now in the same agency.

In OH, ALs are licensed as a part of a broader Residential Care Facilities scheme by the state’s Department of Health.

Elder Abuse A Complex of Broad Range of Medical and Financial Harm

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Elder abuse is a complex issue covering a broad range of offenses, from physically harming older adults to stealing from them, states California Elder Abuse Lawyer Steven Peck. Financial abuse is epidemic, particularly widespread, with annual financial losses to elder victims topping $2.9 billion.

More than eight in every 1,000 older adults are abused and/or exploited, Peck says,  but there are so many other actual cases that are not reported that Peck believes the amount of elder abuse may be 5-10 times higher. Victims are often frail, vulnerable elders, and the abusers are often their own family members, medical facilities, incudung skiiled nursing faclities, assisted living facilities, hospitals, neighbors, and people posing as friends.

Adult Protective Services reports vary by state and include only victims who come forward; many are ashamed to admit it or pressured by perpetrators to keep quiet. Medicare and Medicaid fraud units don’t generally investigate cases under certain dollar thresholds.

Peck believes there should be more stringent tests and penalties for elder abuse and more research as to why and what are the circumstances in which it occurs. Considering the high dollar losses of financial exploitation, the costs of Nursing Home Abuse and neglect, which may includes. Bed Sores, Dehydration, Malnutrition, and Falls, and the strain that elder abuse is on the the Medicare and Medicaid systems, it is a problem that affects all of society, Peck says.  I t must be stopped!!!

The PECK LAW GROUP specializes in personal injury matters relating to Serious and Catastrophic Injury, Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect, Medical Malpractice, Surgery Errors, Wrongful Death that are determined to be a breach of the standard of care.    Our experts and our attorneys have superior knowledge and know how in handling these type of matters from inception to Trial if need be.  You will receive superior representation and of course the best possible result based upon our know how and expertise.  Call us Now!!!  THE PECK LAW GROUP In Southern California at (818) 908-0509; In Northern California at (925) 808-5708; or all across the United States toll free at (866) 909-9085.

 

 

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