Creates a pediatric transitional care center license and requires a center, in order to be licensed, to demonstrate that it is capable of providing services for children who: (1) Are no more than two years of age; (2) Have been exposed to alcohol or other drugs before birth; (3) Require twenty-four hour continuous residential care and skilled nursing services as a result of prenatal substance exposure; and (4) Are referred to the center by the department of social and health services and regional hospitals. SB 5152 directs the Dept. of Health, in conjunction with the Dept. of Social and Health Services, to develop rules related to the operation of pediatric transitional care centers and lays out the areas for which rules must be developed, eg. Staffing levels, case ratios, staff credentials, etc. The bill further identifies that following a referral to a center by DSHS, DSHS shall maintains case work responsibilities including developing a parent-child visitation plan; and must consult with the dept. of health regarding evidence based practices and ensuring that Medicaid services are billed.
Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:
The substitute bill removes references to the establishment of, application for, and the issuance of a pediatric transitional care center license and instead provides for pediatric
transitional care services to be regulated by the DOH under current regulations for facilities for the treatment of chemically dependent and mentally ill persons. Establishments providing pediatric transitional care services are not considered a new DSHS category for the purposes of rulemaking.
The substitute bill provides a definition for “trained caregiver” to mean a person trained by the establishment offering services to provide hands-on care to drug-exposed infants and requires trained caregivers to work under the supervision of a health care professional.
The substitute bill changes the ages of children eligible for pediatric transitional care services from birth to 2 years of age to birth to 1 year of age.
The substitute bill changes the date by which an establishment providing pediatric transitional care services must be operating under a license from the DOH from July 1, 2018, to January 1, 2019.
The substitute bill allows facilities currently providing these services to be exempt from construction review by the DOH.
