It’s not easy to find out if Californians are banned from living a life supported by the California Department of Human Services, as they seek care for themselves and their loved ones.
According to Social Services, the names of prohibited individuals are not listed in places that are generally available to the public. The state bill, which required a list of prohibited individuals to be posted prominently on the state website, died in Sacramento almost a decade ago.
“No one could convince me that this was important,” said Christine Murphy, former executive director of RCFE Reform, an advocacy group focusing on supplementary facilities.
She said that amidst objections from state officials, others could share the same name as a banned individual.
The social services licensing officer also said there is no need to publish a list of prohibited individuals.
State regulators told The Times, which shares information about people who are banned from assisted living with related agencies. Social Services said it will send a spreadsheet once a month to the California Department of Public Health to update a system of records that other agencies, including healthcare services, can access.
But that doesn’t mean that other agencies must act on that information.
Public Health said that when deciding whether a facility can grant a license or change its manager, they could consider whether someone was banned from ElderCare. However, if existing facilities are simply renewing their licenses, public health said they would not normally check whether regular people are prohibited by social services.
“We are reviewing the process to improve monitoring,” Public Health said in a written response to questions from The Times to ensure that the information submitted by the applicant is valid. “As part of this, we are examining the issues you described and considering the facilities we have provided to potentially take action.”
Public Health noted that it maintains an online database where people can enter names and get a list of health facilities tied to people with the same name.
However, it is not confirmed whether John Smith, who runs the health facility, is a “John Smith,” who was banned from the aiding councillor.
Eric Carlson, a nonprofit justice in Aging, said it shouldn’t be left to the consumer to do the job of the detective. They “rely rely on the licensing agency to do that level of review,” he said.
Source link
