The Family Council Law

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=160 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="16d00a03.jpg"> <div> <I><B>V</B></I><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>oices</B></I></FONT><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000080" FACE="TimesRoman" ><I><B> </B></I></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000080" FACE="Verdana" ><I><B>for Quality Care (LTC), Inc.</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>P.O. 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or</div> <bR> <div>                 (ii)     An individual appointed by the resident, or if the resident is incapable of appointing an individual, an individual appointed by the resident's family.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>            (2)     (i)     Subject to subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, a family council may be created by the owner, operator, or staff of a nursing home.</div> <bR> <div>                 (ii)      Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, in order to facilitate the development of a family council, the owner, operator, or staff of a nursing home may lead the family council for no longer than 6 months at which time the family council shall be led by a member of the family council.</div> <bR> <div>            (3)     On the written request of a family council, the nursing home may assist the family council in the administrative functions of operating the family council in a mutually agreed upon manner.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>       (c)     A nursing home shall give each new or prospective resident the following written information about the family council:</div> <bR> <div>            (1)     The name, address, and phone number of a current member of the family council;</div> <bR> <div>            (2)     A brief description of the purpose and function of the family council;</div> <bR> <div>            (3)     Instructions on how the resident or prospective resident may review the public files described in subsection (e) of this section; and</div> <bR> <div>            (4)     The name, address, and phone number of the State or local ombudsman.</div> <bR> <div>       (d)     A nursing home shall respond in writing to any written grievance or other written communication from the family council within 14 calendar days after receiving a communication.</div> <bR> <div>       (e)     (1)     A nursing home shall create and maintain a public correspondence file and a regulatory correspondence file for communications with a family council.</div> <bR> <div>            (2)     The correspondence files shall include a copy of each written communication and response described in subsection (d) of this section.</div> <bR> <div>            (3)     (i)     The records in the regulatory file shall be unedited.</div> <bR> <div>                 (ii)     The records in the public file shall delete any information that identifies an individual resident.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>         </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>    (4)     The public file may be reviewed by a resident, prospective resident, or the representative of either a resident or prospective resident during normal business hours and at any other time the nursing home agrees to make the public file available.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>            (5)      The nursing home shall promptly comply with a request by a licensing authority to review the records in either the public or regulatory files</div> <bR> <bR> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="320"><bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Families have the right to form a family council in any nursing home at any time.  Once such a group has formed, they have certain rights. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> This is not an exclusive list.  Many family councils include friends of residents, folks who have had loved ones in the nursing home in the past, and others.  If there is a question regarding who can attend, federal and state laws give the family council the exclusive right to determine who may attend family council meetings.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> A family council has the right to be an independent entity.  In order to exercise that right, the family council members must run the family council.  The group as a whole will determine who will attend meetings, set agendas, invite speakers of their choice, and generally carry out all the activities of the family council.  Staff, administrators, and any others may attend these meetings only at the invitation of the family council.</div> <bR> <div> There is no law or regulation that <B>requires</B> a nursing home to have a family council.  In facilities where no family members are interested in running and maintaining a family council, there will not be one.  In those facilities, family support groups may be formed and run by owners, operators, or staff in the facility.  At any time that such a support group or any other family group forms and declares themselves to be a family council, the family council rules will apply to that group.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Family councils should designate the contact person(s) to be included in this written information.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> This gives a time frame for the required response to a communication from a family council.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> These correspondence files will not start until a written communication is sent from the family council to the administrator.  If there are no issues to be addressed in a nursing home, we recommend sending a "Thank you" communication to the administrator outlining the primary things the family council likes about the way the home is being run.  This not only establishes the correspondence file but also puts these items into the "legacy" of the family council as family council members and staff members change over a period of time.</div> <bR> <div> We also recommend that in facilities where there are issues that would be best resolved by written communications, only one issue be addressed in a written communication.  If more than one issues is involved, we recommend separate communications for each issue.  This makes it much easier to coordinate the responses with the appropriate letters.</div> <bR> <div> The family council correspondence file should be checked periodically to see that all information has been recorded, is correct,  and has been maintained.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> This has become a problem area in some nursing homes.  If a home decides to limit the availability of the correspondence file to normal business hours, it will require taking time off from work for many individuals to view it.  It will not be available evenings or week-ends when most visits occur.  Many nursing homes, however, are agreeing to make these files available at all times.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>