“A bill to improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises model standards under the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (i.e., requires states to establish offices, headed by a full-time Ombudsman, to investigate and resolve complaints affecting long-term care residents' health, safety, welfare, and rights) for training each type of Office representative, including unpaid volunteers. Specifically, it (1) requires the standards to consider the degree to which each type of unpaid volunteer performs activities needing specialized training, with a goal of reducing unnecessary training requirements; and (2) directs the Director of the Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs to regularly review and update the standards to tailor them to the individualized training needs of each type of representative.
This section directs the Assistant Secretary for Aging to seek a contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study assessing the effectiveness, challenges, and recommended staff-to-bed ratios of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs under the Older Americans Act of 1965 (i.e., programs that advocate for residents of long-term care facilities, investigate complaints, and recommend systemic improvements). The National Academies must publicly issue a report on the study not later than one year after entering the contract.