Panel hears bill to reinvest civil penalties for adult care homes and disability providers into grant funds

House Bill 23-16 directs civil monetary penalties assessed after correction-order reinspections for adult care homes and certain disability community service providers into two newly created reinvestment funds, rather than sending those penalties to the state general fund, witnesses told the House Committee on House Health and Human Services.

Jenna Moyer of the Revisor’s Office summarized the measure as amending KSA 39-9-49 and KSA 39-20-16 to establish the adult care homes civil monetary penalty reinvestment fund and the disability community services providers civil monetary penalty reinvestment fund. The bill would allow KDADS to award grants from those funds to licensees under each statute for projects approved by the department that benefit the health, safety and welfare of residents or program participants.

KDADS survey, certification and credentialing commissioner Lacey Hunter told the committee the bill would not increase the number of citations KDADS issues; rather it would redirect monies that are already collected as civil penalties. She said…