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Bill Would Require Notification to Residents When Residential Habilitation Centers Fall Out of Compliance
Summary
House Bill 23-50 would require the Department of Social and Health Services to notify RHC residents, families, and legal representatives within 10 days when a facility is found out of compliance with CMS requirements; disability advocates and legal monitors urged passage to improve transparency and accountability.
Committee counsel Omera Harrington briefed members that House Bill 23-50 would require the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) to provide written notice within 10 days to each resident of a residential habilitation center (RHC) and to designated contacts (family members or legal representatives) whenever the facility receives a statement of deficiencies or other CMS noncompliance determination, when a plan of correction is established, and on subsequent determinations about return to compliance or enforcement actions.
Representative Daria Farvar (46th District), the bill sponsor, said compliance records are public but difficult for families to find. She said she has been in conversation with DSHS about a scribe amendment to clarify notice methods and recommended posting notice for residents who do not have email and offering plain‑language summaries similar to nursing facility protocols.
Advocates described the bill as restoring informed consent and empowering families. Stacy Dim, executive director of The Arc of Washington State, said families often cannot discover when a loved one is living in a facility with serious compliance problems and that notifications would prompt advocacy and transfers when necessary. "This bill creates a transparency and notification requirement for Washington's RHCs... Families and residents will know when their facility has serious compliance issues rather than relying on DSHS discretion," Dim said, citing recent citations at Rainier RHC.
Chloe Marino, an attorney at Disability Rights Washington, reviewed CMS conditions of participation and noted facilities are surveyed every 12 to 18 months; she supported the ten‑day notice window as allowing facilities to pursue informal dispute resolution while ensuring residents and families are informed.
The committee closed the hearing on HB 23-50 after testimony. Members asked staff and the sponsor about language access and how notices would be delivered; the sponsor agreed to follow up with DSHS on multilingual availability and posting methods for residents without email.
Next steps include technical amendment discussions with DSHS and continued committee consideration; no formal action occurred in the hearing.
