CALA News & Views | Issue 48 | Impact

POLICY AND COMPLIANCE WEBINARS

Public Policy Playbook CALA introduced a new member benefit this year, the Public Policy Playbook webinars. By the end of 2023, CALA’s public policy team will have hosted four webinars as way to bring up-to-the-minute information to members on legislative and regulatory issues. CALA members hear from the public policy team during Advocacy Day and during the two CALA conferences and through weekly articles in the e-newsletter and News & Views articles. The idea behind this new benefit was to find a way to communicate short policy updates with members in between current communication and make it interactive so attendees can ask their pressing policy questions. OPPORTUNITIES. WHETHER YOU'RE INTERESTED IN POLICY UPDATES, RISK REDUCTION STRATEGIES OR OTHER CRITICAL ASPECTS OF SENIOR LIVING, OUR WEBINARS ARE A VALUABLE RESOURCE TO HELP YOU STAY AHEAD IN YOUR FIELD. KEEP AN EYE ON OUR UPCOMING WEBINARS AND MAKE THE MOST OF THESE OPPORTUNITIES. Here's a recap of topics addressed during the four 2023 Public Policy Playbook webinars: ● February – This webinar provided a first look at the bills introduced during the new legislative session just after the bill introduction deadline; CALA’s priority for a solution to the Guardian background check backlog; the end of the COVID-19 state of emergency and what that meant for providers; and information about the upcoming Advocacy Day. ● June – Just after the legislative deadline to pass the budget, this webinar focused on CALA’s work to fix the broken Guardian background check system through a budget solution; and background on member impact through CALA’s Day in Your District . ● September – After the end of the first year of the legislative session, this webinar addressed SB 525, the “health care worker” minimum wage and other labor bills that directly or indirectly affect senior living providers and residents; an update on several RCFE bills (AB 839 (Addis) RCFE financing: CHHFA; AB 979 (Alvarez) Family Councils; AB 1417 (Wood) Elder Abuse Reporting; and two-year bill SB 875 (Glazer) RCFE Referral Agencies); an update on several dementia/ Alzheimer’s bills (SB 639 (Limon), AB 387 (Aguiar-Curry), AB 21 (Gipson); and AB 423 (Maienschein); CALA’s action on the recently released first draft of the new dementia AT CALA, WE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING AND STAYING INFORMED IN THE EVER-EVOLVING FIELD OF SENIOR LIVING. TO SERVE THIS PURPOSE, WE OFFER A SERIES OF INFORMATIVE WEBINARS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE OUR MEMBERS WITH VALUABLE INSIGHTS, KNOWLEDGE AND INTERACTIVE

care regulations; progress on the Guardian background check system; and continuing delays in administrator certification/ recertification processing. ● December – Prior to the second year of session, this webinar will start the discussion on which two-year bills are expected to move; potential new bills we could see; and updates on DSS issues like background check and administrator certification processing and dementia regulations. Hazardous Waste Webinars Earlier this year, members alerted CALA to increased scrutiny of senior living employee handling and disposal of hazardous pharmaceutical waste by CalOSHA and local inspectors working under the purview of the Department of Toxic Substances Control. To aid in compliance, CALA secured an update from Hanson Bridgett that included disposal of hazardous pharmaceutical waste. We also designed a two-part webinar to educate members on safe handling of these medications from an employee/CalOSHA perspective and identification and proper disposal of these medications. By involving the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) in the webinar, we were able to help educate them on senior living and the range of operational issues providers face. This relationship will help as DTSC moves forward in reviewing their rules. Missed the webinars? Recordings can be accessed from CALA’s Webinar Archive. Risk Reduction Webinar Members interested in current trends and underlying causal factors that heighten exposure to potential professional liability claims gained practical insights and strategies to help reduce risk during CALA’s webinar in early 2023. Tara Clayton, Senior Vice President, Marsh Senior Living & LTC Industry Practice and Joel Goldman, Partner, Hanson Bridgett, LLP covered the latest stats, offered practical approaches and answered members’ questions during this interactive webinar.

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