§ 4653*2 — Licensure procedures and requirements for assisted living

* § 4653. Licensure procedures and requirements for assisted living.\n1. In order to operate as assisted living, an operator shall be\nlicensed as an adult home or enriched housing program and apply and be\napproved for licensure with the commissioner pursuant to this article.\nThe operator shall provide, on an application form developed by the\ncommissioner, the following information to the commissioner in order to\nbe licensed:\n (a) business name, street address, and mailing address of the\nresidence and of the owners of the residence;\n (b) status of current operating certificate;\n (c) verification that the operator has a valid residency agreement in\ncompliance with this article to be entered into with each resident,\nresident's representative and resident's legal representative, if any,\nand shall include a copy of the information to be included in the\nresidency agreement and disclosures as required pursuant to the\nprovisions of section four thousand six hundred fifty-eight of this\narticle, as added by chapter two of the laws of two thousand four, that\nwill be given to prospective residents; and\n (d) any other information the department may deem necessary for the\nevaluation of the application provided such information is not\nduplicative of what is otherwise required of the applicant in obtaining\nan adult care facility license.\n 2. For existing licensed operators in good standing and their\naffiliates, the department shall develop a streamlined application\nreview and approval process, in collaboration with representatives of\nassociations of operators, to be available for use in relation to\napproval of an additional facility of the same type. Notwithstanding any\nprovision of law or regulation to the contrary, the streamlined\napplication review and approval process shall include, but not be\nlimited to, the following:\n (a) a certification process and form for the operator or its affiliate\nto attest that it will have sufficient financial resources, revenue and\nfinancing to meet facility expenses and resident needs, which shall\nsatisfy the statutory and regulatory financial component of the\napplication review and approval process;\n (b) a certification process and form for the operator or its affiliate\nto attest that its legal, corporate and organizational documents comply\nin substance with department requirements, which shall satisfy the\nstatutory and regulatory legal component of the application review and\napproval process;\n (c) a certification process and form for the operator or its affiliate\nto attest that it is in substantial compliance with all applicable\ncodes, rules and regulations in any other state in which it operates,\nand to disclose any enforcement or administrative action taken against\nit in any other state;\n (d) issuance by the department of a conditional approval to operate\nthe facility for a specified period of time upon substantial completion\nof the character and competence, legal, financial and architectural\ncomponents of the application, so long as the operator or its affiliate\nagrees in writing to satisfy all pending conditions prior to the\nexpiration of the conditional approval period or a time frame\nestablished by the department;\n (e) issuance by the department of a conditional approval to construct\na facility, at the operator's or its affiliate's own risk, upon\nsubstantial completion of the architectural component of the\napplication;\n (f) elimination of duplicative submission and review of any\napplication information which has been previously reviewed and approved\nby the department or any of its regional offices within the past two\nyears through a certification process and form whereby the operator or\nits affiliate will attest that such application information is\nduplicative;\n (g) with respect to any programmatic application information to be\nreviewed by the regional office, such review shall be conducted on-site\nby the regional office during the pre-opening inspection or first full\nannual inspection, if the department has previously approved the\noperator or its affiliate to operate the same type of program at another\nfacility within the past two years;\n (h) electronic submission of applications; and\n (i) a combined application for licensure as an adult care facility,\nassisted living residence and/or assisted living program, to the extent\nthe department determines such a combined application is feasible.\n 2-a. For purposes of subdivision two of this section, "affiliate"\nshall mean an entity, for which a majority of the ownership or\ncontrolling interest is the same as the ownership or controlling\ninterest in an existing licensed operator under this section (provided\nthat an affiliate may have different percentages of ownership or control\nor fewer natural persons with ownership or control than an existing\nlicensed operator) and, further:\n (a) for any entity owned, directly or indirectly, by natural persons:\n (i) at all times, more than half of the ownership interest of the\nentity shall be owned, directly or indirectly, by natural persons who\nhave previously been determined to have undergone a satisfactory\ndetermination of character, competence and standing in the community;\n (ii) at all times, any owner with a direct or indirect ownership\ninterest who has not undergone a satisfactory determination of\ncharacter, competence and standing in the community review must possess\na less than ten percent direct or indirect interest in the entity, until\na satisfactory determination has been made; and\n (iii) for any natural person proposed to be an owner, directly or\nindirectly, of the entity who is a controlling person, as defined in\nsection four hundred sixty-one-b of the social services law, or is a\nmember, director, or officer of an existing licensed operator under this\nsection, such existing licensed operator must be in good standing with\nthe department; and\n (b) for any not-for-profit corporation or other entity not under\nparagraph (a) of this subdivision:\n (i) more than half of the entity's total board members, directors,\nofficers and controlling persons, as defined in section four hundred\nsixty-one-b of the social services law, shall have previously undergone\na satisfactory determination of character, competence and standing in\nthe community; and\n (ii) if any natural person proposed to be a board member, director, or\nofficer of the entity has an ownership interest, directly or indirectly,\nor is a board member, director, officer, or controlling person, as\ndefined in section four hundred sixty-one-b of the social services law,\nin an existing licensed operator under this section, such existing\nlicensed operator must also be in good standing with the department.\n 2-b. For purposes of subdivision two of this section, "good standing"\nshall mean the operator and its affiliate have not (i) received any\nofficial written notice from the department of a proposed revocation,\nsuspension, denial or limitation on the operating certificate of the\nfacility or residence; (ii) within the previous three years, been\nassessed a civil penalty after a hearing conducted pursuant to\nsubparagraph one of paragraph (b) of subdivision seven of section four\nhundred sixty-d of the social services law for a violation that has not\nbeen rectified; (iii) within the previous year, received any official\nwritten notice from the department of a proposed assessment of a civil\npenalty for a violation described in subparagraph two of paragraph (b)\nof subdivision seven of section four hundred sixty-d of the social\nservices law; (iv) within the previous three years, been issued an order\npursuant to subdivision two, five, six, or eight of section four hundred\nsixty-d of the social services law; (v) within the previous three years,\nbeen placed on, and if placed on, removed from the department's "do not\nrefer list" pursuant to subdivision fifteen of section four hundred\nsixty-d of the social services law. Provided, however, that in the case\nof an operator or affiliate that is not in good standing as provided in\nthis paragraph, the department may permit the operator or affiliate to\nuse the streamlined application process, in its discretion, if it\ndetermines that the disqualifying violation was an isolated occurrence\nthat was promptly corrected by the operator or affiliate.\n * NB There are 2 § 4653's\n