§ 461-G — Termination of admission agreements

§ 461-g. Termination of admission agreements. 1. No adult home,\nresidence for adults or enriched housing program which is subject to\ncertification and supervision of the department shall terminate the\nadmission agreement of any resident of such facility and involuntarily\ndischarge him therefrom except for the following reasons:\n (a) the need of the resident for continual medical or nursing care\nwhich the adult home, residence for adults or enriched housing program\ncannot provide;\n (b) behavior of the resident which poses imminent risk of death or\nimminent risk of serious physical harm to such resident or any other\nperson;\n (c) failure of the resident to make timely payment for all authorized\ncharges, expenses and other assessments, if any, for services including\nuse and occupancy of the premises, materials, equipment and food which\nthe resident has agreed to pay pursuant to the resident's admission and\nservices agreement;\n (d) repeated behavior of the resident which directly impairs the\nwell-being, care or safety of the resident or any other resident or\nwhich substantially interferes with the orderly operation of the\nfacility;\n (e) the facility has had its operating certificate limited, revoked or\ntemporarily suspended pursuant to subdivision four of section four\nhundred sixty-d of this article, or the operator has voluntarily\nsurrendered the operating certificate for the facility to the\ndepartment; or\n (f) a receiver has been appointed pursuant to the provisions of\nsection four hundred sixty-one-f of this article and, as required by\nsuch section, is providing for the orderly transfer of all residents in\nthe facility to other facilities or is making other provisions for the\nresidents' continued safety and care.\n 2. (a) No admission agreement shall be terminated and no resident of\nan adult home, residence for adults or enriched housing program\ninvoluntarily discharged for the reasons stated in paragraphs (a), (b),\n(c), (d) or (e) of subdivision one of this section unless: (i) the\noperator gives at least thirty days written notice, on a form prescribed\nby the department, to the resident, the resident's next of kin and the\nperson designated in the admission agreement as the responsible party,\nif any, that the resident's admission agreement will be terminated and\nthe resident discharged; (ii) such notice contains the reason for the\ntermination of the admission agreement, the date that the discharge will\noccur, a statement that the resident has a right to object to the\ntermination of the resident's admission agreement and subsequent\ndischarge, and a statement that if the resident does not leave the\nfacility voluntarily, the operator, in order to terminate the admission\nagreement and discharge the resident, will be required to originate a\nproceeding pursuant to the provisions of section four hundred\nsixty-one-h of this article; (iii) the operator furnishes to the\nresident a list of free legal services agencies within the facility's\ngeographical area and a list of other available community resources\nwhich provide resident advocacy services, including the social services\ndistrict, which lists shall be provided to the operator by the\ndepartment; and (iv) the operator institutes a special proceeding in\naccordance with the provisions of section four hundred sixty-one-h of\nthis article.\n (b) No admission agreement shall be terminated and the resident of an\nadult home, residence for adults or enriched housing program\ninvoluntarily discharged for the reason stated in paragraph (c) of\nsubdivision one of this section, if the reason that the resident failed\nto pay the authorized charges was an interruption in the receipt by such\nresident of any public benefits to which such resident is entitled,\nunless the operator of the facility, during the thirty day notice period\nprovided for in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision,\nas part of the provision of case management services, assists the\nresident, who shall cooperate with the operator, in attempting to obtain\nsuch public benefits or any supplemental public benefits which are\navailable to persons who have not received their regular public\nbenefits.\n (c) The admission agreement of a resident in an enriched housing\nprogram may be terminated and the resident discharged pursuant to the\nprovisions of this section and section four hundred sixty-one-h of this\narticle; provided, however, where such resident has an existing lease\nwith the landlord of the premises in which the program is housed, the\nresident may not be involuntarily removed from the premises pursuant to\nthis section and section four hundred sixty-one-h of this article,\nexcept in accordance with the provisions of such lease and applicable\nlaw and regulation.\n 3. (a) Nothing in this section shall prohibit: (i) the removal of a\nresident from a facility, for medical treatment or care, to a hospital,\nnursing home or residential health care facility, as defined in section\ntwenty-eight hundred one of the public health law, or to a hospital as\ndefined in section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law; or (ii) the removal\nfrom the facility of a resident whose behavior poses an imminent risk of\ndeath or imminent risk of serious physical harm to such resident or any\nother person, by a peace officer, acting pursuant to his special duties,\nor a police officer, who is a member of an authorized police department\nor force or a sheriff's department; or (iii) the removal from the\nfacility of a resident, whose behavior poses an imminent risk of death\nor imminent risk of serious physical harm, to a location which ensures\nthe resident's safety, pursuant to regulations of the department.\n (b) Such removal shall not be deemed to be a termination of the\nadmission agreement. Such removal shall not relieve the operator of the\nfacility from the requirement of proceeding, subsequent to the removal\nof the resident, in accordance with this section and section four\nhundred sixty-one-h of this article in order to terminate the admission\nagreement to prevent the resident from returning to the facility. When\nan operator proceeds subsequent to the removal of the resident from the\nfacility, to terminate the admission agreement, the written notice\nrequired to be given to the resident by subparagraph (i) of paragraph\n(a) of subdivision two of this section shall be personally delivered to\nthe resident at the location to which he has been removed. If personal\ndelivery is not possible, then such notice shall be served upon the\nresident by any of the methods permitted by section three hundred eight\nof the civil practice law and rules.\n