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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 1025
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
HOMEMAKER -COMPANION AGENCY TASK FORCE.
SUMMARY
This bill implements various recommendations from the
Homemaker-Companion Task Force on how the state regulates
homemaker-companion agencies. Among other things, the bill requires
the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) commissioner to (1)
revoke a homemaker-companion agency’s registration if it violates
certain statutory requirements three times in a calendar year, (2)
develop training standards for the agencies’ employees, (3) identify
training programs that teach these standards, and (4) develop a plan to
implement mandatory training standards.
The bill requires the written contracts or service plans that the
agencies must give consumers (i.e., the people receiving services or their
authorized representatives) to include certain information on how the
agency oversees its employees. It also requires the DCP commissioner
to develop (1) a model written contract and service plan and (2) a guide
on how consumers can file a complaint against a homemaker-
companion agency, which must be given to consumers with the
contracts or service plans.
The bill requires the Office of Policy and Management secretary to
develop a plan to transfer, by July 1, 2024, homemaker-companion
agency registration and oversight responsibilities from DCP to the
Department of Public Health (DPH). He must do this in consultation
with the DCP and DPH commissioners and report on the plan to the
Aging, General Law, and Public Health committees by February 1, 2024.
The bill also requires every homemaker-companion agency, by
January 1, 2024, to create a printed consumer brochure and maintain a 2023SB-01025-R000104-BA.DOCX
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website detailing the services it provides. An agency must provide the
brochure or website address when a consumer requests it (§ 7).
Lastly, the bill (1) allows a homemaker-companion agency to use (a)
the term “care” in its business name and advertising to describe the
services it provides and (b) any words deemed appropriate by the DCP
commissioner to describe having employees trained to provide services
to people with memory difficulties and (2) specifies that the homemaker
services provided by the agencies are in-home services (§§ 8-9).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except for the requirement that
DCP post a guide on filing complaints, which is effective October 1,
2023.
§ 2 — REGISTRATION REVOCATION
The law generally allows the DCP commissioner to revoke, suspend,
or refuse to issue or renew a homemaker -companion agency’s
registration for (1) conduct that misleads or defrauds the public or
commissioner, (2) engaging in misleading advertising, (3) failing to give
a consumer a notice of legal liabilities under certain circumstances, or
(4) failing to complete background checks on prospective employees
and maintain the materials from them.
The bill requires the DCP commissioner to revoke a homemaker-
companion agency’s registration if the agency violates any of these
provisions three times in a calendar year.
§§ 3 & 4 — TRAINING STANDARDS
The bill requires the DCP commissioner to develop training
standards for homemaker-companion agency employees and identify
training programs that instruct on these standards. She must do this in
consultation with the DPH commissioner and with guidance from
relevant training organizations by January 1, 2024. The standards must
(1) show the best practices for providing homemaker-companion
services, (2) have instruction and training benchmarks for caring for
people with memory disorders, and (3) ensure high quality care for
clients. 2023SB-01025-R000104-BA.DOCX
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The bill requires the DCP commissioner to post the training
standards and identified training programs on DCP’s website, and it
allows homemaker-companion agencies to adopt the standards and
train employees using the posted training programs. The bill also
requires the commissioner to develop a plan to implement mandatory
training standards for homemaker-companion agency employees and
report this plan to the Aging Committee by February 1, 2024.
§ 5 — CONTRACTS & SERVICE PLANS
Current law requires homemaker-companion agencies to give
consumers a written contract or service plan detailing the anticipated
scope, type, frequency, duration, and cost of services provided by the
agency within seven days of beginning services.
The bill additionally requires the agencies to develop this plan or
contract in consultation with the consumer and expands the information
that must be in it to include:
1. a person-centered plan of care and services;
2. the anticipated scope, type, and frequency of oversight by the
agency over the employee assigned to the consumer; and
3. how often the person who oversees the agency’s employee and
the consumer will meet.
The bill requires the DCP commissioner to develop a model service
plan and written contract and post them on DCP’s website by January
1, 2024. By law, a service plan or contract between a homemaker-
companion agency and a consumer is not enforceable unless it contains
all required information.
§§ 5 & 6 — COMPLAINTS
The bill requires the DCP commissioner, by October 1, 2023, to post
on DCP’s website a guide detailing the process for homemaker-
companion agency consumers to file complaints against an agency. It
requires the agencies to also give consumers a printed copy of this guide
when they give them the written contract or service plan as described 2023SB-01025-R000104-BA.DOCX
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above.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Aging Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 15 Nay 0 (02/28/2023)