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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 1025 (File 104, as amended by Senate "A")*
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, it:
1. requires the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary
to develop a plan and proposed timeline to transfer homemaker-
companion agency registration and oversight responsibilities
from the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to the
Department of Public Health (DPH);
2. requires the DCP commissioner to revoke a homemaker-
companion agency’s registration if it violates certain statutory
requirements three times in a calendar year;
3. 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;
4. requires the DCP commissioner to develop 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;
5. requires every homemaker-companion agency, by January 1,
2024, to (a) create a printed consumer brochure and maintain a
website detailing the services it provides and (b) provide the
brochure or website address when a consumer requests it (§ 7); 2023SB-01025-R01-BA.DOCX
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6. allows a homemaker-companion agency to use the term “care” in
its business name and advertising to describe the services it
provides, with certain requirements; and
7. requires an agency to give consumers written notice that it
provides nonmedical services and obtain the consumer’s
signature on this notice.
*Senate Amendment “A” (1) requires that OPM’s plan to transfer
homemaker-companion agency oversight include a proposed timeline
for the transfer, rather than prescribing a date for the transfer; (2)
removes the requirement that DCP develop training standards and
instead directs OPM to include training standards recommendations in
its plan to transfer oversight; (3) removes a provision that would have
required DCP create a model service plan and contract; and (4) sets
requirements a homemaker-companion agency must meet in order to
use the term “care” in its business name or advertising, specifies that
failure to meet these requirements constitutes untruthful advertising,
and requires the agencies to provide written notice that their services
are nonmedical.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except for the requirement that
DCP post a guide on filing complaints, which is effective October 1,
2023.
§ 1 — OPM TRANSITION PLAN
The bill requires the OPM secretary to develop a plan and proposed
timeline to transfer homemaker-companion agency registration and
oversight responsibilities from DCP to DPH. The plan must also include
recommendations on training standards that (1) exemplify best
practices for providing homemaker-companion services; (2) provide
instruction and specialized training benchmarks for caring for clients
with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and related conditions; and (3)
ensure a high level of care for homemaker-companion agency clients. It
may also evaluate and make recommendations on the appropriate use
of the term “care” to describe services homemaker-companion agencies
provide, and any limitations on using the term to ensure consumer 2023SB-01025-R01-BA.DOCX
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clarity.
The secretary must prepare the plan in consultation with the DCP
and DPH commissioners and report on it to the Aging, General Law,
and Public Health committees by August 1, 2024.
§ 2 — REGISTRATION REVOCATION
Current 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 also allows the
commissioner to do this if an agency fails to give a consumer written
notice, or obtain and maintain the consumer’s signed copy of this notice,
that the agency provides nonmedical care, as required by the bill (see §
501).
In addition, the bill requires the DCP commissioner to revoke a
homemaker-companion agency’s registration if the agency is found,
through an administrative hearing, to have violated any of these
provisions three times in a calendar year.
§ 5 — CONTRACTS & SERVI CE 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 2023SB-01025-R01-BA.DOCX
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3. how often the person who oversees the agency’s employee and
the consumer will meet.
§§ 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
above.
§§ 8, 9 & 501 — ADVERTISING AND SCO PE OF SERVICES
Under the bill, a homemaker-companion agency may use the term
“care” in its business name and advertising, as long as, on and after
October 1, 2023, any advertising meets certain conditions. Specifically,
it must (1) include in at least 12-point font at the top of the advertising,
the clear and conspicuous words: “(agency’s name) provides
nonmedical care” and (2) not use any words, such as those related to
medical or health care licensure or services, to describe services beyond
the scope of those a homemaker-companion agency is authorized to
provide. A violation of this provision constitutes untruthful or
misleading advertising (see § 2).
Before providing services, a homemaker-companion agency must (1)
give consumers written notice that the agency provides nonmedical care
and (2) obtain the consumer’s signature on this notice. The agency must
keep the signed notice until the consumer no longer receives services
from the agency and make a copy of the signed notice available to the
DCP commissioner upon request.
By law, homemaker-companion agencies may provide (1)
“homemaker services” which are nonmedical and supportive services,
such as assistance with cooking, household cleaning, laundry, and
personal hygiene, to ensure a healthy and safe environment for a
consumer in a consumer’s home and (2) “companion services” which
are nonmedical, basic supervision services to ensure the safety and
wellbeing of a consumer in a consumer’s home. The bill further specifies 2023SB-01025-R01-BA.DOCX
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that these homemaker services are in-home care services.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Aging Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 15 Nay 0 (02/28/2023)
Appropriations Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 53 Nay 0 (05/01/2023)