What care services can ALFs provide

Required services in the ALF

One of the most common reasons why a person may move into an assisted living facility is the fact that they need assistance with their activities of daily living. ADL’s may include tasks such as assistance with using the restroom, brushing their teeth, getting dressed for the day or even being tucked in for a night’s sleep. Residents also require a bevy of other services to augment their care such as social activies, coordintating with third party providers and even nursing services. That is where we come in- our job is to make our residents feel as independent as possible while providing assistance with things they either do not want to do or tasks they cannot perform. For more information on what services the state of New Jersey expects your facility to perform check out the following regulation:

  • 8:36-5.1 Types of services provided to residents

(a) The assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home or assisted living program shall provide and/or coordinate personal care and services to residents, based on assessment by qualified persons, in accordance with the New Jersey Nurse Practice Act, N.J.S.A. 45:11-23 and N.J.A.C. 13:37, this chapter, and the individual needs of each resident, in a manner which promotes and encourages assisted living values.

(b) The assisted living residence or comprehensive personal care home shall be capable of providing at least the following services: assistance with personal care, nursing, pharmacy, dining, activities, recreational, and social work services to meet the individual needs of each resident.

(c) The assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, or assisted living program shall provide supervision of self-administration of medications, and administration of medications by trained and supervised personnel, as needed by residents and in accordance with this chapter.

(d) The assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, or assisted living program shall be capable of providing nursing services to maintain residents, including residents who require nursing home level of care. However, the resident may be, but is not required to be moved from the facility or program if it is documented in the resident record that a higher level of care is required, as demonstrated by one or more of the following characteristics:

  1. The resident requires 24-hour, seven days a week nursing supervision;
  2. The resident is bedridden for more than 14 consecutive days;
  3. The resident is consistently and totally dependent in four or more of the following activities of daily living: dressing, bathing, toilet use, transfer, locomotion, bed mobility, and eating;
  4. The resident has a cognitive decline severe enough to prevent the making of simple decisions regarding activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating and cannot respond appropriately to cueing and simple directions;
  5. The resident requires treatment of stage three or four pressure sores or multiple stages two pressure sores. However, a resident who requires treatment of a single-stage two pressure sore shall be retained and a plan of care developed and implemented to stabilize the pressure sore and the condition which caused it;
  6. The resident requires more than “assistance with transfer”;
  7. The resident is a danger to self or others; or
  8. The resident has a medically unstable condition and/or has special health problems, and a regimen of therapy cannot be appropriately developed and implemented in the assisted living environment.

(e) The facility’s or program’s admission agreement with each resident shall clearly specify if the facility or program will or will not retain residents with one or more characteristics described in (d) above, to what extent, and, if applicable, at what additional cost. This subsection shall not apply when a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) contracts with its residents to provide assisted living pursuant to a continuing care agreement. This subsection shall apply, however, when a CCRC provides assisted living to a person who is not a party to a continuing care agreement.

(f) Residents who require “specialized long-term care” shall not remain in the assisted living residence or comprehensive personal care home and shall be transferred to a long-term care facility that provides the applicable form of specialized care.

(g) The assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, or assisted living program shall adhere to applicable Federal, State, and local laws, rules, regulations, and requirements.

(h) In accordance with N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.16 et seq., a new assisted living residence or comprehensive personal care home licensed on or after September 1, 2001, shall attain a level of occupancy by Medicaid-eligible persons of at least 10 percent of its total bed complement within three years of licensure and shall maintain this level of Medicaid occupancy thereafter.

(i) An existing assisted living residence or comprehensive personal care home which increases its number of licensed beds on or after September 1, 2001, shall occupy at least 10 percent of the additional beds with Medicaid-eligible persons and shall maintain this level of Medicaid occupancy thereafter.

(j) In cases in which either the total bed complement or the total number of beds added in an existing facility is less than 10, at least one bed shall be reserved for a Medicaid-eligible person.

(k) For the purposes of this section, “Medicaid-eligible person” means an individual who has been determined as satisfying the financial eligibility criteria for medical assistance under the Medicaid program, has been assessed as being in need of nursing home-level care as specified at N.J.A.C. 8:85-2.1, and has been approved by the Department for participation in a Federally approved waiver program for assisted living services. “Medicaid-eligible person” includes persons who were:

  1. Admitted to the facility as private paying residents and subsequently became eligible for Medicaid; and
  2. Admitted directly to the facility as Medicaid-eligible.

(l) The Commissioner or his or her designee may waive or reduce the 10 percent Medicaid occupancy requirement in (i) through (k) above for some or all regions of the State if it is determined that sufficient numbers of licensed beds are available in the State to meet the needs of Medicaid-eligible persons within the limits of the Federally approved waiver program for assisted living services.

  1. The Commissioner or his or her designee shall waive this 10 percent Medicaid occupancy requirement if there are limitations on funding.
  2. A licensed assisted living residence or comprehensive personal care home may submit a written request for a waiver of the 10 percent Medicaid occupancy requirement in accordance with N.J.A.C. 8:36-2.7.

(m) In accordance with N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12.16 et seq., this section shall not apply to an assisted living residence or a comprehensive personal care home operated by a continuing care retirement community.

Top Takeaways:

  • (c)The assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, or assisted living program shall provide supervision of self-administration of medications, and administration of medications by trained and supervised personnel, as needed by residents and in accordance with this chapter.

Perhaps one of the most important elements of a resident’s care is the proper distribution of their medication. Think about it- these people are entrusting us with their life. The medication that often keeps them functioning and at times even alive rests in our care. To avoid potential medication errors It is necessary for your entire clinical team to be well versed in the regulations that is applicable to their position. The Nursing Director or their designee should hold frequent refresher trainings and have processes put into place for all matters related to medication administration, storage, procurement as well as the destruction of expired or discharged medication

  • (d)…However, the resident may be, but is not required to be moved from the facility or program if it is documented in the resident record that a higher level of care is required, as demonstrated by one or more of the following characteristics: 1-8

These are situations where discharging a resident is unavoidable. If it is deemed the community cannot meet the care needs of the resident, then it is necessary to find alternate arrangements for the resident. You do not want to be in a position where a resident who you are unable to care for is residing in your facility.