FAMILY & RESIDENT COUNCILS

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FAMILY AND RESIDENT COUNCILS 144G.41 SUBD. 5-6

LINDSAY SCHMIDT, LALD

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & HOSPITALITY DELLWOOD GARDENS ASSISTED LIVING AND MEMORY CARE, ST. PAUL

OBJECTIVES

1. Review the minimum Assisted Living requirements for Resident and Family councils.

I. 144G.41 Subd. 5. Resident councils II. 144G.41 Subd. 6. Family councils

2. Understand and appreciate how the new law has officially empowered Assisted Living residents and their family members to lead their own resident councils.

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144G.41 SUBD. 5. RESIDENT COUNCILS

“The facility must provide a resident council with space and privacy for meetings, where doing so is reasonably achievable. Staff, visitors, and other guests may attend a resident council meeting only at the council’s invitation. The facility must designate a staff person who is approved by the resident council to be responsible for providing assistanceand responding to written requests that result from meetings. The facility must consider the views of the resident council and must respond promptly to the grievances and recommendations of the council, but a facility is not required to implement as recommended every request of the council. The facility shall, with the approval of the resident council, take reasonably achievable steps to make residents aware of upcoming meetings in a timely manner.”

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144G.41 SUBD. 6. FAMILY COUNCILS

“The facility must provide a family council with space and privacy for meetings, where doing so is reasonably achievable. The facility must designate a staff person who is approved by the family council to be responsible for providing assistanceand responding to written requests that result form meetings. The facility must consider the views of the family council and must respond promptly to the grievances and recommendations of the council, but a facility is not required to implement as recommended every request of the council. The facility shall, with the approval of the family council, take reasonably achievable steps to make residents and family members aware of upcoming meetings in a timely manner.”

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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

 You MUST have a designated space for residents and families to meet.  The space MUST be private.  You MUST designate a staff person, approved by the councils to be responsible for assisting and responding to requests.  The designated staff person MUST respond promptly to grievances and recommendations of the councils.

 This DOES NOT mean that you must implement every request made by the councils, but a response is required.  You MUST with approval of the councils make residents and family members aware of upcoming meetings in a timely manner.

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IDEAS ON HOW TO IMPLEMENT

 Create an event to introduce the concept of a resident and family council.  Invite residents and family members to attend using your monthly newsletter, a memo, email or other platform of communication commonly used in your community.  Inform them of the new law and inquire about their interest.  Designate a staff member representative to follow up with a resident representative and a family representative.  The staff member, resident representative and family representative can determine how to establish the councils, structure the councils and create and recurring date/time/location to host meetings.  Decide on who will take on the role of communicating agenda, date, time, location to others.  Create a binder and document when meetings take place and topics for discussion. Include follow ups once completed.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 If we’ve never had a council, where do we begin?  Invite residents and family members to gather, create an event, introduce the topic of resident and family councils.  If we have councils, does this change anything?  Review how your councils are operating now. If you do not meet any of the requirements under the new law, implement those (i.e.,Do you provide a private space? Do you have someone designated to follow up?)  Do our councils need to have a formal structure (President, Vice President, Secretary, etc.)?  There is nothing in the statute stating how councils must be structured.  Do we need to appoint leaders within the councils?  As an AL, you do not need to provide anything aside from space, however, it may benefit you to make recommendations to the councils and if the councils agree to allow you to help establish them, you can schedule a meeting with both councils to determine structure, meeting occurrence, process for written grievances/recommendations, etc.  Do we need to have meeting notes taken or document when councils meet?  There is nothing in the statute that states that you do. However, it’s not a bad idea to implement and track in the event of a survey.  What if no one is interested in starting a council?  That’s okay. Document that the concept was introduced, and the decision made. Reintroduce the concept every few months to seeif any new residents or family members may want to start a resident and/or family council.  Do you create separate councils for IL, AL, MC?  This is entirely up to your community. There is nothing in the law that requires they be separate.