Medicaid Supplementation-What You Need to Know

The AFH Council receives several calls a week regarding the regulation on Medicaid supplementation.  There are narrow, specific times when a provider may request supplementation of a resident’s Medicaid daily rate. WAC 388-105-0050 (1) defines “supplementation of the Medicaid daily payment rate” as an additional payment requested from a Medicaid recipient or a third-party payer […]

Community Behavioral Health Support (CBHS) Services are Coming

Adult family home operators may begin to hear more about the state’s application for a 1915(i) waiver.  This article is intended to provide some information about why this is happening and what it may mean for providers and residents. What is a 1915(i) waiver? 1915(i) refers to a specific section of the Social Security Act […]

Emergency Rules Filed to Amend Long-Term Care Workers Continuing Education Deadlines

Home and Community Services filed a CR 103E (emergency rule) under WSR 23-06-023 amending long-term care worker Continuing Education (CE) deadlines established in WACs 388-71-0992 and 388-112A-0613: When must continuing education be completed when public health emergency waivers are lifted, and what continuing education credit is granted to long-term care workers employed during the pandemic? […]

Contracted Complaint Investigators in AFHs

The Department published a Dear Provider Letter on February 27, 2023 informing us that RCS will be contracting with a corporation to provide complaint investigations in adult family homes (AFH) and assisted living facilities (ALF) from April 2023 through June 2023. The intent is to provide short-term service for the division in addressing outstanding complaint […]

The Importance of Understanding Wage & Hour Requirements as an Employer

The US Department of Labor has been actively investigating concerns that some long-term care facilities have failed to pay their employees according to minimum wage and overtime requirements. As a result of the investigation DOL has recovered over $1 million in wages and penalties from adult family homes. Here is a link to the news […]

Using Bed Side Rails in Adult Family Homes: There’s a WAC for that!

Adult family home (AFH) residents may use bedside rails if they are assessed as being necessary and the resident can safely use them. Even if an individual has a history of using bedside rails, once that person moves into an AFH, there are necessary steps to take to ensure bed side rail use complies with […]

Have You Attended a Chapter Meeting Lately?

The Adult Family Home Council was formed when regionally based groups of providers banded together into regional chapters. Over time, the needs of the community grew into a statewide association of adult family home providers. These chapters provide members with support and networking opportunities.  Today, we recognize that the one of the cornerstones of our […]

Health Alert Information from CDC-Eye Drops

This message is to notify long-term care (LTC) setting providers of important Health Alert information from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  WHAT: Artificial tears are eye drops used for dry eyes. Antibiotic resistant organisms have been found in artificial tears products. The most common brand found to have the organism is EzriCare Artificial Tears, a […]

New Business Operations & Analysis Unit with RCS

As part of efforts to streamline and modernize business processes, Residential Care Services (RCS) has created a new unit called the Business Operations and Analysis (BOA) Unit. This unit will lead projects designed to improve statewide RCS operations and will oversee financial processes. RCS expects this will lead to improved public service and quicker processing […]

Home and Community Services (HCS) Contact Information & Quarterly Connection Q&A

Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in the first quarterly connection meeting with Home and Community Services leadership. These sessions as an opportunity for AFH providers and HCS leadership to discuss important topics you are interested in, provide updates and education, and most importantly, to come together to strengthen communication and […]

Rapid Response Teams & Critical Staffing Management

On January 5th DSHS sent out a message to remind you that they continue to contract with a temporary nurse staffing agency to provide Rapid Response Team critical staffing support. Please reference the links below for details on how to request this free service as well as guidance regarding critical staffing. Rapid Response Team Critical […]