Reports on inspections and investigations at the 138 residential-care facilities licensed by the state would be subject to public inspection under a bill filed Monday by Sen. Mike Ross, D-Prescott.
Ross said he decided to file the bill after reading articles in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The articles reported that the Department of Human Services refused to release reports on inspections or investigations -- or even the names of facilities where conditions are life-threatening -- to the public or to relatives of residents.
The facilities house the elderly, mentally ill and mentally retarded.
"There's a reason people are in those facilities, and it's because they are not able to care for themselves, and we as a state have a duty and an obligation to look after these people," Ross said.
"You would think that's why we do investigations and inspections of them," Ross said. "And if we are going to do investigations and inspections of them, that information ought to be available to the public as well as to the press. I'm not trying to champion this for the press as much as for people. I could see instances where I might have a loved one that has to go to a facility, and I would like to be able to look and judge the facilities and see how well they perform based on state inspections."
Ross' Senate Bill 569 would amend two sections of Arkansas law -- 20-10-210 and 20-10-228.
In 20-10-210, the Office of Long Term Care, a division of the department, is prohibited from releasing information that would disclose the identity of residents of long-term care facilities, or the owners, administrators or any workers at a facility.
Under SB 569, information involving the owners, administrators and personnel of a facility would be subject to public disclosure.
In 20-10-228, information received by the Office of Long Term Care "shall not be disclosed publicly in such a manner as to identify individuals or institutions except in a proceeding involving the question of licensing or revocation of a license." Under SB 569, information identifying institutions would be subject to public disclosure.
Ross pointed out that his bill would protect the identity of residential-care facility residents. "We're not trying to invade their privacy," Ross said.
Department Director Kurt Knickrehm said Monday that although his agency is not asking for changes in the law, he supports Ross' bill.
Section 20-10-210 became law in Act 28 of 1979. Former Rep. Earl Jones, D-Texarkana, was the lead sponsor of the bill. Now a lobbyist, Jones said Monday he couldn't recall why he sponsored the bill.
His co-sponsors were then-Reps. Ernest Cunningham, D-Helena, and Charles Stewart, D-Fayetteville. They didn't remember much about it, either.
Cunningham said he handled bills for Gov. Bill Clinton's administration, but doesn't remember whether Act 28 was a part of Clinton's legislative package. Cunningham also said he was surprised that he was a sponsor of the act, adding he was "usually on the other side" of state Freedom of Information Act issues.
Stewart said he "vaguely" recalled the bill, that "there was some reason behind it. But it was so long ago, I just can't remember."
Former state Rep. Glenn Walther, D-Little Rock, sponsored legislation in 1961 and 1965 that is part of 20-10-228. Walther died March 28, 1997.
Sen. John Brown, R-Siloam Springs, has SBs 223 and 226, which prohibit disclosure of some such records. He said his aim is not to add any prohibitions against disclosure, but not to tamper with prohibitions that already exist in state law.
Brown has joined Ross as a co-sponsor to SB 569. The other co-sponsors are Senate President Pro Tempore Jay Bradford, D-Pine Bluff, and Sen. Mike Beebe, D-Searcy.
Rex Nelson, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Huckabee, said Monday that the governor hasn't seen the newspaper's articles or Ross' bill. Huckabee was in Washington, D.C., for the National Governors' Association meeting.
Part of Huckabee's legislative agenda, SB 226 by Brown, is a proposed bill of rights for nursing home patients.
Nelson said the governor also is concerned about patients in residential-care facilities. "Some of what we are trying to do with the nursing home patient bill of rights is insure families have access to more information and insure better care," Nelson said.
Ross said he is working on another bill, which he hopes to file this week, in which the residential-care facilities would be subject to more inspections. Now, the Office of Long Term Care inspects each facility twice a year.
Ross is drafting a bill similar to an Oklahoma law that requires the Oklahoma fire marshal to do an annual inspection of residential-care facilities. The Oklahoma Department of Health conducts another annual inspection of the facilities. Ross said multiple inspections "would hold residential-care facilities more accountable."
Several legislators said Monday they believe the Arkansas records should be more accessible. "I don't see any real need to keep records of reported abuse from public inspections. Those should be made open," Sen. David Malone, D-Fayetteville, said
"Somebody has to be the watchdog," said Rep. Martha Shoffner, D-Newport.
The facilities need more supervision, said Sen. George Hopkins, D-Malvern, because their residents are "less able to protect themselves, just like those in nursing homes.
If we do not do things to properly ensure that we have sanitary, reasonable conditions, then we have to do that, whatever it takes."