(a) Right of entry; inspection. The Director may, at any reasonable time, visit or inspect any group home to determine compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and investigate complaints of non-compliance. The Director must conduct an annual inspection of each licensed group home. The Director may establish a procedure to accept State agency oversight of the program of services offered to residents instead of County inspections.
(b) Deficiency correction orders. When an inspection reveals that a licensed group home is not in compliance with any licensing requirement of this Chapter or a regulation, the Director may order the licensee to correct the deficiency. The order must include a statement of the deficiency, the time period within which the deficiency must be corrected, a citation of the applicable law or regulation, and an explanation of the licensee's appeal rights under this Chapter.
(c) Failure to comply with a directive. If the licensee fails to correct the deficiency within the time period prescribed, the Director may restrict new admissions until the deficiency is corrected, or move to suspend or revoke the license.
(d) Restriction on admissions; suspension, revocation, or denial of license.
(1) The Director may restrict admissions to a group home, or suspend, revoke, or deny a group home license, if the Director finds that:
(A) the group home does not comply with this Chapter;
(B) the licensee has violated applicable laws or regulations, or deficiency correction orders;
(C) the licensee operated a previous group home and the license of that home was revoked or is suspended, or a regulatory agency has issued an order restricting admissions to that home;
(D) the license was obtained by fraud; or
(E) issuance or retention of the license is not in the best interest of the health, safety or welfare of the residents.
(2) If a group home license issued by a State agency with quality of care standards is restricted, suspended, or revoked, the group home's County license is automatically restricted, suspended, or revoked, respectively, without further notice or action by the Director.
(3) Notice of any restriction on admissions, suspension, revocation, or denial proposed by the Director must be in writing, specify the basis for the action, and be delivered to the applicant or licensee by certified mail or personal service. The notice must give the applicant or licensee an opportunity to appear and show cause before the Director why the license should not be restricted, suspended, revoked or denied. Nothing in this Section prohibits the Director from proceeding directly under Section 23A-7.
(e) Immediate suspension in emergency. The Director may immediately suspend a license when failure of the licensee to comply with any applicable law, regulation, approved program statement, or deficiency correction order, or the suspension, revocation, or denial of a license by a State agency, results in an emergency situation which immediately threatens the health, safety, or welfare of a resident in the group home. The Director must give the licensee notice of the basis for the suspension and the time and place of a hearing to be held within one work day. At the hearing the licensee may show cause why the license should not continue to be suspended. The hearing may be postponed up to 72 hours at the written request of the licensee, during which time the license remains suspended.
(f) Notice to placement agencies. The Director must notify appropriate placement agencies of the suspension, revocation, or denial of a license and may ask the agencies to find alternative placements for the residents, depending on the nature of the notice given. Any agency that receives this notice must be notified if the order is rescinded.
(g) Appeal from deficiency correction order, suspension, revocation, or denial of license. A person aggrieved by an action of the Director under this Section may appeal that action to the County Board of Appeals within 10 days after the date of notice of the Director's action. The filing of an appeal does not stay the Director's order unless the Board of Appeals grants a stay on motion of the appellant. (1997 L.M.C., ch. 2, § 1.)