Today's Law As Amended


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AB-2069 California Home Health Aide Training Scholarship Act.(2021-2022)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California’s master plan for aging (MPA), published by the California Department of Aging, stipulates a goal titled “caregiving that works,” with a target of 1,000,000 high-quality direct care jobs by 2030. Home health aides are a vital part of the direct care workforce.
(b) The MPA notes that at some point in their lives, most Californians will seek care from families, friends, or paid caregivers.
(c) A 2018 AARP survey finds that 75 percent of those surveyed said they preferred to age in place.
(d) Home health aides provide personal care services under a plan of treatment prescribed by the patient’s physician and surgeon.
(e) The issues impacting the direct care workforce are extraordinarily complex, and include low wages; a gray or underground labor market; intricate laws regarding scope of practice; and inherent institutional inequities resulting in women, particularly Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian American women, performing a disproportionately large share of caregiving jobs in a profession that has been egregiously marginalized.
(f) According to the California Department of Aging’s summary of home- and community- based services spending plan proposals issued on June 3, 2021, $150,000,000 in one-time federal funds is available for direct care workforce training (not including in-home supportive services) and stipends.

SEC. 2.

 Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 128022) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 107 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:

Article  3.5. California Home Health Aide Training Scholarship Act
128022.
 (a) The California Home Health Aide Training Scholarship Act is hereby created to be administered by the department. The purpose of the act is to incentivize enrollment in home health aide training programs.
(b) In administering the act, the department shall do all of the following:
(1) Solicit applications from those interested in training as a home health aide.
(2) Develop an application process.
(3) Award scholarships on a rolling basis to qualified applicants.
(4) Award scholarships to up to 1,000 people.
(5) Award scholarships of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per person to be used for a variety of costs related to the training program, including, but not limited to, tuition, books, supplies, uniforms, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification, background checks, childcare, and transportation.
(c) A scholarship recipient shall agree to do all of the following:
(1) Use the scholarship funds for enrollment in a home health aide training program and related costs.
(2) Upon completion of the home health aide training program, satisfy the state requirements for certification as a home health aide.
(3) Complete the service requirement of working for one year as a home health aide after becoming a certified home health aide.
(4) Repay 25 percent of the total scholarship funds received if the scholarship recipient fails to comply with paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive.
(d) For purposes of subdivision (c), the scholarship recipient shall provide evidence satisfactory to the department of employment as a home health aide for the required one year.
(e) This article shall be implemented only upon the appropriation of funds by the Legislature.