Initiative Measure 92
An Ordinance To Ensure Quality And Accountability
In Publicly-Funded Services For The Elderly And Disabled
WHEREAS the City of Seattle contracts with home care agencies to
provide publicly-funded home care and related services to vulnerable
elderly and disabled adults; and
WHEREAS the City of Seattle has a duty to provide elderly and
disabled persons with the highest quality care possible; and
WHEREAS the City of Seattle has a further duty to protect its
most vulnerable and elderly residents from abuse, neglect, and
exploitation; and
WHEREAS the City of Seattle decreases the likelihood of such
abuse by contracting for home care services only with agencies with a
demonstrated track record of delivering high quality care; and
WHEREAS the City of Seattle exposes its most vulnerable
residents to harm and abuse if it contracts with agencies with
documented histories of abuse, neglect, and exploitation to provide
home care services; and
WHEREAS contracting with care agencies with histories of abuse,
neglect, or exploitation potentially exposes the City and its
taxpayers to liability
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE as follows:
A new provision of the Seattle Municipal Code is added to read as
follows:
Sec. 1. Legislative Findings
A. Pursuant to its role as the designated Area Agency on Aging for
King County, the City of Seattle has the duty and discretion to
select which home care agencies to contract with to provide publicly-
funded home care services to elderly and disabled persons.
B. The City of Seattle, taxpayers, recipients of home care
services and their families have a vested interest in ensuring that
agencies providing home care and related services to the elderly
and/or disabled deliver the highest quality care possible.
C. To eliminate to the greatest extent possible, the risk of
abuse, neglect or exploitation to vulnerable, elderly or disabled
persons who receive home care and related services, it is the
declared policy of the City to contract for home care and related
services only with responsible agencies with a demonstrated record of
delivering quality care.
Sec. 2. Contracting with quality and accountable home care
agencies. Pursuant to its authority as the designated Area Agency
on Aging for King County, the City of Seattle shall contract only
with home care agencies that meet all of the following criteria:
A. The home care agency has at least three years experience
providing licensed home care services in the State of Washington;
B. Neither the home care agency nor its related organizations
have been found by any court, court monitor, or court-appointed
lawyer to have instances of neglect, abuse, or exploitation that led
to client deaths anywhere in the United States in the past three
years.
C. Neither the home care agency nor its related organizations
have been found by any court, court monitor, or court-appointed
lawyer to have defrauded any state, fraudulently altered documents,
or otherwise committed fraud anywhere in the United States in the
past three years.
Sec. 3. Audit. Within 90 days of the effective date of this
ordinance, the City shall conclude an audit of its existing home care
agency contracts to ensure compliance with this section. Contracts
with agencies not in compliance shall be terminated.
Sec. 4. Notwithstanding any of the language contained in
sections 1 through 3 of this ordinance, nothing herein shall be
interpreted or applied so as to limit or restrict any Washington
State legislative or constitutional grant of power to the legislative
authority or other officer of the City of Seattle, and the reach of
this initiative is expressly circumscribed and limited by any such
legislative or constitutional grant of power, nor shall any portion
of this initiative be read to require the city to breach any current
contractual obligation.
Sec. 5. Any resident of the City of Seattle shall, by virtue
of his/her status as a taxpayer in the City, have legal standing in
King County Superior Court, to bring a cause of action to enforce
this ordinance; such resident shall be entitled to injunctive relief
requiring the City to terminate any contract with an agency not in
compliance with section 2, without the necessity of any bond being
posted, so long as the elements necessary to obtain injunctive relief
pursuant to RCW 7.40.020 are established to the satisfaction of the
Court.
Sec. 6. If any provision of this act or its application to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or
the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances
shall not be affected.
Init92.htm
rev. 5/31/06