Washington Revised Code Title 18. Businesses and Professions § 18.20.230. Training standards review--Proposed enhancements

(1) The department of social and health services shall review, in coordination with the department of health, the *nursing care quality assurance commission, adult family home providers, assisted living facility providers, in-home personal care providers, and long-term care consumers and advocates, training standards for administrators and resident caregiving staff. Any proposed enhancements shall be consistent with this section, shall take into account and not duplicate other training requirements applicable to assisted living facilities and staff, and shall be developed with the input of assisted living facility and resident representatives, health care professionals, and other vested interest groups. Training standards and the delivery system shall be relevant to the needs of residents served by the assisted living facility and recipients of long-term in-home personal care services and shall be sufficient to ensure that administrators and caregiving staff have the skills and knowledge necessary to provide high quality, appropriate care.

(2) The recommendations on training standards and the delivery system developed under subsection (1) of this section shall be based on a review and consideration of the following: Quality of care; availability of training; affordability, including the training costs incurred by the department of social and health services and private providers; portability of existing training requirements; competency testing; practical and clinical coursework; methods of delivery of training; standards for management and caregiving staff training; and necessary enhancements for special needs populations and resident rights training. Residents with special needs include, but are not limited to, residents with a diagnosis of mental illness, dementia, or developmental disability.