HB 1351 Summary

• Create "Children's Special Care Center" (CSCC) specialty license for nursing home facilities maintaining a separate, distinct unit for children birth to age 21.

• Require individualized care plans developed by an interdisciplinary team including physicians, nurses, and therapists, with quarterly status updates to parents and discharge planning to less restrictive settings.

• Establish minimum staffing requirements: 3.9 hours direct care per child per day for skilled care and 5.0 hours for medically fragile care, plus mandatory 24-hour on-site registered nurse coverage.

• Require centers to contract with board-certified pediatricians, employ qualified dietitians and pharmacists with pediatric expertise, and maintain emergency medication kits.

• Amend Medicaid statute to authorize home and community-based services for medically fragile children under age 21 and adults age 21+ who received such services as children, with services continuing after age 21.