O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 31-7-12 (2019)

‘‘Personal care home’’ and ‘‘personal services’’ defined; licensure and registration; inspection by local boards; fees; investigations; waiver, variance, or exemption

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)

Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.

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(a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) ‘‘Personal care home’’ means any dwelling, whether operated for profit or not, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide or arrange for the provision of housing, food service, and one or more personal services for two or more adults who are not related to the owner or administrator by blood or marriage. This term shall not include host homes, as defined in paragraph (18) of subsection (b) of Code Section 37-1-20. (2) ‘‘Personal services’’ includes, but is not limited to, individual assistance with or supervision of self-administered medication and essential activities of daily living such as eating, bathing, grooming, dressing, and toileting. Personal services shall not include medical, nursing, or health services; provided, however, that the department shall be authorized to grant a waiver of this provision in the same manner as provided for in Code Section 31-7-12.3 for the waiver of rules and regulations and in the same manner and only to the same extent as granted on or before June 30, 2011. (b) All personal care homes shall be licensed as provided for in Code Section 31-7-3, except that, in lieu of licensure, the department may require persons who operate personal care homes with two or three beds for nonfamily adults to comply with registration requirements delineated by the department. Such registration requirements within this category shall authorize the department to promulgate pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the ‘‘Georgia Administrative Procedure Act,’’ reasonable standards to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the occupants of such personal care homes. (c) Upon the designation by the department and with the consent of county boards of health, such boards may act as agents to the department in performing inspections and other authorized functions regarding personal care homes licensed under this chapter. With approval of the department, county boards of health may establish inspection fees to defray part of the costs of inspections performed for the department. (d) The state ombudsman or community ombudsman, on that ombudsman’s initiative or in response to complaints made by or on behalf of residents of a registered or licensed personal care home, may conduct investigations in matters within the ombudsman’s powers and duties.

(e) The department shall promulgate procedures to govern the waiver, variance, and exemption process related to personal care homes pursuant to Chapter 2 of this title. Such procedures shall include published, measurable criteria for the decision process, shall take into account the need for protection of public and individual health, care, and safety, and shall afford an opportunity for public input into the process.

History

Code 1981, § 31-7-11, enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1323, § 1.1; Code 1981, § 31-7-12, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 31; Ga. L. 1984, p. 649, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 952, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 13, § 31; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1392, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 317, § 1; Ga. L. 2008, p. 263, § 1/SB 469; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-27/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 227, § 13/SB 178.

Annotations

Code Commission notes. - Code Section 31-7-11 was added to the Code by both Ga. L. 1983, p. 1307, § 1 and Ga. L. 1983, p. 1323, § 1.1. The latter section was redesignated as Code Section 31-7-12 by Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 31, effective February 3, 1984, pursuant to the authority granted in Code Section 28-9-5.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1996–2019 · leading case: Hawkins v. State, 830 S.E.2d 301 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019).

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Hawkins v. State, 830 S.E.2d 301 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 8× “OCGA § 31-7-12 defines a "personal care home" as "any dwelling, whether operated for profit or not, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide or arrange for the provision of housing, food service, and one or more personal services for two or more adults who…”

Nw. Georgia Reg'l Hosp. v. Wilkins, 469 S.E.2d 786 (Ga. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 4× “According to him, “[t]his facility was offering all the services that meet the definition of a personal care home” under OCGA § 31-7-12. There were some complaints made by families of *535 residents of the second facility, but DHR was not made aware of any problems until after…”

Apple Inv. Props., Inc. v. Watts, 469 S.E.2d 356 (Ga. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 4× “OCGA §§ 31-7-12 (b), 31-8-133. In a well-reasoned opinion, the trial court denied the protective order and required production of the reports.”

Bruton v. Dep't of Human Resources, 509 S.E.2d 363 (Ga. Ct. App. 1998). “OCGA §§ 31-7-12; 31-7-3; 31-7-2.1; 31-2-6; Rules of the Department of Human Resources, Chapter 290-5-35 (Personal Care Homes).”

Sheila Bell Hawkins v. State (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 6× “OCGA § 31-7-12 defines a “personal care home” as “any dwelling, whether operated for profit or not, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide or arrange for the provision of housing, food service, and one or more personal services for two or more adults who…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.