* § 4653. Licensure procedures and requirements for assisted living.
1. In order to operate as assisted living, an operator shall be
licensed as an adult home or enriched housing program and apply and be
approved for licensure with the commissioner pursuant to this article.
The operator shall provide, on an application form developed by the
commissioner, the following information to the commissioner in order to
be licensed:

(a) business name, street address, and mailing address of the
residence and of the owners of the residence;

(b) status of current operating certificate;

(c) verification that the operator has a valid residency agreement in
compliance with this article to be entered into with each resident,
resident's representative and resident's legal representative, if any,
and shall include a copy of the information to be included in the
residency agreement and disclosures as required pursuant to the
provisions of section four thousand six hundred fifty-eight of this
article, as added by chapter two of the laws of two thousand four, that
will be given to prospective residents; and

(d) any other information the department may deem necessary for the
evaluation of the application provided such information is not
duplicative of what is otherwise required of the applicant in obtaining
an adult care facility license.

2. For existing licensed operators in good standing and their
affiliates, the department shall develop a streamlined application
review and approval process, in collaboration with representatives of
associations of operators, to be available for use in relation to
approval of an additional facility of the same type. Notwithstanding any
provision of law or regulation to the contrary, the streamlined
application review and approval process shall include, but not be
limited to, the following:

(a) a certification process and form for the operator or its affiliate
to attest that it will have sufficient financial resources, revenue and
financing to meet facility expenses and resident needs, which shall
satisfy the statutory and regulatory financial component of the
application review and approval process;

(b) a certification process and form for the operator or its affiliate
to attest that its legal, corporate and organizational documents comply
in substance with department requirements, which shall satisfy the
statutory and regulatory legal component of the application review and
approval process;

(c) a certification process and form for the operator or its affiliate
to attest that it is in substantial compliance with all applicable
codes, rules and regulations in any other state in which it operates,
and to disclose any enforcement or administrative action taken against
it in any other state;

(d) issuance by the department of a conditional approval to operate
the facility for a specified period of time upon substantial completion
of the character and competence, legal, financial and architectural
components of the application, so long as the operator or its affiliate
agrees in writing to satisfy all pending conditions prior to the
expiration of the conditional approval period or a time frame
established by the department;

(e) issuance by the department of a conditional approval to construct
a facility, at the operator's or its affiliate's own risk, upon
substantial completion of the architectural component of the
application;

(f) elimination of duplicative submission and review of any
application information which has been previously reviewed and approved
by the department or any of its regional offices within the past two
years through a certification process and form whereby the operator or
its affiliate will attest that such application information is
duplicative;

(g) with respect to any programmatic application information to be
reviewed by the regional office, such review shall be conducted on-site
by the regional office during the pre-opening inspection or first full
annual inspection, if the department has previously approved the
operator or its affiliate to operate the same type of program at another
facility within the past two years;

(h) electronic submission of applications; and

(i) a combined application for licensure as an adult care facility,
assisted living residence and/or assisted living program, to the extent
the department determines such a combined application is feasible.

2-a. For purposes of subdivision two of this section, "affiliate"
shall mean an entity, for which a majority of the ownership or
controlling interest is the same as the ownership or controlling
interest in an existing licensed operator under this section (provided
that an affiliate may have different percentages of ownership or control
or fewer natural persons with ownership or control than an existing
licensed operator) and, further:

(a) for any entity owned, directly or indirectly, by natural persons:

(i) at all times, more than half of the ownership interest of the
entity shall be owned, directly or indirectly, by natural persons who
have previously been determined to have undergone a satisfactory
determination of character, competence and standing in the community;

(ii) at all times, any owner with a direct or indirect ownership
interest who has not undergone a satisfactory determination of
character, competence and standing in the community review must possess
a less than ten percent direct or indirect interest in the entity, until
a satisfactory determination has been made; and

(iii) for any natural person proposed to be an owner, directly or
indirectly, of the entity who is a controlling person, as defined in
section four hundred sixty-one-b of the social services law, or is a
member, director, or officer of an existing licensed operator under this
section, such existing licensed operator must be in good standing with
the department; and

(b) for any not-for-profit corporation or other entity not under
paragraph (a) of this subdivision:

(i) more than half of the entity's total board members, directors,
officers and controlling persons, as defined in section four hundred
sixty-one-b of the social services law, shall have previously undergone
a satisfactory determination of character, competence and standing in
the community; and

(ii) if any natural person proposed to be a board member, director, or
officer of the entity has an ownership interest, directly or indirectly,
or is a board member, director, officer, or controlling person, as
defined in section four hundred sixty-one-b of the social services law,
in an existing licensed operator under this section, such existing
licensed operator must also be in good standing with the department.

2-b. For purposes of subdivision two of this section, "good standing"
shall mean the operator and its affiliate have not (i) received any
official written notice from the department of a proposed revocation,
suspension, denial or limitation on the operating certificate of the
facility or residence; (ii) within the previous three years, been
assessed a civil penalty after a hearing conducted pursuant to
subparagraph one of paragraph (b) of subdivision seven of section four
hundred sixty-d of the social services law for a violation that has not
been rectified; (iii) within the previous year, received any official
written notice from the department of a proposed assessment of a civil
penalty for a violation described in subparagraph two of paragraph (b)
of subdivision seven of section four hundred sixty-d of the social
services law; (iv) within the previous three years, been issued an order
pursuant to subdivision two, five, six, or eight of section four hundred
sixty-d of the social services law; (v) within the previous three years,
been placed on, and if placed on, removed from the department's "do not
refer list" pursuant to subdivision fifteen of section four hundred
sixty-d of the social services law. Provided, however, that in the case
of an operator or affiliate that is not in good standing as provided in
this paragraph, the department may permit the operator or affiliate to
use the streamlined application process, in its discretion, if it
determines that the disqualifying violation was an isolated occurrence
that was promptly corrected by the operator or affiliate.

* NB There are 2 § 4653's