Summary#
SB 670 amends New Hampshire’s RSA 171-A, RSA 161-F, and RSA 169-C. It creates a developmental services oversight commission and changes reporting rules for deaths or serious injuries in certain residential settings and rules for the registry of founded reports of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults. Its stated goal is to strengthen health and safety for people receiving developmental services.
- The commission will review health-and-safety data, surveys, training rules, licensing data, and waiver performance measures, then make recommendations. It is advisory; the bill does not give it power to order changes.
- The commission includes legislators, state officials, providers, a disability-rights representative, parents, and people receiving services. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) must provide administrative support, and the commission must report annually starting November 1, 2026.
- Providers in specified residential settings must report a vulnerable adult’s death or serious bodily injury to four state or federal offices within seven days.
- Providers caring for children in specified residential settings must report a child’s death to three offices within seven days.
- The bill broadens who may have a founded report entered on the vulnerable-adult registry. Certain employers must check the registry before hiring and annually for current workers; they generally may not hire someone listed without a DHHS waiver.
What it means for you#
- People receiving developmental services and their families: The commission must review specified safety and quality information and recommend improvements. The bill does not create a new direct service or guarantee that recommendations will be adopted.
- Residential providers: Providers covered by the bill must send the required adult serious-injury or death report, or child death report, within seven days. The bill also requires DHHS to remind covered providers annually of their reporting duties.
- Employers covered by the registry rules: Employers in programs licensed, certified, or funded by DHHS must check the registry before hiring a prospective employee, consultant, contractor, or volunteer who may contact service recipients. They must also submit current workers’ names for annual checks. A listed person cannot care for a vulnerable individual. Hiring a listed person requires a DHHS waiver.
- People named in a founded report: The report is entered on the registry upon the department’s decision, with notice and a right to appeal. A listed person may seek a hearing, appeal an adverse decision, and petition for earlier removal under the bill’s rules. Reports are generally kept for seven years.
- People who hire care workers directly: They may request a registry check with the worker’s consent. The bill does not require them to obtain a waiver to hire a listed person.
- General public: Meetings of the commission must be open to the public. The registry itself remains confidential, subject to access rules.
Money#
The fiscal note estimates added state spending, but its figures and explanations do not fully agree.
- The bill establishes a DHHS staff position and appropriates $52,000 in general funds for it for the biennium ending June 30, 2027. DHHS may also accept and spend matching federal funds without prior Fiscal Committee approval.
- The fiscal note estimates spending of $276,000 or more in general funds and $52,000 in federal funds in FY 2027; $80,000 or more in general funds and $55,000 in federal funds in FY 2028; and $83,000 or more in general funds and $57,000 in federal funds in FY 2029.
- The note says registry changes may increase reviews, hearings, and legal work, but the size and cost of that increase cannot be determined. It estimates 600–1,200 additional staff hours yearly for incident reporting; DHHS says this may initially be handled with existing resources.
- The fiscal note’s table shows no FY 2026 spending, but its explanation estimates $200,000 in FY 2026 for information-technology changes. Its opening statement also says the bill provides no funding and authorizes no positions, which conflicts with the bill text and the note’s own explanation.
What is unclear#
- The supplied materials do not include the parent Acts in full, so the full baseline under current law and every change to it could not be verified.
- The bill does not define “serious bodily injury” in the supplied text.
- The details and criteria for employer waiver requests are left to future DHHS rules. The bill does not set a decision timeline.
- The bill does not explain how the commission’s access to health-and-safety data will be managed alongside confidentiality rules.
- The fiscal note gives conflicting information about FY 2026 costs, and does not determine the added cost of registry reviews and appeals.
Case for#
- A standing commission could bring service recipients, families, providers, disability advocates, legislators, and state officials together to examine safety information and recommend improvements.
- Seven-day reporting rules could give agencies timely information about serious injuries and deaths in covered residential settings.
- Employer registry checks may help covered programs avoid placing people with founded abuse, neglect, or exploitation reports in direct-care roles.
- Annual reviews and reports could make safety concerns more visible to state leaders and the public.
Case against#
- A founded report can be entered on the registry when DHHS makes its decision, before an appeal hearing. A listing can bar someone from direct care and affect hiring, so an error could have serious effects before review is complete.
- Expanding who can be listed, plus required annual checks, may add substantial administrative and legal work; the fiscal note says the scale and cost are unknown.
- The commission can recommend changes but cannot require them. The bill does not specify how the state must act on its recommendations.
- The bill sets new reporting duties but leaves some important details, including the meaning of “serious bodily injury,” unclear.