POLICY Archives - Center for Elder Law & Justice

submitted by Megan Poynter, Law Student updated January 5, 2021 CDC Eviction Moratorium Extended with Federal Relief Package On December 28, 2020, President Trump signed a Covid Relief package which extends the Centers for Disease Control’s Eviction Moratorium Agency Order until January 31, 2021. This protection is meant to be a floor, state policy can…

Hands of a senior and young person. Young person is comforting the elderly person.

submitted by Bria Lewis, Esq. Every resident living in a nursing home, regardless whether they are there for a short-term rehabilitation stay or long-term care, has the right to receive a written notice prior to being transferred or discharged to a different facility or location. While many residents voluntarily leave the nursing home, often after…

submitted by Lindsay Heckler, Esq. Intro: The Community Must Become Involved in the Legislative Process The growing crisis of substandard care in nursing homes and adult care facilities is not new and has existed prior to the pandemic. New York has ignored the challenges older adults and people with disabilities have faced living in…

submitted by Lindsay Heckler, Esq. Residents who live in adult care facilities and nursing homes (including for short-term rehabilitation stays) have the right to leave the building and access the community. Access to the community includes: medical appointments, social visits, religious services, gatherings with family/friends, and more. Both New York State (NYS) and the federal…

submitted by Bria Lewis, Esq. On October 9th Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order that established red, orange, and yellow zones as part of the Cluster Action Initiative. New York State Department of Health (DOH) followed by issuing a guidance on October 23rd, for visitation guidelines in red and orange zones. The October 23rd guidance…

submitted by Lindsay Heckler, Esq. On September 17, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new nursing home visitation guidelines that replace and supersede all previous rules pertaining to nursing home visitation. The CMS guidance was issued shortly after the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) issued its own update to…

submitted by Christopher Phillips, Esq. On July 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a proposed rule, entitled Making Admission or Placement Determinations Based on Sex in Facilities Under Community Planning and Development Housing Programs. The proposed rule would permit emergency homeless shelters to admit individuals based solely on their biological…

submitted by Bria Lewis, Esq. and Liam McMahon On September 15, 2020, the NYS Department of Health released updated guidelines for Skilled Nursing Facility Visitation. The first update to visitation guidelines is facilities must have no new confirmed staff or resident COVID-19 reported cases for 14 days. (The prior threshold for visitation was 28 days.)…

A.4416C (Gottfried) / S.3460A (Rivera) provides important consumer protections to residents and their families by deterring the worst abuses in Adult Care Facilities. The Center for Elder Law & Justice is urging our state legislators to support A.4416C / S.3460A in an effort to improve Adult Care Facilities, benefiting the lives of New Yorkers residing…

We welcome the July 10th announcement and corresponding guidance issued by the NYS Department of Health (“DOH”) to reopen visitation to nursing homes and adult care facilities. We are pleased to see that “visitors” is not limited, and includes family members, loved ones, long-term care ombudsmen, and resident advocacy organizations. Visitors play an essential component…