(a) Commencing January 1, 2018, the department shall license private alternative boarding schools, as defined in paragraph (19) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502, as a group home pursuant to this chapter. A licensed private alternative boarding school shall comply with all provisions of this chapter that are applicable to group homes, unless otherwise indicated, and with this section. (b) A licensed private alternative boarding school shall comply with all of the following: (1) It shall be owned and operated on a nonprofit basis by a private nonprofit corporation or a nonprofit organization. (2) It shall prepare and maintain a current written plan of operation, as defined by the department. (3) It shall offer 24-hour, nonmedical care and supervision to youth who voluntarily consent to being admitted to the program and who are voluntarily admitted by his or her parent or legal guardian. (4) (A) It shall not admit a child younger than 12 years of age. (B) It shall not admit a youth who has been assessed by a licensed mental health professional as seriously emotionally disturbed, unless the youth does not require care in a licensed health facility and the State Department of Health Care Services has certified the facility as a program that meets the standards to provide mental health treatment services for a child having a serious emotional disturbance, as set forth in Section 4096.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. (5) It shall provide each prospective youth and his or her parent or legal guardian with an accurate written description of the programs and services to be provided. If it advertises or promotes special care, programming, or environments for persons with behavioral, emotional, or social challenges, the written description shall include how its programs and services are intended to achieve the advertised or promoted claims. (6) It shall ensure that all individuals providing behavioral-based services to youth at the facility are licensed or certified by the appropriate agency, department, or accrediting body, as specified by the department in regulation. (7) It shall not use secure containment or manual or mechanical restraints. (8) If it offers access to, or holds itself out as offering access to, mental health services, it shall ensure that those services are provided by a licensed mental health provider. (9) If it advertises or includes in its marketing materials reference to providing alcohol or substance abuse treatment, it shall ensure that the treatment is provided by a licensed or certified alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility. (c) A private alternative boarding school shall submit a staff training plan to the department as part of its plan of operation. In addition to the training required of group home staff, the staff training plan shall include, but not be limited to, training in all of the following subject areas: (1) Youth rights, as described in subdivision (d). (2) Physical and psychosocial needs of youth. (3) Appropriate responses to emergencies, including an emergency intervention plan. (4) Cultural competency and sensitivity in issues relating to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. (5) Laws pertaining to residential care facilities for youth. (d) (1) A youth admitted to a licensed private alternative boarding school shall be accorded the following rights and any other rights adopted by the department in regulations, a list of which shall be publicly posted and accessible to youth. The personal rights enumerated in Section 84072 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations shall not apply. (A) To be accorded dignity in his or her personal relationships with staff, youth, and other persons. (B) To live in a safe, healthy, and comfortable environment where he or she is treated with respect. (C) To be free from physical, sexual, emotional, or other abuse, or corporal punishment. (D) To be granted a reasonable level of personal privacy in accommodations, p
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