Law of Georgia on Licensing of Alternative Care Services

 

 

Law of Georgia on Licensing of Alternative Care Services

 

Article 1 – Scope of the Law

1. In accordance with the Law of Georgia on Licences and Permits, this Law regulates relationships related to granting licences for the provision of alternative care services and determines the licensing authority and additional licence conditions for alternative care services.

2. This Law shall apply to the alternative care service providers, irrespective of their organisational and legal form, except for foster care, inpatient care facilities, boarding schools established by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, and the institutions where a child may be placed for not more than three months a year.

Law of Georgia No 3108 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018

 

Article 2 – Definition of terms

The terms used in this Law shall have the following meanings:

a) staff – caregivers, as well as persons who are directly involved in the process of provision of alternative care services;

b) alternative care services – services that, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia, are related to the institutional care for the cognitive, emotional, physical and intellectual development of a child and the provision of 24-hour services, and aim to form personal, moral and intellectual skills, and adaptive behaviour of a child;

c) licence applicant – an entity striving to obtain a licence for providing alternative care services;

d) licence holder – an entity, to which the right to provide alternative care services has been granted with an administrative act;

e) branch – an independently operating alternative care service provider administered by a licence holder;

f) licence issuer – a relevant office of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia (‘the Ministry’) that issues licences for the provision of alternative care services.

Law of Georgia No 3108 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018

 

Article 3 – Special procedure for the provision of alternative care services

1. The Ministry shall determine, with an appropriate legal act, the territory and volume of provision of alternative care services and, if necessary, the procedure and conditions for the selection of alternative care service providers.

2. It shall be prohibited to provide alternative care services in other territories and volumes in violation of paragraph 1 of this article.

3. An alternative care service provider is obliged to give access to the representative of the Ministry/relevant office of the Ministry in the area of supervision of alternative care services to the territory where it provides alternative care services, and to facilitate the exercise of the legitimate powers granted to such representative by the legislation of Georgia.

4. Failure to fulfil the obligation determined by this article shall result in the liability as provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

 

Article 4 – Licence issuer

Licences for the provision of alternative care services shall be issued by the relevant office of the Ministry. The rights and obligations of a licence issuer shall be determined by the Law of Georgia on Licences and Permits and this Law.

 

Article 5 – Documents to be submitted for obtaining a licence for the provision of alternative care services

In order to obtain a licence for the provision of alternative care services, a licence applicant shall submit to a licence issuer, in addition to the documents determined by Article 9 of the Law of Georgia on Licences and Permits, the following documents:

a) an alternative care programme, which must comply with the additional licence conditions for alternative care services determined by Article 6 of this Law;

b) information on the number of staff, the documents certifying qualifications of the staff, and the main and supplementary employment undertaken by the staff. The information submitted by a licence applicant must be accompanied by the agreements concluded by the licence applicant in accordance with the legislation of Georgia on condition of obtaining a licence for the provision of respective services. The information submitted by a licence applicant must comply with the additional licence conditions for alternative care services determined by Article 6 of this Law;

c) information on the logistic conditions, which must comply with the additional licence conditions for alternative care services determined by Article 6 of this Law;

d) a plan of the buildings and premises according to floors, where the alternative care services will be provided.

 

Article 6 – Additional licence conditions for alternative care services for licence holders/licence applicants

1. A licence holder/licence applicant shall meet the following conditions:

a) it shall have the premises. The right to possess and use the premises for at least 6 years shall be certified according to the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia. In the case of lease/rent, the right to possess and use the premises shall be certified by an extract from the Public Registry. Depending on the number of beneficiaries, the premises shall include:

a.a) a bedroom(s);

a.b) a kitchen/diner;

a.c) a toilet(s), a shower(s) and a wash-stand(s);

b) it shall be quipped with the items designated for pedagogical, educational, informational and cognitive activities suitable for the age of the beneficiaries;

c) it shall have the bedroom inventory suitable for the needs of the beneficiaries;

d) it shall have the dining area and appropriate individual inventory sufficient for providing meals to all the beneficiaries simultaneously;

e) it shall provide the conditions for independent spatial orientation and movement for the beneficiaries with special needs;

f) the premises shall meet child care standards.

2. The premises where alternative care services are to be provided shall meet the sanitary and hygiene requirements established by the legislation of Georgia.

3. A licence holder is obliged to submit to a licence issuer the statistical data on the provision of alternative care services according to the procedure established by the licence issuer.

 

Article 7 – Granting a licence for the provision of alternative care services

1. A licence issuer shall make a decision to grant a licence for the provision of alternative care services in accordance with the public administrative proceedings determined by Chapter IX of the General Administrative Code of Georgia, the Law of Georgia on Licences and Permits and this Law.

2. When granting a licence determined by this Law, a licence issuer shall be authorised to extend the timeframe for administrative proceedings to up to three months, if, in order to establish circumstances of significant importance to the case, a period longer than the period determined for administrative proceedings is required.

3. A refusal by a licence issuer to grant a licence for the provision of alternative care services may be appealed by a licence applicant according to the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia.

4. A licence holder shall be authorised to provide alternative care services through its branch. A branch does not need an individual licence to provide alternative care services, although a licence holder is obliged to notify a licence issuer in advance whether the branch meets the licence conditions or not in order to provide the alternative care services. Before a branch starts the provision of alternative care services, a licence issuer is obliged to inspect whether the branch meets the licence conditions or not. If the inspection reveals that the branch fails to meet the licence conditions established by this Law, a licence issuer shall have the right to determine a reasonable period for a licence holder to comply with the licence conditions. In that case, the branch may not provide alternative care services until it meets the licence conditions.

 

Article 8 – On-site verification of compliance with licence conditions

1. In order to verify the compliance of a licence applicant/licence holder with the licence conditions, a licence issuer as well as other administrative body, upon the request of the licence issuer, are authorised to inspect on site the compliance of the licence applicant/licence holder with the licence conditions.

2. A licence issuer shall be authorised to inspect a licence holder if there is substantiated information that the licence holder violates the licence conditions established by the Law of Georgia on Licences and Permits and this Law.

3. A licence issuer shall draw up a relevant administrative offence report.

4. The violation of the licence conditions shall result in the liability as provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

 

Article 9 – Transitional and final provisions

1. The Ministry shall adopt appropriate subordinate acts in relation to the entry into force of this Law.

2. The alternative care service providers, which were granted the licence under the Law of Georgia of 10 March 2005 on Licensing of Alternative Care Services (Legislative Herald of Georgia, No 11, 29.3.2005, Art. 72), shall be considered licensed under this Law.

3. The institutions licensed to carry out primary vocational education activities, shall be considered licensed to carry out apprenticeship training programmes.

4. The liability determined by Article 46² of the Administrative Offences Code of Georgia shall not apply, before 1 September 2018, to the alternative care service providers that are not licensed to provide alternative care services.

5. The Law of Georgia of 10 March 2005 on Licensing of Alternative Care Services (Legislative Herald of Georgia, No 11, 29.3.2005, Art. 72) shall be declared invalid upon the entry into force of this Law.

6. This Law shall enter into force on the 15^th day after its promulgation.

Law of Georgia No 1230 of 26 July 2017 – website, 28.7.2017

 

 

President of Georgia                                         Giorgi Margvelashvili

 

 

Kutaisi,

8 June 2016

No 5361-II ს