SECTION 310:680-3-4. Inspections

(a)   Each residential care home shall be periodically inspected by a duly appointed representative of the Department.

(b)   The Department shall at least three times a year and whenever it deems necessary inspect, survey, and evaluate each home to determine compliance with applicable licensure and certification requirements and standards. The annual inspection shall occur within one hundred twenty (120) days prior to license renewal.

(c)   Any inspection, investigation, survey or evaluation may be conducted without prior notice to the home. At least one inspection per home shall be unannounced. Any licensee or applicant for a license shall be deemed to have given consent to any duly authorized employe or agent of the Department to enter and inspect the home in accordance with the provisions of the Residential Care Act. Refusal to permit such entry or inspection may constitute grounds for the denial, nonrenewal, suspension, or revocation of a license.

(d)   A notice of violation shall be sent to any residential care home when violations are cited as a result of an inspection. The home has ten (10) days after receipt of the notice of violation in which to prepare and submit a plan of correction. The plan of correction shall include a fixed time period not in excess of thirty (30) calendar days, within which the violations are to be corrected. An additional thirty days may be requested and approved by the Department.