CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) – Bob Scotti has thick binders full of medical records, legal forms and state investigatory reports tracking his battles with an assisted-living facility over his late father’s care.

Those binders, along with memories that have yet to soften with time, are more than enough to convince Scotti that Connecticut needs tighter controls over assisted living.

Prompted by many such complaints, a growing number of lawmakers and regulators are pushing for changes in the way Connecticut regulates the largely self-governing industry.

Unlike many states, Connecticut licenses the providers, but not the facilities they operate.

The result is a hodgepodge of rules that Scotti and other consumers call impossible to navigate – especially while coping with the emotional difficulties of a family member’s physical or mental decline.

“Nobody knows the rules of who to call when you have a problem, and everyone wants to pass you off to someone else to get you out of their hair,” said Scotti, of Cromwell, whose father, Robert F. Scotti, died at age 79 in October 2006 after moving to a better facility.

A new bill proposed in the General Assembly would give the state Department of Public Health considerably more oversight over assisted living, affecting thousands of residents and their families.

It also would put Connecticut more in line with states that already have tighter regulations on assisted living, which is geared toward people ages 55 and older who have difficulty living independently but do not need to move to a nursing home.

Connecticut lawmakers adopted regulations in 1994 to allow assisted-living communities to open in the state. Now, there are 63 agencies licensed to operate a combined total of 108 such communities.

They must offer regular meals, housekeeping, laundry, transportation and other services, and some have special units for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

However, residents and their families often have to contact a variety of agencies for help with complaints. Concerns over leases or evictions are considered landlord-tenant issues and must go to housing courts. Complaints about nursing services are handled by the Department of Public Health.

, and the quality of the structures is subject to state and local building codes.

But details of the unregulated amenities such as laundry, transportation and meals are set in the facilities’ contracts – and many families say that leaves them little recourse for broken promises.

“I’ve had some horrendous, horrendous calls from people who just didn’t know where to turn anymore,” said state Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia. “Some of these places are doing a great job, but for those that aren’t, we need to make those places better.”

Prague and other lawmakers want every facility to have a nurse or certified nurse’s aide on site around the clock rather than only on-call; have more easily understood contracts; and provide better guidance on tenants’ rights and appeal procedures.

For Scotti, constant battles over his late father’s care in an assisted-living facility left him soured toward the industry as a whole.

In one incident, his dazed father showed up at a Cromwell gas station when he was supposed to be asleep in the locked dementia ward of the assisted-living facility several miles away in Rocky Hill.

State officials never could determine who let Scotti’s father out and how he was able to hitch a ride with a stranger to another town.

About four months later, Scotti arrived to find his father listless and unresponsive, and rushed him to a local hospital. As his father was admitted and treated for dehydration, Scotti scrambled to get him booked into a better facility, where his father remained until his death.

But sometimes, the hassles do not end even after a client’s death, as one of Prague’s constituents discovered.

The woman was billed for two months’ extra rent when her mother died unexpectedly, Prague said. The facility, pointing to its contract, said the unplanned vacancy broke the rules that required advance notice of departure.

State officials say one frequent complaint involves disagreements between a facility and a resident over whether the person is still fit for assisted living, or must leave and move to a nursing home.

“There are times when there is confusion about exactly the role that assisted living can play, and it’s important for folks to know that the setting is appropriate at certain times and no longer appropriate at other times,” said Christopher Carter, president of the Connecticut Assisted Living Association.

An advisory committee of state officials and industry representatives, including CALA, is reviewing the laws governing assisted living and plans to recommend updates. That process is separate from the lawmakers’ attempts to do it through legislation.

While some facilities voluntarily post details on how to contact the state’s Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman for help with disputes, it isn’t required – and that’s something that lawmakers and the ombudsman herself also hope to change.

“From our perspective, it’s important that the consumers know where they can go if they have a concern or issue,” Ombudsman Nancy Shaffer said. “Because of the increased demands from the growth of assisted living, it’s really necessary to take another look at the regulations as a whole.”

AP-ES-02-10-07 1513EST