This policy is intended to be a model for a state regulation to create smoke-free Adult Day Care Centers. This model regulation would provide for smoke-free environments indoors and sets forth language which would enable those using this model to choose to either prohibit or regulate smoking on the outdoor grounds of Adult Day Care Centers. This model can also be easily adapted for use as state legislation or as a policy for an individual Adult Day Care Center facility

Sec. 1000. Title

This regulation shall be known as the Smoke-Free Adult Day Care Centers Regulation.

Sec. 1001. Authority

This regulation is hereby adopted by the [insert State Office on Aging or Health Department or other entity] pursuant to the authority conferred upon the [insert State Office on Aging or Health Department or other entity] by the [insert appropriate state law citation].

Sec. 1002. Jurisdiction and Administration

This regulation shall have effect throughout the state of [insert name of state]. The [insert State Office on Aging or Health Department or other entity] shall have responsibility for administering and enforcing this regulation, including all amendments hereafter adopted unless otherwise specifically stated.

Sec. 1003. Findings and Purpose

The [insert State Office on Aging or Health Department or other entity] hereby finds that:

The U.S. Surgeon General, National Research Council, and National Academy of Sciences report that environmental tobacco smoke causes lung cancer and poses an increased risk of heart disease in adult nonsmokers. These agencies, as well as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), have also found that separating smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space may reduce, but does not eliminate, a nonsmoker's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. Further, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds that environmental tobacco smoke is a Group A Carcinogen - a category reserved for known cancer-causing agents in humans.

Of the over 416,000 smoking-related deaths annually in the U.S., over 94% are to persons aged 50 and over, while over 70% are to persons aged 65 and over. All the major causes of death among the elderly (cancer, heart disease, and stroke) are associated with smoking or environmental tobacco smoke. Recent research also indicates that smoking is related to a number of health problems and diseases that are generally associated with aging, including hearing loss, dementia, and Alzheimer's.

Accordingly, the [insert State Office on Aging or Health Department or other entity] finds and declares that the purposes of this policy are 1) to protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in the enclosed areas that make up Adult Day Care Centers and [choose one] prohibiting [or] regulating smoking on the outdoor grounds of Adult Day Care Centers; and 2) to guarantee the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air, and to recognize that the need to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority over the desire to smoke.

Sec. 1004. Definitions

A. The following words and phrases, whenever used in this policy, shall be construed as defined in this section:

1. "Adult Day Care Center" means any nonresidential program designed to support families and caregivers to meet the needs of adults with impairments by providing a variety of health, social, and related support services in a protective setting. [If the state has a definition of Adult Day Care Centers, use that definition.]

2. "Employee" means any person who is employed by an Adult Day Care Center in consideration for direct or indirect monetary wages or profit, and any person who volunteers his or her services for a nonprofit entity.

3. "Employer" means any person, partnership, corporation, including a municipal corporation, or nonprofit entity, functioning as an Adult Day Care Center, who employs the services of one or more individual persons.

4. "Enclosed Area" means all space between a floor and ceiling which is enclosed on all sides by solid walls or windows (exclusive of door or passageways) which extend from the floor to the ceiling.

5. "Person Served" means a user of an Adult Day Care Center.

6. "Place of Employment" means any enclosed area under the control of a public or private Adult Day Care Center which employees normally frequent during the course of employment, including, but not limited to, work areas, employee lounges and restrooms, conference and classrooms, employee cafeterias and hallways. A private residence is not a "place of employment" unless it is used as an Adult Day Care Center.

7. "Smoking" means inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, weed, plant or related substance or product.

Sec. 1005. Operation and Maintenance of Smoke-Free in Adult Day Care Centers

A. It shall be the responsibility of the employer to provide a smoke-free place of employment for all employees and a smoke-free setting for all persons served by an Adult Day Care Center.

B. Smoking shall be prohibited in all enclosed areas of Adult Day Care Centers without exception. This includes, but is not limited to, common work areas, rooms, hallways, stairs, lobby and reception areas, cafeterias, lounges, elevators, restrooms, motor vehicles owned or leased by the Adult Day Care Center, and any other enclosed areas.

C. Notwithstanding the above prohibition on smoking in all enclosed areas, an Adult Day Care Center shall [choose one of the following options] also prohibit smoking in all outdoor areas without exception [or] regulate smoking by providing an outdoor designated smoking area.

[If the State Office on Aging or Health Department or other entity chooses to prohibit smoking outdoors in Section 1005, Part C, then this regulation should not include numbers 1 and 2 below.]

1. Smoking shall be regulated in all outdoor areas of Adult Day Care Centers, such that, if smoking outdoors is permitted, a designated smoking area is provided outdoors on the grounds of the Adult Day Care Center. The designated smoking area shall be physically accessible, protected from the elements, and located a reasonable distance outside of the Adult Day Care Center to ensure that tobacco smoke does not obstruct entrances or enter the enclosed areas through entrances, windows, ventilation systems or any other means.

2. Persons served and employees may be allowed to utilize the designated smoking area. If persons served need supervision in order to utilize the designated smoking area, employees shall be given the choice whether they wish to supervise a person served and thereby be exposed to secondhand smoke. Employees shall be given the right to refuse to accompany a person served to the designated smoking area.

D. This smoking policy shall be communicated to all current employees and persons served at least three (3) weeks prior to its effective date, and at the time of employment for all other employees.

E. The employer shall supply a written copy of the smoking policy upon request to any existing or prospective employee or person served.

Sec. 1006. Posting of Signs

A. "No Smoking" signs or the international "No Smoking" symbol (consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it) shall be clearly, sufficiently and conspicuously posted at every entrance to the Adult Day Care Center by the employer.

B. The employer shall remove all ashtrays and other smoking paraphernalia from any area where smoking is prohibited by this policy.

Sec. 1007. Enforcement

The [insert State Office on Aging or Health Department or other entity] shall be responsible for enforcing this policy.

Sec. 1008. Nonretaliation

The employer shall not discharge, refuse to hire, or in any manner retaliate against any employee, applicant for employment, or person served because such employee, applicant, or customer exercises any right to a smoke-free environment afforded by this policy.

Sec. 1009. Other Applicable Laws

This policy shall not be interpreted or construed to permit smoking where it is otherwise restricted by other applicable laws.

Sec. 1010. Severability

If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph of this regulation or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this regulation which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this regulation are declared to be severable.

Sec. 1011. Effective Date

This regulation shall be effective sixty (60) days from and after the date of its adoption.

Model prepared in March, 2003 by The Center for Social Gerontology, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan. http://www.tcsg.org