Alabama House Bill HB375

Alabama 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/3/26
• Refer: 2/3/26
• Refer: 2/5/26

Caption

Adult Protective Services; Department of Human Resources required to create dementia training, certain employees and contractors required to complete

Summary

HB375 would require the Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR) to develop and implement a dementia training program for Adult Protective Services-related work. The training must cover Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, how to identify affected individuals, common safety risks such as wandering, falling, and neglect, communication impairments and behavioral changes, and best practices for providing services while preventing abuse and neglect. The bill also requires each DHR employee or contractor responsible for investigating complaints about adults in need of care and protection to complete two hours of dementia training when they begin employment or a contract assignment, followed by two hours of continuing education every two years. DHR would be authorized to adopt rules to administer the program, including curriculum, scheduling, and documentation requirements, and the act would take effect on October 1, 2026.

Impact

HB375 would add Section 38-9-12 to the Code of Alabama 1975 and create a new statutory training mandate within the Adult Protective Services framework. It would impose new administrative duties on DHR to design, implement, and maintain dementia-specific instruction, and it would create ongoing training obligations for certain employees and contractors who investigate vulnerable adults under Section 38-9-4(b). The bill does not change eligibility for services, but it would affect agency operations, training compliance, and documentation practices.

Sentiment

The available context suggests the bill is generally supportive and noncontroversial in purpose, as it focuses on improving the handling of adults with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias in protective services investigations. No committee transcript or recorded vote is provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, opposition, or amendments. The bill’s re-referral to committee indicates it remained under legislative consideration rather than advancing cleanly at the time of the provided record.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of legislative concern, if raised, would likely involve the cost and administrative burden of developing training, the time required for employees and contractors to complete recurring instruction, and how DHR would define and enforce compliance. However, the record supplied does not identify any member, agency, or stakeholder explicitly opposing or supporting those issues.