AB 109: Developmental Services.

(1)Existing law authorizes the Director of General Services, with the consent of the State Department of Developmental Services, to lease up to 60 acres located within the grounds of Fairview Developmental Center for a period of up to 55 years, for the purpose of developing affordable housing for the employees of, and transitional housing for patient-clients of, Fairview Developmental Center.

This bill would additionally authorize the Director of General Services, with the consent of the Director of Developmental Services, to lease up to 20 acres located within the grounds of Fairview Developmental Center for a period of up to 55 years, at a price that will permit the development of affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities. The bill would require the proceeds of this housing project and the housing project described above to be deposited in Department of Developmental Services Trust Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would require that money in the fund be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide housing and transitional services for people with developmental disabilities, and would require that any funds not needed to support individuals with developmental disabilities be transferred to the General Fund.

(2)Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses and regulates various types of health facilities, including specified facilities for people with developmental disabilities. Under existing law the State Department of Social Services licenses community care facilities, including adult residential facilities or group homes that serve persons with developmental disabilities. Existing law authorizes a licensee of certain facilities to utilize secured perimeters, as defined. Existing law requires a persons individual program planning team to meet annually and determine that placement in a facility with secured perimeters is appropriate. These facilities are required to serve no more than 15 residents and be eligible for, and serve clients eligible for, federal Medicaid funding.

This bill would remove the requirement that facilities with secured perimeters be eligible for, and serve clients eligible for, Medicaid funding. The bill would also limit the facilities to serving no more than 6 residents, except as specified. This bill would require the individual program planning team to meet every 90 days after admission of an individual to a facility with secured perimeters to determine the appropriateness of the placement. This bill would prohibit the state from authorizing more than a combined total of 150 beds statewide in facilities with secured perimeters.

(3)Existing law vests in the State Department of Developmental Services jurisdiction over state hospitals, referred to as developmental centers, for the provision of residential care to individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the department, when closing a developmental center, to comply with procedural requirements that include the submission of a detailed plan to the Legislature. Existing law specifies required information to be included in a plan, including the fiscal impact of the closure, the impact on residents and their families, and anticipated alternative placements for residents.

This bill would require the department to submit to the Legislature, on or before October 1, 2015, a plan or plans to close one or more developmental centers, as specified. The bill would provide that implementation of that plan would be contingent upon legislative approval of the plan as part of the legislative budget process during the 201617 Regular Session of the Legislature. The bill would require the department, following approval of a closure plan, to provide quarterly briefings to specified legislative staff on progress related to the plan, as specified.

Existing law limits the total number of developmental center residents in the secure treatment facility at Porterville Developmental Center to 230, including residents receiving services in the Porterville Developmental Center transition treatment program. Existing law prohibits the admission of a person to a developmental center except under certain circumstances, including when the person is a juvenile committed by a court to the secure treatment program at Porterville Developmental Center.

This bill would instead authorize an individual to be admitted to the secure treatment facility at Porterville Developmental Center only when specified conditions are satisfied, including, among others, that the individual is at least 18 years of age. The bill would also provide that an individual may be admitted to the transitional treatment facility at Porterville Developmental Center when specified conditions are satisfied, and would prohibit the placement of an individual in the transitional treatment program for longer than necessary to procure a less restrictive placement. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature on or before March 1, 2016, regarding transitional program residents who are placed in the program for more than one year.

This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that General Fund savings derived from the closure of developmental centers benefit persons with developmental disabilities living in the community. The bill would require the department to display annually in its budget estimates specified information related to the downsizing or closure of developmental centers, as specified.

(4)Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, the department is responsible for providing various services and supports to persons with developmental disabilities, and for ensuring the appropriateness and quality of those services and supports. Existing law authorizes the department to contract with regional centers to provide these services and supports. Existing law requires a regional center to develop an individual program plan for a person who, following intake and assessment, is found to be eligible for regional center services. Existing law specifies requirements related to the process of developing an individual program plan. Existing law requires a regional center to complete a plan within 60 days of the completion of the assessment.

This bill would require a regional center to offer, and upon request provide, a written copy of the individual program plan to the consumer of services or other specified individuals in a threshold language, as defined, within 45 days of the request.

Existing law requires the department and regional centers to annually collaborate to compile specified data relating to purchase of service authorization, utilization, and expenditure by each regional center. Existing law requires each regional center to annually report to the department regarding the regional centers implementation of these requirements.

This bill would require the department and regional centers to include in that data the number of instances when a written copy of an individual program plan is provided at the request of the consumer or other specified individuals in a language other than a threshold language, as defined, and that written copy was provided more than 60 days after the request. The bill would require the department to consult with stakeholders to achieve specified objectives related to reducing disparities and promoting equity in connection with providing the services and supports described above, and to report progress on those objectives to the Legislature during the 201617 annual legislative budget subcommittee hearing process.

Existing law also requires the department to establish a statewide specialized resource service to reduce reliance on out-of-state placements, developmental centers, and mental health facilities for which federal funding is not available. Existing law requires the department to also annually provide to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature information on efforts to serve those consumers, as specified.

This bill would require the department and each institution for mental disease that has admitted a regional center consumer to report annually to the contractor for regional center clients rights advocacy services, information related to those consumers served. The bill would also expand the information the department is required to report to the policy committees and the contractor, as specified.

Existing law requires that contracts entered into with regional centers include annual performance objectives, including annual performance objectives that are specific, measurable, and designed to, among other things, develop services and supports identified as necessary to meet identified needs.

This bill would include measuring progress in reducing disparities and improving equity in purchase of service expenditures in those annual performance objectives.

(5)Existing law prohibits a regional center from purchasing new residential services from, or placing a consumer in, institutions for mental disease, regardless of the availability of federal funding. Existing law provides that the prohibition does not apply to emergencies, as determined by the regional center, and as otherwise specified. Under those circumstances, existing law requires the regional center to complete a comprehensive assessment, as specified.

This bill would require an institution for mental disease that receives placement of a regional center consumer from another entity to inform the regional center of the placement, as specified. After notice is provided to the regional center, the bill would require the regional center to complete an assessment.

(6)Existing law sets forth the departments and the regional centers authority to establish provider rates. Existing law prohibits certain provider rate increases, but authorizes increases to those rates as necessary to adjust employee wages to meet the state minimum wage law.

Existing law generally provides that employees who, on or after July 1, 2015, work in California for 30 or more days within a year are entitled to a specified number of paid sick days.

This bill would authorize adjustment in prescribed provider rates commencing July 1, 2015, if the adjustment is necessary to implement the requirement that employees be provided paid sick days.

(7)Existing law requires the department to establish a pilot program, until January 1, 2020, for the operation of up to 6 enhanced behavioral supports homes for adults and children with developmental disabilities who need intensive services and supports due to challenging behaviors that cannot be managed in a community setting without the availability of enhanced behavioral services and supports.

This bill would delete the restriction on the number of enhanced behavioral supports homes that the department may approve as part of the pilot project.

(8)Existing law requires the department, contingent upon approval of federal funding, to establish and implement a state Self-Determination Program, as defined, that would be available in every regional center catchment area to provide participants and their families, within an individual budget, increased flexibility and choice, and greater control over decisions, resources, and needed and desired services and supports to implement their IPP, in accordance with prescribed requirements. The statewide program would be phased in over 3 years, serving up to 2,500 regional center consumers during the phase-in period, and thereafter, available on a voluntary basis to all eligible regional center consumers. Existing law requires the department to annually provide specified information to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, including the number and characteristics of participants, by regional center.

This bill would authorize the Department of Finance to approve, as specified, an increase to the number of consumers served by the Self-Determination Program before the end of the 3-year phase-in period. The bill would specify that following the phase-in period, the regional center consumers that the program is made available to would include residents in developmental centers who are moving to the community, and would require that the annual information provided by the department to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature include the number of participants who entered the program upon movement from a developmental center.

(9)Existing law establishes the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, administered by the State Department of Social Services and counties, under which qualified aged, blind, and disabled persons are provided with services in order to permit them to remain in their own homes and avoid institutionalization. Existing federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and regulations promulgated under the FLSA, generally require that an employee covered by the act receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek at a rate not less than 1¹/₂ times the employees regular rate of pay, unless specifically exempted.

The bill would require the department, when federal FLSA regulations regarding payment of overtime compensation are implemented in the state, to consult with specified entities to evaluate the impact of those regulations on consumers and providers of supported living services, in-home respite services, and personal assistants to persons with developmental disabilities. The bill would require the department to report on the progress of that evaluation and specified resulting actions or recommendations to the Legislature during the 201617 legislative budget subcommittee hearing process.

(10)This bill would appropriate $61,554,000 from the General Fund to the department to fund expenditures for services provided by regional centers, as specified. The bill would provide that those funds shall be available for encumbrance and expenditure until June 30, 2016.

(11)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.