AB 188

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law requires each state agency to make a review of all proprietary state lands over which it has jurisdiction, except as specified, on or before December 31 of each year to determine what, if any, land is in excess of its foreseeable needs and report on those properties in writing to the Department of General Services (DGS) . Existing law requires DGS to determine whether the excess land is needed by any other state agency and authorizes the transfer of the excess land to a state agency, as specified. Under existing law, if land within the grounds of the Fairview Developmental Center is reported as excess and DGS determines that the land is needed by more than one state agency, authorizes DGS to conduct a public hearing and receive public input regarding the use of the land before transferring it to a state agency. Existing law also authorizes the Director of General Services, with the consent of the State Department of Developmental Services (the department) , to let to a nonprofit corporation, for a period not to exceed 55 years, up to 20 acres of real property located within the grounds of the Fairview Developmental Center, for specified purposes and subject to certain conditions. This bill would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with the City of Costa Mesa for the city to develop a specific plan for the Fairview Developmental Center property, and to manage the land use planning process integrated with a disposition process for the property, to be carried out by DGS. The bill would require the agreement to require that housing be a priority in the planning process, and would require any housing proposal for the property to include affordable housing. The bill would authorize the department to enter into additional agreements to provide for the management, operations, and maintenance of the property, upon terms and conditions that it determines to be in the best interests of the state. The bill would authorize the Director of the Department of General Services to dispose of the property, as the director deems to be in the best interests of the state, if they determine that the transfer, sale, or final disposition of the property has been unduly delayed. The bill would require that, following CEQA review, the agreement and specified related actions would only be subject to approval by the Director of the Department of General Services and the city council. The bill would require the city to provide quarterly reports to the department, including expenditures, contracts, and an update describing the progress of the expedited planning process for the property. The bill would appropriate $3,500,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Developmental Services for allocation to the city to facilitate the disposition of the property, as specified. (2) Existing federal law, known as Part C of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Part C) , generally provides funding for states for the purpose of operating a comprehensive statewide program of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, from birth through 2 years of age, and their families. Part B of that federal act generally provides funding to states to provide public education available to children from 3 to 5 years of age, inclusive, who have disabilities. Existing state law, the California Early Intervention Services Act, provides a statewide system of coordinated, comprehensive, family-centered, multidisciplinary, and interagency programs that are responsible for providing appropriate early intervention services and supports to all eligible infants and toddlers and their families. Under existing law, direct services for eligible infants and toddlers and their families are provided by regional centers and local educational agencies. Existing law defines the term "eligible infant or toddler" for purposes of the act to mean infants and toddlers from birth through 2 years of age for whom a need for early intervention services is documented by means of assessment and evaluation and who meet specified criteria. These criteria include having a developmental delay in one or more of 5 specified areas, including communication development, meaning they are determined to have a significant difference between the expected level of development for their age and their current level of functioning. Existing law defines significant difference for this purpose as a 33% delay in one or more developmental areas. The criteria also include infants and toddlers with established risk conditions, including conditions of known etiology or conditions with established harmful developmental consequences. This bill would add a 6th specified area for an eligible infant or toddler to have a developmental delay by bifurcating communication development to include both expressive and receptive communication development and would change the definition of significant difference to require a 25% delay in one or more of those developmental areas. The bill would also clarify that fetal alcohol syndrome is a condition with established harmful developmental consequences for purposes of the eligibility criteria described above. By imposing a higher level of service on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to plan, develop, implement, and monitor the statewide system of early intervention services, as specified. Existing law requires the department to serve as the lead agency responsible for the administration and coordination of the statewide system and makes the department responsible for various duties, including, among others, establishing a single point of contact with the federal Office of Special Education Programs for the administration of Part C and establishing interagency procedures, to share agency information and to coordinate policymaking activities. Existing law requires the department and the State Department of Education to develop, approve, and implement regulations, as necessary to implement the act, as specified. This bill would require the department, in establishing those interagency procedures, to make efforts to schedule meetings with, and engage, parents and legal guardians in transition-related activities and to require each regional center to designate a main point of contact for coordinating and completing, with other agencies and persons, the transition of a child and family from Part C to Part B. The bill would require those regulations to be updated, on or before October 1, 2024, to include a process for Part C programs to incorporate family feedback to help update and improve the transition process, training, and family satisfaction. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to be responsible for administering services and programs for infants with solely visual, hearing, and severe orthopedic impairments, as specified. This bill would, among other things, require the State Department of Education to require each local educational agency to designate a main point of contact for coordinating and completing with other agencies and persons the transition of a child and family from Part C to Part B. By imposing new duties on a local educational agency, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. Under existing law, direct services for eligible infants and toddlers and their families are provided by regional centers and local educational agencies. Existing law requires an eligible infant or toddler receiving services under the act to have an individualized family service plan and be provided a service coordinator, as specified. Existing law requires parents to be fully informed of their rights, including the right to invite another person, including a family member or an advocate or peer parent, to accompany them to any or all individualized family service plan meetings. Existing law requires a referral to be made to the local family resource center or network and conditions this referral on parent or guardian consent. This bill would require a service coordinator to conduct at least quarterly reviews of the individualized family service plan. The bill would require a request for consent for the above-described referral to be offered to the parents or the legal guardian at the initial individualized family service plan meeting and at any subsequent individualized family service plan meeting, if consent was not previously obtained. Existing law requires that any increased costs to a local educational agency or to a regional center due to the implementation of the California Early Intervention Services Act be funded from specified federal funds. Existing law authorizes the department, in consultation with the State Department of Education to allocate funds to support family resource services, including, but not limited to, parent-to-parent support, information dissemination and referral, public awareness, family-professional collaboration activities, and transition assistance for families. This bill would authorize the department, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to provide additional resources to families with information on specified areas, including, among others, options for services for families after their child reaches three years of age. (3) Under existing law, the information obtained in the administration of the Unemployment Insurance Code is for the exclusive use and information of the Director of Employment Development in the discharge of the director's duties and is not open to the public. Existing law makes it a crime for a person to knowingly access, use, or disclose this confidential information without authorization. Existing law requires the Director of Employment Development to permit the use of information in the director's possession for, among other purposes, enabling the State Department of Developmental Services to obtain quarterly wage data of consumers served by that department for the purposes of monitoring and evaluating employment outcomes to determine the effectiveness of the Employment First Policy. This bill would additionally authorize the director to permit the use of that information to enable the State Department of Developmental Services to obtain unemployment insurance claim data of consumers served by that department, and would expand the purposes for that information obtained to include monitoring program operation and evaluations of the Employment First Policy. By allowing for additional distribution of this information, and thereby expanding the number of persons subject to the access, use, and confidentiality restrictions, this bill would expand the scope of a crime and impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, requires the department to contract with regional centers for the provision of community services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Existing law also vests in the department jurisdiction over various state developmental centers for the provision of care to persons with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the department, when closing a developmental center, to comply with procedural requirements, including the submission of a detailed safety net plan to the Legislature. Existing law required the department, on or before January 10, 2020, to submit an update of a safety net plan regarding how the department will provide access to crisis services after the closure of a developmental center and how the state will maintain its role in providing residential services to those whom private sector vendors cannot or will not serve. This bill would require the department to submit an update of that plan to the Legislature on or before January 10, 2023. The bill would require the updated plan to include specified additional information, including the department's strategic planning process. The bill would require the department, between July 1, 2023, and December 31, 2026, to provide quarterly updates to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the steps foreseen, planned, and completed in the development of services under the updated plan. (5) Under existing law, the regional centers purchase needed services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities through approved service providers, or arrange for their provision through other publicly funded agencies. The services and supports to be provided to a regional center consumer are contained in an individual program plan (IPP) , developed in accordance with prescribed requirements. Existing law requires the department to establish guidelines and oversee a program to increase paid internship opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities that produce outcomes consistent with the IPP. This bill would require, in addition to that program and subject to an appropriation in the Annual Budget Act for this purpose, the department to establish a 3-year pilot program that focuses on competitive integrated employment, postsecondary education, and career readiness for individuals with developmental disabilities exiting work activity programs or secondary education. The bill would require the pilot program to satisfy specified requirements, including that it be developed in consultation with stakeholders. Existing law authorizes a consumer of developmental services to choose a tailored day service or vouchered community-based training service, in lieu of any other regional center vendored day program, look-alike day program, supported employment program, or work activity program. This bill would authorize a consumer to choose a tailored day service or vouchered community-based training services in lieu of, or in conjunction with, those other programs, based on a daily rate of 6 hours per day, as specified. The bill would require a consumer's individualized service design requirements for tailored day service to be developed using a person-centered planning process, as specified. The bill would delete existing regional center requirements for negotiating vendor rates for the tailored day service option for both currently vendored and new programs, and instead would require the regional center to vendor those services, commencing July 1, 2022, at an hourly rate calculated pursuant to specified provisions. The bill would prohibit delivery of tailored day services on the same day as any other regional center vendored day program, look-alike day program, supported employment program, or work activity program, except under prescribed circumstances. The bill would prohibit the total monthly hours of tailored day services from exceeding the number of days in the month tailored day services are authorized, multiplied by 4. The bill would require the rate for vouchered community-based training service to be the most recent rate posted on the department's public internet website. Existing law requires activity centers, adult development centers, behavior management programs, and other look-alike day programs with a daily rate to bill regional centers for services provided to consumers in terms of half days of service and full days of service. Existing law defines a full day of service as a day in which the consumer's attendance is at least 65% of the declared and approved program day, and a half day of service as a day in which the consumer's attendance does not meet the criteria for billing for a full day of service. This bill would repeal the requirement to bill in terms of full days and half days, effective July 1, 2022. The bill would make related conforming changes. Existing law, for purposes of developmental services, defines "nonresidential services" to include all services provided by any vendor other than a residential facility. This bill would authorize a provider of nonresidential services to utilize Alternative Nonresidential Services, as authorized in a specified directive of the department, if needed, to meet a consumer's service needs, until December 31, 2022. The bill would require these services to be responsive to each consumer's current needs and be mindful of the importance of safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, including compliance with applicable state and local health orders and licensing requirements. Existing law requires the department to establish and implement a statewide Self-Determination Program 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. Existing law provides participants with a choice of financial management services providers who assist the participant to manage and direct the distribution of funds contained in the individual budget, and ensure that the participant has the financial resources to implement their IPP throughout the year. Existing law requires the costs of the financial management services to be paid by the participant out of the participant's individual budget, except as specified. Existing law requires the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to issue a report to the Legislature by December 31, 2022, on specified topics related to the program. This bill would instead require the regional center to pay the full costs of the participant's financial management services provider. The bill would also require the council to issue the report by June 30, 2023. Existing law requires all regional center vendors that provide crisis or residential services or supported living services, long-term health care facilities, and acute psychiatric hospitals to report on a monthly basis, among other things, the number of incidents of seclusion and the duration of time spent per incident in seclusion, to a designated agency. This bill would require the regional center vendors to also report to the department, the regional center providing service to the consumer, and the vendoring regional center, if different. Existing law required the department, on or before March 1, 2019, to submit a rate study to specified committees of the Legislature regarding community-based services for individuals with developmental disabilities. Existing law requires the department to implement rate increases between April 1, 2022, and July 1, 2025, to raise service providers' rates based on a formula that takes into account the fully funded rate reflected in the rate models that were included in the rate study. Existing law requires the department, commencing April 1, 2022, and continuing through the 2022–23 fiscal year, to implement a rate increase for service providers that equals 14 of the difference between the current rates and the fully funded rate model for each provider. Existing law requires the department, commencing July 1, 2023, and continuing through the 2024–25 fiscal year, to adjust rates to equal 12 of the difference between rates in effect March 31, 2022, and the fully funded rate model for each provider. Existing law requires the department, commencing July 1, 2025, to implement the fully funded rate models, as specified. This bill would accelerate the timeline for those rate increases so that, commencing January 1, 2023, and continuing through the 2023–24 fiscal year, rates would be adjusted to equal 12 of the difference between rates in effect March 31, 2022, and the fully funded rate model for each provider. The bill would require the department, commencing July 1, 2024, to implement the fully funded rate models, as specified. The bill would prohibit a provider, commencing January 1, 2023, from spending a smaller percentage of the rate increase on direct care staff wages and benefit costs than the corresponding percentage included for direct care staff wages and benefit costs in the rate models for each specific service. The bill would require a provider granted a rate increase to maintain documentation that the portion of the rate increase was used to increase wages, salaries, or benefits of eligible staff members spending a minimum of 75% of their time providing direct services to consumers at least at the same percentage as provided in the rate models. The bill would require a vendor to be in compliance with the home- and community-based final rule, as specified, or implementing a corrective action plan, to be eligible for a certain quality incentive program. Under existing law, regional center contracts require certain specified staffing levels and expertise, including service coordinator-to-consumer ratios. This bill would require those regional center contracts to require caseloads for all consumers 5 years of age or younger to be an average coordinator-to-consumer ratio of 1 to 40. The bill would also provide a process of enhanced service coordination, including a service coordinator-to-consumer ratio of 1 to 40 and routine contact, as prescribed, to consumers identified as having low or no purchase-of-service expenditures, as defined, until one of a set of specified criteria are met, including the family or consumer no longer being interested in receiving enhanced service coordination or when the family or consumer feels confident they can continue and be successful without receiving enhanced service coordination. Existing law requires the department to contract with an independent agency or organization to implement a quality assurance instrument that assesses consumer and family satisfaction, provision of services in a linguistically and culturally competent manner, and personal outcomes. This bill would, until there is more than one available assessment that meets the statutory requirements, exempt the quality assurance instrument contract from the state personal services contracting requirements, the Public Contract Code, the State Contracting Manual, the State Administration Manual, the approval of the Department of General Services, and the approval of the Department of Technology. Existing law sets forth various provisions for regional center worker retention and for training of direct care staff employed in community care facilities that receive regional center funding, as specified. This bill would require, subject to an appropriation, the department to establish, and regional centers to administer, prescribed programs relating to developmental services workforce stabilization, including a program to provide training stipends to direct support professionals, an entry-level training and internship program with retention stipends for individuals interested in becoming direct support professionals, and a tuition reimbursement program for regional center employees who seek a degree or certification in a health or human services-related field. The bill would set forth the eligibility requirements, monetary ranges, and requirements for data reporting to the department. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature, as specified, evaluating the success of the above-described programs. This bill would require, subject to an appropriation, the department to develop a pilot project to test the feasibility of remote consumer services and supports that use technology solutions. The bill would require the department to pilot remote services and supports based on certain factors. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature at quarterly briefings, and to submit a final evaluation report no later than January 10, 2026. Existing law, until June 30, 2022, requires a meeting regarding the provision of services and supports by the regional center, including a meeting to develop or revise a consumer's IPP, to be held by remote electronic communications if requested by the consumer or, if appropriate, if requested by the consumer's parents, legal guardian, conservator, or authorized representative. This bill would extend that requirement until June 30, 2023. (6) Existing law establishes the Family Cost Participation Program, which requires the department to develop and establish a sliding scale for families with an annual gross income of not less than 400% of the federal poverty guideline, as specified, to be used by regional centers to assess the parents' cost participation for providing respite, daycare, and camping services to their children under 18 years of age who have developmental disabilities and who are not eligible for Medi-Cal, among other eligibility criteria. Existing law also requires a regional center to assess an annual family program fee, as specified, from parents whose adjusted gross family income is at or above 400% of the federal poverty level and who have a child meeting prescribed requirements, including receiving specified services from a regional center. This bill, from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, inclusive, would require regional centers to suspend existing and new assessments and reassessments of the cost participation and existing and new assessments, reassessments, and collections of the annual family program fee described above. The bill would also require the department to submit to the Legislature, on or before January 10, 2023, and as part of the annual budget process, a plan to revise the Family Cost Participation Program and the annual family program fee, including consideration of changes that include, but are not limited to, those that promote administrative efficiency and program compliance. (7) Existing law establishes skilled nursing centers designated as institutions for mental disease. Existing law requires each institution for mental disease that has admitted a regional center consumer in the preceding year to report annually on February 1 to the contractor for regional center clients' rights advocacy services the total number and age of consumers placed in that facility, among other things. This bill would require each institution for mental disease that in the preceding year has admitted a regional center consumer, including consumers whose placements are not funded by a regional center, to submit quarterly reports to the department, the regional center for providing services to the consumer, and the contractor for regional center clients' rights advocacy services, that include specified information, including the total number and age, race, and ethnicity of consumers placed in that facility. Existing law establishes requirements for family homes that provide services and supports for adults with developmental disabilities who do not require continuous skilled nursing care. Existing federal regulations require home and community-based settings to meet specified standards. This bill would recognize the right of adults with disabilities to reside in the family home and that adults with developmental disabilities, and their families, may need coordinated family support services that are tailored to their unique needs. The bill would require the department to establish a Coordinated Family Support Services Pilot Program, as specified, for adults who live with their families. The bill would authorize the department to issue administrative program directives for coordinated family support services, subject to various requirements, including that any administrative program directive or regulation include key elements of the pilot program. (8) Existing law refers to regional centers and developmental centers, collectively, as service agencies and requires every service agency, as a condition of continued receipt of state funds, to have an agency fair hearing procedure for resolving conflicts between the service agency and recipients of, or applicants for, service. Existing law also requires the department to implement a mediation process for resolving conflicts between regional centers and recipients of services, and establishes a process for a voluntary informal meeting to resolve conflicts. Existing law requires adequate notice, as defined, to be given to an applicant for, or recipient of, services prior to specified actions being taken by the service agency, including a decision to reduce, terminate, or change services set forth in an IPP, and requires adequate notice to be sent no more than 5 working days after the agency makes a decision to deny the initiation of a service or support requested for inclusion in the IPP. This bill, commencing March 1, 2023, would revise and recast those provisions and, instead, would require every regional center or state-operated facility, as a condition of continued receipt of state funds, to have an appeals procedure for resolving conflicts between the regional center or state-operated facility and recipients of, or applicants for, services. The bill would require the appeals process to include options for an informal meeting, mediation, and a fair hearing and would prescribe requirements governing those options, including notice, timeline, and procedural requirements, and the rights and duties of the parties. The bill would require the department to create, with input from stakeholders, standard appeals process information packets. The bill would require one information packet to be related to appeals under the California Early Intervention Services Act and another information packet to be related to appeals under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act. The bill would require the hearing office, in collaboration with the department, to establish and maintain an advisory committee composed of various stakeholders, including recipients and family members, on at least a semiannual basis to assist the hearing office by providing nonbinding recommendations for improvements to fair hearing and mediation operations. (9) Existing law prohibits the department from admitting anyone to a developmental center unless the person meets certain requirements. Existing law authorizes commitment to the Canyon Springs Community Facility prior to June 30, 2022, as specified, and prohibits admission to certain facilities, including the Canyon Springs Community Facility and the Porterville Developmental Center, to extend beyond a certain date. Existing law requires quarterly updates to legislative staff, as specified. This bill would extend the date by which an admission is permitted to the Canyon Springs facility to June 30, 2023, and would also extend the date after which a commitment to the Canyon Springs facility and the Porterville facility would be required to end. The bill would require a person admitted to the Canyon Springs Community Facility to be subject to enhanced monitoring, as provided, and would require the quarterly update for persons admitted to the Canyon Springs facility to include all alternative placement options examined prior to admission. (10) Existing law, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC) program, requires foster care providers to be paid a per-child per-month rate, established by the State Department of Social Services, for the care and supervision of the child placed with the provider. Existing law establishes the Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program (ARC) , in counties that choose to participate, for the purpose of making the amount paid to relative caregivers for the in-home care of children placed with them who are ineligible for AFDC-FC payments equal to the amount paid on behalf of children who are eligible for AFDC-FC payments. Existing law establishes the state-funded Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (Kin-GAP ) , which provides aid on behalf of eligible children who are placed in the home of a relative guardian. Existing law requires specified rates for children who are both regional center consumers and recipients of AFDC-FC, ARC, or Kin-GAP benefits. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Developmental Services to provide specified data related to the provision of those services to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on a semiannual basis. This bill would instead require that data to be provided on an annual basis. The bill would additionally require the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Developmental Services to provide public transparency regarding the implementation of those provisions relating to the services provided to children who are both regional center consumers and recipients of AFDC-FC, ARC, or Kin-GAP benefits through the annual posting of that data on their respective internet websites. (11) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.