BILL NUMBER: SB 945	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Padilla

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2007

   An act to amend Section 12300.2 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to public social services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 945, as introduced, Padilla. In-home supportive services:
notices of action.
   Existing law provides for the county-administered In-Home
Supportive Services (IHSS) program, 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 law permits services to be provided under the IHSS
program either through the employment of individual providers, a
contract between the county and an entity for the provision of
services, the creation by the county of a public authority, or a
contract between the county and a nonprofit consortium.
   In an in-home supportive services action concerning the amount of
services to be provided, existing law requires the State Department
of Social Services to send the recipient a notice of action, in
addition to other related documentation. If the recipient is
dissatisfied with the action in question, he or she, either in person
or through an authorized representative, may request a hearing from
the department.
   This bill would authorize an IHSS recipient, at any time, to
authorize his or her provider to be an advocate and authorized
representative for purposes of receiving notices of action and
requesting hearings to challenge these actions. The bill would
require a provider who has worked for a recipient for 6 months or
longer, and who is not an authorized representative or advocate of
the recipient, to be recognized as an expert witness regarding the
recipient's individual needs during the hearing proceedings.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 12300.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   12300.2.   (a)    In any in-home supportive
services action concerning the amount of in-home supportive services
to be provided, the department shall send a notice of the action to
each recipient. The recipient shall also receive a description of
each specific task authorized and the number of hours allotted. In
the case of reassessment, the recipient shall receive an
identification of hours for tasks increased or reduced and the
difference from previous hours authorized. 
   (b) The recipient may, at any time, authorize his or her in-home
supportive services provider to be the recipient's advocate and
authorized representative, for purposes of receiving copies of the
notice of action pursuant to subdivision (a), and requesting a
hearing under Section 10950.  
   (c) In any proceedings conducted pursuant to Section 10950, any
provider who has worked for a recipient for six months or longer, and
who is not an advocate and authorized representative pursuant to
subdivision (b), shall be recognized as an expert witness regarding
the recipient's individual needs.