BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HUMAN
SERVICES COMMITTEE
Senator Elaine K. Alquist, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1175
S
AUTHOR: Steinberg
B
VERSION: As introduced
HEARING DATE: March 25, 2008
1
FISCAL: Appropriations
1
7
CONSULTANT:
5
Hailey
SUBJECT
Developmental services: regional center housing
SUMMARY
Allows the State Department of Developmental Services to
approve proposals from any regional center for leasing
housing; and, adds "residential facility for persons with
developmental disabilities" to the definition of facilities
that can be financed by the California Health Facilities
Financing Authority.
ABSTRACT
Current law
1) Establishes the regional centers to provide case
management and purchase of services to persons who qualify
as developmentally disabled.
2) Provides for oversight and review of regional center
activities by the State Department of Developmental
Services (DDS).
3) Allows three Bay Area regional centers to submit to DDS
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for approval various lease agreements for housing for
persons with developmental disabilities.
4) Establishes the California Health Facilities Financing
Authority to provide financial assistance to public and
non-profit health care providers through loans, grants and
tax-exempt bonds.
This bill
1) Allows DDS to review and approve lease agreements
submitted by any of the state's regional centers for
housing for persons with developmental disabilities.
2) Provides that a residential facility for persons with
developmental disabilities is included within the
definition of "health facility" for the purposes of being
eligible for assistance from the California Health
Facilities Financing Authority.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Housing leases
The housing of persons with developmental disabilities is
in a state of flux. Social mores as well as federal law
lead fewer persons with disabilities to live in
institutional settings. Concepts such as "the least
restrictive environment" and "living within the community"
are of a piece with court decisions such as "Olmsted," and
they result in the closing of institutions such as Agnews
Developmental Center and the search for healthy and safe
housing for persons with disabilities within all California
neighborhoods.
In anticipation of the closure of Agnews Developmental
Center, the Legislature passed a proposal in 2004 (Chapter
831, AB 2100, Steinberg) allowing DDS to approve leases
negotiated by Bay Area regional centers to provide housing
for persons with developmental disabilities. The three
regional centers allowed to submit such agreements for DSS
approval are Golden Gate, San Andreas, and the Regional
Center of the East Bay. To be approved, these proposals
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must meet several conditions:
The property is integrated with housing for people
without disabilities;
The regional center has approved the proposed
owner, manager, and developer for each project;
The costs are reasonable;
A plan is in place to transfer the property
ownership to a nonprofit entity to be approved by the
regional center;
DDS has consulted with the California Housing
Finance Authority and the Department of Housing and
Community Development to review the terms and
conditions of the financing structure for the
acquisition and development of the property and to
review all agreements governing the property's
occupancy to ensure that its use is maintained for
the benefit of persons with developmental
disabilities;
DDS and the Health and Human Services Agency have
given written approval;
The restrictions of use by persons with
developmental disabilities have been recorded; and,
Notice has been given to the chairs and vice chairs
of the fiscal committees of the Senate and the
Assembly, the secretary of the Health and Human
Services Agency, and the director of the Department of
Finance, 45 days prior to the granting of approval.
This bill, SB 1175, allows all regional centers to submit
such lease agreements to DDS for review and approval. Part
of the argument for AB 2100 and for the extension of this
Bay-Area program to the entire state is that, in the long
run, the lease purchase of housing for persons with
developmental disabilities will provide stable community
settings and be a good investment. The value of this
approach, content supporters, reaches beyond the closure of
Agnews Developmental Center to the need for permanent
housing across the state for persons with developmental
disabilities. Such housing would be owned by non-profit
agencies that agree to serve regional center clients.
Currently, according to DDS, the agencies purchasing the
housing are signing 15-year mortgages. At the end of the
15 years, when the housing is paid for, DDS estimates that
the cost for that residency will go down by $40,000 per
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year. Once the house is paid for, the state will in effect
own the building although title will be held by a
non-profit housing agency.
California Health Care Facilities Financing Authority
The California Health Care Facilities Financing Authority
was created in 1979 to be the state's vehicle for providing
financial assistance to public and non-profit health care
providers through loans funded by the issuance of
tax-exempt bonds. According to the authority's materials,
the diverse nature of the facilities funded by the
authority reflects the changing health care needs of
California, from rural community-based organizations to
large multi-hospital systems.
Current law includes 18 types of facilities within the
definition of "health facility" that can benefit from loans
from the authority. These include general acute care
hospitals, skills nursing facilities, clinics operated by
non-profit organizations, community care facilities that
provide care or treatment to developmentally disabled
persons, community mental health centers, and blood banks.
SB 1175 would add to this list of 18 types of facilities
those residential facilities that meet the requirements
noted above, as delineated in Welfare and Institutions Code
Sections 4688.5 and 4688.6.
POSITIONS
Support: Association of Regional Center Agencies
(sponsor)
Alliance of California Autism Organizations
Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
State Treasurer
1 individual
Oppose: None received
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