BILL ANALYSIS
AB 4 X8
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 4 X8 (Budget Committee)
As Amended February 17, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(February 4, |SENATE: |30-8 |(February 18, |
| | |2010) | | |2010) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: RLS.
SUMMARY : Provides necessary statutory changes in the areas of
developmental services and foster care in order to address the
fiscal emergency declared by Governor Schwarzenegger pursuant to
the California Constitution.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Reduce Reimbursement of Providers Participating in the
Regional Center System. This bill reduces certain payments
for services delivered from February 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011,
inclusive, by 3% except as specified.
This reduction results in Regional Center systems' Purchase of
Services reductions of $99.5 million [$49.7 million General
Fund (GF)] in 2010-11.
Exempt from this reduction are Supported Employment, the SSP
supplement for independent living, and services with "usual
and customary" rates as established in regulation. In
addition, other services may be exempt from this reduction if
a Regional Center demonstrates that a non-reduced payment is
necessary to protect the "health and safety" of a consumer and
the Department of Development Services (DDS) has granted
written approval of this specific exemption.
2)Reduce Regional Center Operations. This bill suspends several
administrative and case management requirements in existing
law from February 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, inclusive, in
order to provide flexibility to each Regional Center for the
purpose of reducing their Operations expenditures.
AB 4 X8
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This reduction results in Regional Center Operations
reductions of $16.2 million ($11.2 million General Fund) in
2010-11.
The requirements to be suspended include:
a) The average service coordinator-to-consumer ratio for
certain consumers currently established at 1:66;
b) The overall average service coordinator-to-consumer
ratio at a Regional Center for all consumers who have not
moved from a Developmental Center to the community,
currently established at 1:62;
c) The requirement that Regional Centers shall either have
in-house or contract from the following expertise: i)
criminal justice; ii) special education; iii) family
support; iv) housing; v) community integration; and, vi)
quality assurance;
d) The reporting to the DDS regarding current salary
schedules for all personnel classifications used by a
regional center;
e) The reporting to the DDS of prior year fiscal
expenditures for administrative services, including salary
schedule, legal services, and consultant contracts; and,
f) Both of these actions in effect extend the regional
center reduction and suspensions that were adopted as part
of the February 2009 and 2009-10 budget agreements for an
additional year, through 2010-11.
3)Expands eligibility for federal financial participation in
foster care costs and is estimated to save the state GF $6
million in 2009-10 and $69.5 million in 2010-11.
These changes are part of the Administration's larger proposal
for additional federal funds, and are contingent on changes in
federal law. Currently the state receives federal funds for
the care of only around 71 percent of its approximately 60,000
foster children, even though the state is obligated by federal
law to serve all of those children. By eliminating the link
between family income and assets requirements from 1996 Aid to
Families with Dependent Children laws and foster care funding
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under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, the federal
government would increase its financial participation in
California's foster care cases.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was a vehicle for 2009
Budget legislation.
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole Vazquez and Daisy Gonzales /
BUDGET / (916) 319-2099
FN: 0003686