BILL NUMBER: AB 438	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Beall

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to add Section 7578.5 to the Government Code, to amend
Section 1001.21 of the Penal Code, and to amend Section 4418.7 of,
and to add and repeal Section 4418.8 of, the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to developmental services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 438, as introduced, Beall. Persons with developmental
disabilities: criminal proceedings: diversion.
   Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act grants persons with developmental disabilities the right to
receive treatment and services to meet their needs, regardless of age
or degree of disability, at each stage of life. Existing law
requires that the state pay for these services through contracts with
various private nonprofit corporations for the operation of regional
centers for the developmentally disabled, and requires regional
centers to develop an individual program plan for each consumer that
sets forth the treatment and services to be provided for the
consumer.
   Existing law establishes a process diversion of defendants
cognitive developmental disabilities in criminal proceedings for an
offense which is charged as, or reduced to, a misdemeanor, but
excludes persons who have been previously diverted.
   This bill would make these procedures applicable for an offense
that is charged or reduced to a nonviolent felony, as defined, and
would delete the exclusion for those previously diverted.
   This bill would require the State Department of Developmental
Services and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to
establish and enter into an interagency agreement for the sharing of
information and data, to include a protocol and procedures by which
regularly updated information and data on adults and juveniles with
developmental disabilities served by the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation to be shared with the State Department of
Developmental Services.
   Existing law requires a regional center to immediately notify the
appropriate regional resource development project, the consumer, and
the consumer's parents, legal guardian, or conservator, if the
regional center determines, or is informed, that the community
placement of a consumer is at risk of failing, and that admittance to
a state developmental center is a likelihood.
   This bill would apply these notice requirements to a situation in
which a consumer, who is a current state developmental center
resident, whose placement based on incompetence to stand trial is due
to end, and who is at risk of being placed in, or is at risk of
continued placement in, a state developmental center.
   This bill would also require the department, by July 1, 2010, to
convene a task force to identify strategies and best practices for
local interagency coordination and cooperation in addressing the
needs of adults and juveniles with developmental disabilities in the
criminal and juvenile justice systems. The bill would require the
task force to issue its interim reports to the Legislature on the
progress of its work by July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012, and to issue
its final report to the Legislature by July 1, 2013.
   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 7578.5 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
   7578.5.  (a) To ensure timely planning for the provision of
developmental disabilities services by the State Department of
Developmental Services and regional centers to persons with
developmental disabilities served by the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation upon their release from a facility or program
operated by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, by July
1, 2010, the State Department of Developmental Services and the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall establish and
enter into an interagency agreement for the sharing of information
and data.
   (b) The interagency agreement shall include a protocol and
procedures by which regularly updated information and data on adults
and juveniles with developmental disabilities served by the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will be shared with the
State Department of Developmental Services. This aggregate
information shall include, but need not be limited to both of the
following:
    (1) The number of individuals with identified developmental
disabilities or who are believed to have developmental disabilities
residing in each Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
operated facility.
    (2) The number of these individuals who are known to be clients
of a regional center and, for these individuals, the number and age
breakdown by regional center.
   (c) The interagency agreement shall include a protocol for notice
by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to the regional
center of the anticipated date of the release of a person identified
with developmental disabilities.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter
requirements for the disclosure of confidential information and
records under existing law, including Section 4514 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1001.21 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   1001.21.  (a) This chapter shall apply whenever a case is before
any court upon an accusatory pleading at any stage of the criminal
proceedings, for any person who has been evaluated by a regional
center for the developmentally disabled and who is determined to be a
person with a cognitive developmental disability by the regional
center, and who therefore is eligible for its services.
   (b) This chapter applies to any offense which is charged as or
reduced to a misdemeanor  , except that diversion shall not
be ordered when the defendant previously has been diverted under this
chapter within two years prior to the present criminal proceedings
  or nonviolent felony  .  For the purposes of
this section, "nonviolent felony" is any felony that is not a
"violent felony" as that term is defined in subdivision (c) Section
667.5.  
   (c) This chapter shall apply to persons who have a condition
described in paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) of Section
1001.20 only if that person was a client of a regional center at the
time of the offense for which he or she is charged. 
  SEC. 3.  Section 4418.7 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   4418.7.  (a) If the regional center determines, or is informed by
the consumer's parents, legal guardian, conservator, or authorized
representative that the community placement of a consumer is at risk
of failing, and that admittance to a state developmental center is a
likelihood, the regional center shall immediately notify the
appropriate regional resource development project, the consumer, and
the consumer's parents, legal guardian, or conservator.
   (b) In these cases, the regional resource development project
shall immediately arrange for an assessment of the situation,
including, visiting the consumer, if appropriate, determining
barriers to successful integration, and recommending the most
appropriate means necessary to assist the consumer to remain in the
community. If, based on the assessment, the regional resource
development project determines that additional or different services
and supports are necessary, the department shall ensure that the
regional center provides those services and supports on an emergency
basis. An individual program plan meeting, including the regional
resource development project's representative, shall be convened as
soon as possible to review the emergency services and supports and
determine the consumer's ongoing needs for services and supports. The
regional resource development project shall follow up with the
regional center as to the success of the recommended interventions
until the consumer's living arrangement is stable.
   (c) If the regional resource development project, in consultation
with the regional center, the consumer, and the consumer's parents,
legal guardian, or conservator, when appropriate, determines that
admittance to a state developmental center is necessary to prevent a
substantial risk to the individual's health and safety, the regional
resource development project shall immediately facilitate that
admission.
   (d) The department shall collect data on the outcomes of efforts
to assist at-risk consumers to remain in the community. The
department shall make aggregate data on the implementation of the
requirements of this section available, upon request. 
   (e) This section also applies to a situation in which a consumer,
who is a current resident of a state developmental center, whose
placement pursuant to Section 1370.1 of the Penal Code is due to end,
and who is at risk of being placed in, or is at risk of continued
placement in, a state developmental center through a petition filed
pursuant to Section 6502. 
  SEC. 4.  Section 4418.8 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   4418.8.  (a) By July 1, 2010, the department shall convene a task
force to identify strategies and best practices for local interagency
coordination and cooperation in addressing the needs of adults and
juveniles with developmental disabilities in the criminal and
juvenile justice systems. The task force shall include representation
from regional centers, the judicial council, probation offices,
public defenders, district attorneys, school districts, local law
enforcement, county mental health, community service providers,
regional center clients and their families, and disability and
juvenile justice advocacy organizations. The task force, overall,
shall include geographically diverse participation from both large
and small counties. The task force may form separate subcommittees,
focusing on adults and juveniles. The task force shall meet in a
manner and as often as the department determines to be appropriate,
consistent with the goals of the task force and the availability of
funds.
   (b) The task force shall address issues including, but not limited
to, strategies and best practices related to the accomplishment of
all of the following:
   (1) Early identification and assessment of people with
developmental disabilities in the criminal and juvenile justice
process.
   (2) Development of protocols and procedures for ongoing
communication and cooperation between regional centers and other
local agencies, including law enforcement and the courts.
   (3) Training of jail and court personnel, including judges, public
defenders, district attorneys, and probation officers, on issues
related to people with developmental disabilities and available
community resources.
   (c) The task force shall also identify systemic barriers to
serving people with developmental disabilities in community-based
settings instead of jails and prisons, including licensing barriers
and community resource and service needs, and recommendations for
addressing identified systemic barriers.
   (d) As appropriate, the task force shall develop model training
curricula and model memoranda of understanding between regional
centers and the courts and other local agencies.
   (e) The task force shall issue interim reports to the Legislature
on the progress of its work by July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012. The
task force shall complete its work and issue a final report to the
Legislature by June 30, 2013. The final report shall include a
description of best practices and strategies identified by the task
force, any sample training curricula, materials, and memoranda of
understanding developed by the task force, and recommendations for
future action, including legislative recommendations related to
adults and youth in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
   (f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2013, and, as
of January 1, 2014, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2014, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.