BILL NUMBER: AB 2114	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 30, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 18, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Beall
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Arambula,   Hill,   and Salas   )

    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Liu
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   An act to amend Sections 9100 and 9400 of, and to add Section 9009
to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to aging.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2114, as amended, Beall.  Aging: Elder Economic Security
Standard Index.
   Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, creates
the California Department of Aging, with prescribed duties, including
the development of the state plan on aging.
   This bill would require, if specified conditions are met, the
department to report data from the Elder Economic Security Standard
Index (Elder Index), as defined, for each service area included in
the state plan.
   Existing law establishes area agencies on aging with specified
duties, including creation of a plan for the  agencies,
planning and service area   agencies  that
considers available data and population trends, assesses the need for
services, identifies sources of funding for services, and develops
and implements a plan for the delivery of services based on the need.

   This bill would also require, if specified conditions are met,
that the plan utilize the Elder  Index,   Index
to  specify the cost of meeting basic needs for elders in each
planning and service area, and identify  which elders
  the number or percentage of elders who  are
living at or below the Elder Index.
   Existing law, the federal Older Americans Act, provides for
various programs, including the Senior Community Service Employment
Program (SCSEP), an employment and training program for employed,
low-income seniors. This program is locally administered by area
agencies on aging.
   This bill would require, if specified conditions are met, that the
area agencies on aging use the Elder Index to track
state-administered SCSEP participants progress toward economic
sustainability.
   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.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Elder
Economic Dignity Act of 2010.
  SEC. 2.  Section 9009 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   9009.  "Elder Economic Security Standard Index" means an index,
available on the Internet, that quantifies the costs that elders face
in meeting their basic needs, including, but not limited to, food,
shelter, health care, transportation, utilities, and essential
household items, in the private market. It is updated  biennially
 by the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Health
Policy Research, using publicly available data sources on the costs
to live in each county of the state.
  SEC. 3.  Section 9100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   9100.  (a) There is in the  Health and Welfare Agency
  California Health and Human Services Agency,  the
California Department of Aging.
   (b) The department's mission shall be to provide leadership to the
area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and
community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes
or least restrictive homelike environments.
   (c) (1) In fulfilling its mission, the department shall develop
minimum standards for service delivery to ensure that its programs
meet consumer needs, operate in a cost-effective manner, and preserve
the independence and dignity of aging Californians. In accomplishing
its mission, the department shall consider available data and
population trends in developing programs and policies, collaborate
with area agencies on aging, the commission, and other state and
local agencies, and consider the views of advocates, consumers and
their families, and service providers.
   (2) The department shall also report the Elder Economic Security
Standard Index data for each service area in its state plan. The
requirements of this paragraph shall only be implemented if the Elder
Economic Security Standard Index is updated and made available to
the department.
   (d) The minimum standards for its programs shall ensure that the
system meets all of the following requirements:
   (1) Have the flexibility to respond to the needs of individuals
and their families  ,  and caregivers.
   (2) Provide for consumer choice and self-determination.
   (3) Enable consumers to be involved in designing and monitoring
the system.
   (4) Be equally accessible to diverse populations regardless of
income, consistent with existing state and federal law.
   (5) Have consistent statewide policy, with local control and
implementation.
   (6) Include preventive services and home- and community-based
support.
   (7) Have cost containment and fiscal incentives consistent with
the delivery of appropriate services at the appropriate level.
  SEC. 4.  Section 9400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   9400.  (a) The Legislature hereby declares and recognizes the area
agencies on aging to be the local units on aging in California that
are supported from an array of sources, including federal funding
largely through the federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3001
 ,  et seq.), state and local  government
  governmental  assistance, the private sector, and
individual contributions for services.
   (b) Area agencies on aging shall operate in compliance with the
Older Americans Act and applicable regulations.
   (c) Each area agency on aging shall maintain a professional staff
that is supplemented by volunteers, governed by a board of directors
or elected officials, and whose activities are reviewed by an
advisory council consisting primarily of older individuals from the
community.
   (d) (1) Each area agency on aging shall create a plan that
considers available data and population trends, assesses the needs
for services provided under this division reflective of the community
needs, identifies sources for funding those services, and develops
and implements a plan for delivery of those services based on those
needs. Each plan shall include developing area home- and
community-based systems of care that maintain individuals in their
own homes or least restrictive environment, providing better access
to these services through information and referral, outreach, and
transportation, and advocating for the elderly on local, state, and
national levels.
   (2) Each plan shall use the Elder Economic Security Standard
 Index,   Index to  specify the costs of
meeting basic needs for elders in each planning and service area, and
identify  which elders are   the number or
percentage of elders who are  living at or below the Elder
Economic Security Standard Index. The requirements of this paragraph
shall be implemented only if the Elder Economic Security Standard
Index is updated and made available to the area agencies on aging.
   (e) Area agencies on aging shall function as the community link at
the local level for development of home- and community-based
services provided under the department's programs.
   (f) The area agencies on aging shall implement subdivision (b) of
Section 9100 at the local level, with particular emphasis on
coordinating with the local systems to enable individuals to live out
their lives with maximum independence and dignity in their own homes
and communities through the development of comprehensive and
coordinated systems of home- and community-based care. Nothing in
this division shall preclude local determination and designation of
service coordinators other than area agencies on aging, for
development and implementation of the long-term care integration
pilot projects set forth in Article 4.05 (commencing with Section
14139.05) of Chapter 7 of Part 3 of Division 9.
   (g) In fulfilling their mission, area agencies on aging shall
build upon the resources and the commitment unique to each community
and shall be guided by a 10-point description of a community-based
system that shall do all of the following:
   (1) Have a visible focal point of contact where anyone can go or
call for help, information, or referral on any aging issue.
   (2) Provide a range of service options.
   (3) Ensure that these options are readily accessible to all older
individuals, whether independent, semi-independent, or totally
dependent, no matter what their income.
   (4) Include a commitment of public, private, and voluntary
resources committed to supporting the system.
   (5) Involve collaborative decisionmaking among public, private,
voluntary, religious, and fraternal organizations, as well as older
individuals and consumers in the community.
   (6) Offer special help or targeted resources for the most
vulnerable older individuals, those in danger of losing their
independence.
   (7) Provide effective referral from agency to agency to ensure
that information or assistance is received, no matter how or where
contact is made in the community.
   (8) Evidence sufficient flexibility to respond with appropriate
individualized assistance, especially for the vulnerable older
individuals.
   (9) Have a unique character that is tailored to the specific
nature of the community.
   (10) Be directed by leaders in the community who have the respect,
capacity, and authority necessary to convene all interested persons
to assess needs, design solutions, track overall success, stimulate
change, and plan community responses for the present and for the
future.
   (h) The area agencies on aging shall use the Elder Economic
Security Standard Index to track the progress of participants in the
state-administered Senior  and  Community Service
Employment Program. The requirements of this subdivision shall only
be implemented if the Elder Economic Security Standard Index is
updated and made available to the area agencies on aging.
  SEC. 5.  Nothing in this act shall be construed to mandate changes
in the current funding allocations to area agencies on aging made
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 9112 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
  SEC. 6.  Nothing in this act shall be construed, based on the use
of the Elder Economic Security Standard Index, to affect means-tested
programs administered through the Mello-Granlund Older Californians
Act.