BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 138
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 138 (Beall)
As Introduced January 13, 2011
Majority vote
AGING 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Yamada, Pan, V. Manuel |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Pérez, Torres | |Bradford, Charles |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Halderman, Wagner |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Aging (CDA) and
Area Agencies on
Aging (AAA's) to utilize the Elder Economic Security Standard
Index (Elder Index), as defined, to specify the costs in the
private market of meeting the basic needs of elders in each
planning and service area, and identify the number, or
percentage, of elders who are living at or below the Elder
Index. Directs the CDA to track the progress of participants in
the state-administered Senior and Community Service Employment
Program (SCSEP).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the federal Older Americans Act (OAA) which
provides a national network of state units on aging and AAA's
to deliver home and community-based programs for older adults.
Programs include nutrition, transportation, information and
assistance, elder abuse prevention and caregiver support.
2)Establishes the Older Californians Act which provides
state-funded programs and services for older adults and people
living with disabilities.
3)Establishes CDA as the state unit on aging to administer a
broad range of home and community-based programs. The CDA
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mission is to provide leadership to the AAA's in developing
systems of home and community-based services that maintain
individuals in their own homes or least restrictive homelike
environments.
4)Requires CDA to develop minimum standards for service delivery
to ensure that programs meet consumer needs, operate in a
cost-effective manner, and preserve the independence and
dignity of aging Californians.
5)Requires AAA's to conduct regular needs assessments in their
planning and service area to document the service needs of
older adults and adults with disabilities.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown, likely minor administrative costs to the extent CDA
and AAAs are required to work with UCLA to disaggregate the
data in order to identify the standard and associated data for
each service area.
2)No direct fiscal impact to CDA to administer the Elder Index
if the data and analysis is provided by the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Health Policy
Research.
3)Unknown, likely minor administrative savings to AAA to the
extent use of the Elder Index reduces duplicative planning
efforts and increases the reliability of quantitative analyses
of local information.
4)While this bill clearly states that nothing in the bill shall
be construed to mandate changes in means tested programs or in
the current funding allocations, applying the Elder Index as a
standard measure for planning purposes would likely bring tens
of millions of dollars in cost pressure to bear on these
programs because under that measure approximately one-half of
the seniors in California fall below the specified economic
security threshold.
COMMENTS : California has 33 AAA's that contract and support a
wide range of services designed to keep older adults and adults
with disabilities independent and in their own homes and
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communities for as long as possible. To ensure that programs
and services funded by the AAA adequately serve the older adults
within each community, AAA's are required to conduct a needs
assessment every four years to document the service needs of
community residents and any gaps in the service network,
focusing on seniors in the "greatest social and economic need."
The needs assessment process typically includes a community-wide
survey, community meetings, and information received from
stakeholders and key informants.
Senior Community Service Employment Program . According to the
Older Americans Act, SCSEP is designed to foster individual
economic self-sufficiency and promote useful opportunities in
community service activities for unemployed, low-income persons
who are age 55 or older. SCSEP in California provides
part-time work at local community service agencies for older
workers who have poor employment prospects.
Federal poverty guidelines (FPG) and the Elder Index . Since
1965, there have been two slightly different versions of the
federal poverty measure - the FPG and the federal poverty
thresholds. The poverty thresholds are the original version of
the federal poverty measure and are updated by the Census Bureau
each year. The thresholds are used primarily for statistical
purposes. The FPG is issued each year in the Federal Register
and are a simplification of the poverty thresholds. They are
used for administrative purposes, including determining
financial eligibility for certain federal programs. The FPG is
sometimes loosely referred to as the federal poverty level. For
2011, an individual with an income below $10,890 is considered
impoverished using the FPG.
Analysis Prepared by : Robert MacLaughlin / AGING & L.T.C. /
(916) 319-3990
FN: 0001015