BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1041
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1041 (Chesbro)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |68-7 |(May 29, 2013) |SENATE: |29-7 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2013) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Creates a statewide Employment First Policy and sets
forth requirements related to the inclusion of employment
opportunities and services in a regional center consumer's
individual program plan (IPP). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a regional center planning team to consider the
Employment First Policy, as specified, when developing an IPP
for a transition age youth or a working age adult.
2)Defines "competitive employment" as work in the competitive
labor market that is performed on a full-time or part-time
basis in an integrated setting and for which an individual is
compensated at or above the minimum wage, as specified.
3)Defines "microenterprises" as small businesses, which may be
considered integrated competitive employment, that are owned
by individuals with developmental disabilities who have
control and responsibility for decision-making and overseeing
the business, as specified.
4)Defines "self-employment" as an employment setting in which an
individual works in a chosen occupation, for profit or fee, in
his or her own small business, with control and responsibility
for decisions affecting the conduct of the business.
5)Creates a statewide Employment First Policy, which establishes
that opportunities for integrated, competitive employment
shall be given the highest priority for working age
individuals with development disabilities, regardless of the
severity of their disabilities.
6)Requires implementation of the Employment First Policy to not
infringe upon the rights of people with developmental
AB 1041
Page 2
disabilities to make informed choices with respect to the
services and supports they need through the IPP process.
7)Provides that integrated competitive employment shall be the
first option considered by planning teams for working
individuals, but individuals may choose goals other than
integrated competitive employment.
8)Requires that the Employment First Policy not be construed to
expand the existing entitlement to services for persons with
developmental disabilities or alleviate schools of their
responsibility to provide transition services to individuals
with developmental disabilities.
9)Requires regional centers to ensure that consumers, beginning
at 16 years of age, as well as their parents, legal guardians,
or conservators, as appropriate, are provided information in a
language the consumer or appropriate representative
understands, pertaining to the following:
a) The Employment First Policy;
b) Options for integrated competitive employment; and
c) Services and supports, including postsecondary
education, available to enable the consumer to transition
from school to work and to achieve the outcomes of
obtaining and maintaining integrated competitive
employment.
10)Grants the Department of Developmental Services authority to
request information from regional centers pertaining to a
regional center's current and planned activities related to
the Employment First Policy.
The Senate amendments :
1)Declare the legislative finding that under existing state and
federal law, special education local planning agencies
(SELPAs) have concurrent responsibilities to eligible students
beginning at 16 years of age for the provision of assessment,
planning, and necessary services to aid in the transition from
school to postschool activities.
2)Provide that the statewide Employment First Policy shall not
AB 1041
Page 3
be construed to expand the responsibilities and duties of
SELPAs under state and federal law.
3)Establish the following responsibilities for the Employment
First Committee formed by the State Council on Developmental
Disabilities:
a) Identifying existing sources of consumer data that can
be used to provide demographic information for individuals,
including, but not limited to, age, gender, ethnicity,
types of disability, and geographic location of consumers,
and that can be matched with employment data to identify
outcomes and trends of the Employment First Policy; and
b) Recommending goals for measuring employment
participation and outcomes for various consumers within the
developmental services system.
1)Provide that postsecondary education, technical or vocational
training, and internship programs may be considered means to
achieve integrated competitive employment or career
advancement for individuals with developmental disabilities.
2)Require the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to
develop an informational brochure about the Employment First
Policy, translate the brochure into various languages, and
post the brochure on its Internet Web site.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill will have the following fiscal impact:
1)Unknown potential increase in demand for supported employment
services by regional centers (General Fund and federal funds).
By making competitive employment the highest priority for
individuals with developmental disabilities, it is likely that
there will be increased demand for the services that assist
individuals with developmental disabilities in successfully
attaining competitive employment, such as supported employment
services. Some regional center consumers may require
additional supported employment services, while continuing to
receive day program or sheltered workshop services, until the
consumer is ready for competitive employment. In the short
run, this is likely to increase overall program costs.
2)Unknown potential increase in demand for pre-vocational
AB 1041
Page 4
training services by SELPAs (General Fund). Under current
law, school-age individuals with developmental disabilities
are entitled to certain special education services, including
services to assist the individual with the transition from
school to employment. Under an Employment First Policy, there
may be additional demand for pre-vocational services.
3)Unknown potential long-term savings due to reduced demand for
sheltered workshop services or day program services. To the
extent that the Employment First Policy is successful in
assisting regional center consumers with achieving long-term
competitive employment, there is likely to be a reduction in
the demand for other services. It is important to note that
regional centers spend, on average, about $4,100 per consumer
per year on individual supported employment services, while
the regional centers spend on average $5,300 for sheltered
workshop services and $11,700 for day programs.
COMMENTS : In August 2011, the State Council on Developmental
Disabilities released an Employment First Report outlining goals
and objectives to improve integrated employment outcomes. This
bill adopts the language in that report which proposes to define
the state's Employment First Policy as "integrated, competitive
employment is the priority outcome for working age individuals
with developmental disabilities." It defines certain key terms
and requires regional center planning teams to consider
employment first as they create IPPs with consumers of working
age. The report also includes the objectives of interagency
collaboration, transition planning for students in secondary
education, obtaining and maintaining employment, and the impact
of employment on public benefits. The report notes that,
"Employment First is about focusing on real jobs, real wages,
and real business settings for individuals with developmental
disabilities to have the ability to increase their income and
benefits, accrue assets and build wealth." Recommendations in
the report are the subject of this bill and prior similar
legislation.
Background : The Lanterman Development Disabilities Services Act
(Act) guides the provision of services and supports for
Californians with developmental disabilities, including
intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism.
Each individual under the Act, typically referred to as a
"consumer," is legally entitled to treatment and habilitation
services and supports in the least restrictive environment.
AB 1041
Page 5
Lanterman Act services are designed to enable all consumers to
live more independent and productive lives in the community.
The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) contracts with 21
regional centers, which are private nonprofit entities, to carry
out many of the state's responsibilities under the Act.
The regional center caseload includes roughly 260,000 consumers
who receive services such as residential placements, supported
living services, respite care, transportation, day treatment
programs, work support programs, and various social and
therapeutic activities. Approximately 1,400 consumers reside at
one of California's four Developmental Centers-and one
state-operated, specialized community facility-which provide
24-hour habilitation and medical and social treatment services.
According to the State Council on Developmental Disabilities,
over 125,000 regional center consumers are of working age.
Employment opportunities for individuals with developmental
disabilities : Regional center consumers in California work in a
variety of settings. Some consumers participate in Work
Activity Programs, which provide work adjustment and supported
habilitation services in a sheltered workshop setting in which
consumers are paid at a daily per capita rate based on
productivity. Consumers may also participate in Supported
Employment Programs, in which they might work in the community
with support services and on-the-job training provided by job
coaches, and are paid directly by the employer.
According to data from DDS and the California Employment
Development Department (EDD), only 14% of working age
Californians with developmental disabilities are employed,
compared to 74.3% of the general population. Additionally, EDD
data related to Californians in the workforce with all
disability types show that disabled persons are nearly twice as
likely to be working part time for non-economic reasons as
persons without disabilities. Individuals with developmental
disabilities continue to experience higher unemployment and
underemployment rates than people in the workforce without
disabilities, and the number of opportunities they have for
gainful employment in integrated settings continues to be
woefully low.
Employment First : The primary goal of Employment First is to
ensure people with significant disabilities are fully included
in their communities and in the workplace. Rather than limiting
opportunities for individuals with disabilities to programs that
AB 1041
Page 6
do not include employment, or even work placements that limit
tasks and wages, Employment First policies drive meaningful
participation of people with disabilities in typical, integrated
workplace settings where they are paid directly by an employer
and earn at least minimum wage. Employment First recognizes
that providing services and supports that enable people with
disabilities to earn a living wage is a legitimate state
priority and makes integrated employment the first option for
employment for working-age youth and adults with disabilities.
Need for the bill : According to the author, "For the last 40
years it has been the policy of the State of California, through
the Lanterman Developmental Services Act, that people with
developmental disabilities be supported 'to approximate the
pattern of everyday living available to people without
disabilities of the same age,? to be integrated into the
mainstream of life in their home communities' and receive
services and supports that enable them to live 'more
independent, productive, and normal lives.' (WIC Section 4501)
However, the state has failed to adequately support people with
developmental disabilities to achieve one of the central
elements of leading a normal, productive life-employment? This
legislation seeks to re-orient the provision of developmental
services by making employment opportunities the priority of the
state."
Analysis Prepared by : Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0002370