BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1232
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1232 (V. Manuel Pérez)
As Amended June 13, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 9, 2013) |SENATE: |33-0 |(July 1, 2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY : Includes linguistic and cultural competency among the
outcomes measured with the State Department of Developmental
Services (DDS) quality assurance instrument. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Makes legislative findings related to the provision of
services to regional center consumers.
2)Changes the scope of the existing quality assurance instrument
identified by DDS, which includes an assessment of the
provision of services, to include an assessment of whether
services are provided in a linguistically and culturally
competent manner.
3)Requires that the quality assurance instrument include
outcome-based measures on issues of equity and diversity to
evaluate the linguistic and cultural competency of regional
center services provided to consumers across their lifetime.
4)Requires the independent agency or organization that DDS
contracts with to implement the quality assurance assessment
to have experience with issues related to linguistic and
cultural competency.
The Senate amendments delete and replace the legislative
findings and declarations in the bill to more directly address
the lack of evaluation or oversight on issues of equity and
diversity in the State Department of Developmental Services
quality assessment system.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act (Lanterman Act), under which DDS is authorized to contract
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with private non-profit regional centers to provide case
management services and arrange for, or purchase, services
that meet the individual needs and choices of each person with
developmental disabilities, regardless of age or degree of
disability, and at each stage of life and to support their
integration into the mainstream life of the community.
2)Requires the development of an Individual Program Plan (IPP)
for each regional center consumer, which specifies services to
be provided to the consumer, based on his or her
individualized needs determination and preferences, and
defines that planning process as the vehicle to ensure that
services and supports are customized to meet the needs of
consumers who are served by regional centers.
3)Requires all regional centers to notify consumers and families
of the availability of services in English and other languages
as may be appropriate to the service area, provide outreach
services in areas with a high incidence of developmental
disabilities, and identify persons who may need services.
4)Requires that every state agency which serves a substantial
number of non-English-speaking people and which provides
materials in English explaining services shall also provide
the same type of materials in any non-English language spoken
by a substantial number of the public served by the agency, as
specified.
5)Defines a "substantial number of non-English-speaking people"
as members of a group who either do not speak English, or who
are unable to effectively communicate in English because it is
not their native language, and who comprise 5% or more of the
people served by any local office or facility of a state
agency.
6)Requires DDS in consultation with stakeholders, to identify a
valid and reliable quality assurance instrument that measures
consumer and family satisfaction, provision of services and
personal outcomes, as specified.
7)Allows the quality assurance instrument to be expanded to
collect additional data requested by the State Council on
Developmental Disabilities, to the extent funding is
available.
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8)Requires DDS, as of January 1, 2010, to contract with an
independent agency or organization to implement an improved,
unified quality assessment system and establishes criteria for
the contract agency or organization's required experience.
9)Requires DDS to do the following with respect to the quality
assurance instrument:
a) Establish the methodology used to administer the quality
assurance instrument;
b) Contract with the State Council on Developmental
Disabilities to collect data for the quality assurance
instrument; and
c) In consultation with stakeholders, undergo an annual
review of the quality assurance instrument data and
findings and accept recommendations regarding additional or
different criteria for the instrument to improve assessment
and services.
1)Requires reports related to the data and findings of the
quality assurance instrument to be publicly available and
subjects implementation of the instrument and process to an
annual budget appropriation.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related
Disorders held an informational hearing on April 30, 2012, to
discuss questions surrounding equal access to regional center
services for consumers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An
outcome of the hearing was a creation of a 20-member Taskforce
on Equity and Diversity for Regional Center Autism Services,
which was charged with developing recommendations to ensure that
consumers of regional center services receive appropriate and
timely supports regardless of race, ethnicity, educational
background and other socio-economic factors. The report, "A
Preliminary Report by the Taskforce on Equity and Diversity for
Regional Center Autism Services," was published on March 18,
2013, and identified a number of recommendations for changes to
current practice within the Developmental Services system based
on the work of five subcommittees. Among them were
recommendations to include issues of equity and diversity within
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the quality assurance instrument, in addition to using the
instrument to measure consumers across their lifetime, not just
as adults. Both of these recommendations are reflected in this
legislation.
According to the author, this bill "simply stipulates that
future contracts by DDS for the quality assessment of regional
center services, already mandated by current law, must also
include outcome measures related to cultural and linguistic
competency." Current statute regarding the quality assessments
system allows the State Council on Developmental Disabilities
(SCDD) to expand the quality assessment instrument to collect
additional data. While the author's attempt to require cultural
and linguistic competency to be measured with respect to
regional center service delivery is not an effort put forth by
the SCDD under their statutory authority, SCDD supports the
bill's goals.
Background : The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act (Welfare & Institutions Code Section 4500 et seq.) guides
the provision of services and supports for Californians with
developmental disabilities. Each individual under the Lanterman
Act, typically referred to as a "consumer," is legally entitled
to treatment and habilitation services and supports in the least
restrictive environment. Lanterman Act services are designed to
enable all consumers to live more independent and productive
lives in the community.
Direct responsibility for implementation of the Lanterman Act
service system is shared by the DDS and 21 regional centers,
which are private nonprofit entities, established pursuant to
the Lanterman Act, that contract with DDS to carry out many of
the state's responsibilities under the Act. The principal roles
of regional centers include intake and assessment,
individualized program plan development, case management, and
securing services through generic agencies or purchasing
services provided by vendors. Regional centers also share
primary responsibility with local education agencies for
provision of early intervention services under the California
Early Intervention Services Act (e.g., Early Start Program).
The regional center caseload includes over 250,000 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 programs. Approximately 1,600 consumers reside at
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one of California's four Developmental Centers-and one
state-operated, specialized community facility-that provide
24-hour habilitation and medical and social treatment services.
According to March DDS data that shows the ethnic breakdown of
consumers served by regional centers, 34.87% are identified as
Hispanic and 37.40% as White, whereas 10% are identified as
Black/African-American and 6.36% are identified as Asian.
Services provided to people with developmental disabilities are
determined through an individual planning process. Under this
process, planning teams-which include, among others, the
consumer, his or her legally authorized representative, and one
or more regional center representatives-jointly prepare an IPP
based on the consumer's needs and choices. The Lanterman Act
requires that the IPP promote community integration and maximize
opportunities for each consumer to develop relationships, be
part of community life, increase control over his or her life,
and acquire increasingly positive roles in the community. The
IPP must give the highest preference to those services and
supports that allow minors to live with their families and
adults to live as independently as possible in the community.
Quality Assessment Services project : AB 9 X4 (Evans), Chapter
9, Statutes of 2009-10 Fourth Extraordinary Session, was a
Budget Act DDS trailer bill and the vehicle that was used to
consolidate two data collection efforts. The Evaluation of
People with Developmental Disabilities Moving from Developmental
Centers into the Community, and the Life Quality Assessments
were consolidated into the Quality Assessment Services project,
for which DDS uses a nationally validated instrument that allows
for the collection of statewide and regional center data needed
to assess consumer satisfaction and success. DDS established
membership with the National Core Indicators (NCI) program, of
which 33 other states' developmental services systems are
members. Using the NCI survey instruments, DDS collects data on
consumer satisfaction, provision of services, and personal
outcomes, which provide the Department with the information it
needs to evaluate the quality of the DDS service delivery
system. SCDD uses the NCI instrument to collect the data for
this project, similar to SCDD's involvement in collecting data
for the Life Quality Assessments that were conducted prior to
development of the new quality assessment system. The data that
the SCDD gathers, including information about consumers'
employment status, perceptions of their own safety, and
interactions with their regional centers, for example, give the
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state the opportunity to learn a great deal about the quality of
services and the impacts they have on consumers' quality of life
within the DDS system.
Analysis Prepared by : Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2089
FN: 0001316