BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1232|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1232
Author: V. Manuel Pérez (D)
Amended: 8/22/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/11/13
AYES: Yee, Berryhill, Emmerson, Evans, Liu, Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/09/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Developmental services: quality assessment system
SOURCE : ACT (Autism Care and Treatment) Today!
Fiesta Educativa, Inc.
DIGEST : This bill requires that any quality assurance
instrument used by the Department of Developmental Services
(DDS) to assess the provision of services within the system to
also assess whether services are being provided in a
linguistically and culturally competent manner. This bill
requires outcome-based measures to evaluate the linguistic and
cultural competency of regional center services and for DDS's
quality assurance contractor to be experienced in issues related
to linguistic and cultural competency.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/22/13 remove language requiring
measurement of outcomes of "equity and diversity" within a
section that requires regional centers to measure services are
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provided "in a culturally and linguistically competent manner."
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Establishes the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act, which states that California is responsible for providing
an array of services and supports sufficiently complete to
meet the 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.Establishes a system of nonprofit regional centers to provide
fixed points of contact in the community for all persons with
developmental disabilities and their families, to coordinate
services and supports best suited to them throughout their
lifetime.
3.Requires that DDS implement an improved, unified quality
assessment system and identify, with stakeholders, a valid and
reliable quality assurance instrument to assess consumer and
family satisfaction, provision of services and personal
outcomes, as specified.
4.Requires DDS to contract with an independent agency or
organization to implement by January 1, 2010, the quality
assurance instrument and defines qualifications that the
contractor must have, as specified.
5.Requires DDS, in consultation with the contractor, to
establish the methodology by which the quality assurance
instrument is administered, as specified, and to provide
aggregate information for all regional centers and the state
as a whole.
6.Requires that this survey be conducted in the primary language
of the consumer or family member surveyed, upon request of the
consumer or family member.
This bill:
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1.Finds and declares that, although existing law requires DDS to
establish a quality assessment system to provide evaluation
and oversight for regional center services, the existing
quality assessment system does not require evaluation or
oversight to ensure that regional center services are provided
in a linguistically and culturally competent manner.
2.Requires DDS and stakeholders to identify a valid and reliable
quality assurance assessment instrument that assesses consumer
and family satisfaction provision of services in a
linguistically and culturally competent manner, and personal
outcomes.
3.Requires that the assessment instrument include outcome-based
measures to evaluate the linguistic and cultural competency of
regional center services that are provided to consumers across
their lifetime.
4.Requires that the contracted agency or organization that is to
implement the quality assurance instrument be experienced in
issues related to linguistic and cultural competency, in
addition to other statutory requirements.
Background
National core indicators . The National Core Indicators (NCI) is
a collaboration between the National Association of State
Directors of Developmental Disability Services and the Human
Services Research Institute. Its goal is to implement a
systematic approach to performance and outcome measurement
nationwide. Through the collaboration, participating states
pool their resources and knowledge to create performance
monitoring systems, identify common performance indicators, work
out comparable data collection strategies, and share results.
Many of the state agencies use NCI as a component within their
quality management systems.
California is among the states that contract with the NCI (in
2012-2013, the contract was $3.2 million). DDS established the
contract in 2009 after consolidating two other data collection
efforts in order to maintain its statutorily required data
collection on consumer satisfaction, provision of services and
personal outcomes.
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The NCI's current set of performance indicators includes
approximately 100 consumer, family, systemic, cost, and health
and safety outcomes which are designed to evaluate the overall
health of public developmental disabilities agencies, according
to the organizations' Internet Web site. Associated with each
indicator is a source from which the data is collected. Sources
of information include consumer survey (e.g., empowerment and
choice issues), family surveys (e.g., satisfaction with
supports), provider survey (e.g., staff turnover), and state
systems data (e.g., expenditures, mortality, etc.).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/23/13)
ACT (Autism Care and Treatment) Today! (co-source)
Fiesta Educativa, Inc. (co-source)
Autism Research Group
Autism Society of Los Angeles
Center for Autism and Related Disorders
Disability Rights California
Special Needs Network
State Council on Developmental Disabilities
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
AB 1232 will add cultural competency outcome measures to
existing oversight requirements of regional center services
to ensure that all Californians have the appropriate access
to state-funded services. The author notes that the
prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased
dramatically since the 1980s. Recent studies have
underscored that early intervention therapy may "rewire the
brain" for some children with ASD, thereby resulting in
significant improvements.
This bill, and others introduced in this session, result
from a 2013 report by the Senate Select Committee on Autism
and Related Disorders, which found that many families, due
to issues of equity and diversity, lack access to vital
services, including those for ASD.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/9/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
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Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez,
Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande,
Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres,
Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Conway, Donnelly, Holden, Logue, Mansoor,
Waldron, Vacancy
JL:ej 8/29/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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