BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 555 (Correa) - Developmental services: regional centers:
individual program plans and individualized family service
plans.
Amended: April 1, 2013 Policy Vote: Human Services 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013 Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: SB 555 would generally require that the provision
of services and supports to be provided in a regional center
consumer's native language.
Fiscal Impact:
Likely costs of $1 million to $2 million per year for the
regional centers to provide translation services (General
Fund) for initial intake and assessment meetings and
translation of certain documents.
Background: The Department of Developmental Services is
responsible for coordinating care and services for about 250,000
people with developmental disabilities. The vast majority of
these people are served by 21 regional centers, which are
non-profit entities that contract with the state. The regional
centers, in turn, contract with a variety of vendors to provide
direct services to the developmentally disabled.
In the regional center system, infants or toddlers under three
years of age are required to have an individualized family
service plan which is used to direct services and supports for
the child and its family. Regional center consumers over three
years of age are required to have an individual program plan
that directs the services and supports that will be provided to
meet the consumer's needs. Both individualized family service
plans and individual program plans are developed by the regional
center staff for individual consumers to meet the consumer's
specific needs for services.
In April 2012, the Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related
Disorders held an informational hearing to investigate equal
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access to regional center services for consumers with autism
spectrum disorders. Following the hearing, a Taskforce on Equity
and Diversity for Regional Center Autism Services was
established to study and make recommendations to ensure that
consumers of regional center services receive appropriate
services, regardless of race, ethnicity, or other socio-economic
factors. Based on the deliberations of the taskforce, staff of
the Select Committee compiled recommendations and findings of
the taskforce into a draft report.
The 2012-13 developmental services trailer bill (AB 1472,
Chapter 25 of 2012) requires the Department and the regional
centers to collect and analyze data on the utilization of
services by consumers with respect to age, race, language
spoken, and disability.
Proposed Law: SB 555 would generally require that the provision
of services and supports to be provided in a regional center
consumer's native language.
Specifically, the bill would require:
Individualized family service plans and the provision of
services and supports to be designed to meet the cultural
preferences, values and lifestyle of the infant or toddler
and to be provided in the family's native language;
Regional centers to make information about regional center
services available to the public in a culturally and
linguistically competent manner;
Regional centers to provide all communication with a
potential consumer and his/her family in the family's native
language during the initial intake and assessment (during
which the potential consumer is evaluated for eligibility);
Individualized program plans and the provision of services
and supports to be designed to meet the cultural
preferences, values and lifestyle of the consumer and
his/her representative and to be provided in the consumer's
native language.
Related Legislation:
SB 158 (Correa) would establish a pilot project to identify
underserved communities and improve autism identification
and service delivery. That bill is on this committee's
Suspense File.
SB 208 (Lara) would require any request for proposal that
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is prepared by the Department of Developmental Services or a
regional center to include a section relating to issues of
equity and diversity. That bill is on this committee's
Suspense File.
SB 319 (Price) would require the Department of
Developmental Services to ensure that regional centers
report certain information on the services they provide in a
uniform manner. The bill would require the regional centers
to report on whether there are disparities in the provision
of services and plans to reduce disparities. That bill will
be heard in this committee.
SB 321 (Price) would require the Department of
Developmental Services to establish contract guidelines and
performance measures relating to cultural and linguistic
competence. That bill will be heard in this committee.
SB 367 (Block) would require regional centers to establish
a process to review cultural and linguistic competence. That
bill is on this committee's Suspense File.
AB 1232 (V. M. Perez) would require an existing Department
of Developmental Services quality assurance tool to assess
the provision of services in a culturally and linguistically
appropriate manner. That bill is in the Assembly Human
Services Committee.
Staff Comments: The Administrative Procedure Act (beginning at
Section 11340 of the Government Code) prohibits state agencies
from issuing or enforcing any rule, regulation, order, or
standard of general application unless it has been issued as a
regulation under the Administrative Procedure Act. In order to
clarify the requirements of this bill, the Department will most
likely have to adopt implementing regulations.
According to the Select Committee on Autism and Related
Disorders, there are indications of disparities in the provision
of services to racial and ethnic minorities - both in the larger
healthcare system and within the state's regional center system.
This implies that there may be significant unmet needs for
services for racial and ethnic minorities with developmental
disabilities. Under California law, services and supports for
the developmentally disabled are entitlements and the regional
centers are required to provide services and supports for
eligible individuals.
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According to the Census Bureau, about 9.5 million Californians
over the age of five speak Spanish at home and an additional 4.8
million Californians speak another non-English language at home.
(Although many in both groups are bilingual in English and
another language.) Given the large number of Californians who
speak another language at home and the potential costs to
provide translation services for every phone call or meeting
with regional center staff, the regional centers' cost estimates
above appear reasonable.
To the extent that limited English proficiency is a barrier to
receiving services by current or potential regional center
consumers, better communication with non-English speaking
consumers and their families may increase the demand for
services. The extent of this impact is unknown.
Proposed author's amendments: would narrow the bill's
requirements for translation services to planning for individual
program plans and individualized family service plans.