BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, 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 (as approved on May 23, 2013): 
              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.