California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2383

Introduced by Assembly Member Medina

February 18, 2016

An act to add Chapter 15.8 (commencing with Section 67395) to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2383, as introduced, Medina. Autism Employment and Education Act.

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the public postsecondary institutions request, and the state provide, through the state budget process, funds to cover the actual cost of providing services and instruction, consistent with specified principles, to disabled students in their respective postsecondary institutions.

This bill would establish the Autism Employment and Education Program, which would establish a residential, occupational, and living skills program at each participating community college and California State University campus to help students with mental disabilities, including autism, live independently, obtain employment, and become otherwise self-sufficient after they graduate or withdraw from the college or university. The bill would establish the Autism Employment and Education Fund in the State Treasury and allocate moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the board of governors and the trustees for the development, implementation, and administration of the program. The bill would only become operative upon appropriation by the Legislature for the implementation and administration of the program.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Chapter 15.8 (commencing with Section 67395)
is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
to read:

 

Chapter  15.8. Autism Employment and Education Act

 

67395.  

(a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as
the Autism Employment and Education Act.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurological
condition estimated to affect as many as one in 88 children. It is
now the most common neurological disorder affecting children
and one of the most common developmental disabilities.

(2) Many individuals living with ASD will need some level of
support over the course of their lives. In cases where adolescents
and adults with severe autism are placed into long-term care or
other supported housing arrangements, the annual cost of housing,
which includes caregiver time, can be four hundred dollars ($400)
per day, or approximately one hundred fifty thousand dollars
($150,000) a year.

(3) It is estimated that the lifetime per capita incremental societal
cost of ASD is three million two hundred thousand dollars
($3,200,000) per individual or approximately fifty thousand seven
hundred ninety-three dollars ($50,793) per year on average.

(4) As of February 2016, Taft Community College is the only
occupational and living skills residential program of its kind offered
in California, and the program is currently unable to meet the needs
of students who apply. The program has been in existence for
nearly 20 years and receives the majority of its funding from
regional centers in California. More than 80 percent of its graduates
are employed by the end of the second year of post graduation
services.

(5) According to Disability Planning Data for Riverside County,
10.5 percent of people (about 120,000 people) 21 to 64 years of
age have some type of a disability. Of this number, 37 percent are
employed, but this data does not indicate whether they are
employed full time or part time.

(6) According to a report published in April 2012 by the Autism
Society of California, “The majority of transition aged families
(98 percent) believed that current adult programs are not going to
meet their loved-one’s needs.” Additional findings from this report
indicated that only 5 percent of people with ASD graduated from
college with a bachelor’s degree and only 3 percent graduated with
a master’s or an associate degree. About 12 percent of students
with ASD go to college and do not succeed; this is lower than the
national average of 14 percent. The number of people with ASD
in California remaining at home and not participating in any type
of postsecondary educational program is on the rise, going from
13 percent in 2009 to 18 percent in 2012.

(7) According to the Department of Labor Statistics, the
unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities is 78.5 percent.

(8) Mandated services provided through the federal Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) end upon
completion of high school, yet 60 percent of lifetime costs occur
in adulthood. According to the Autism Society, there is a significant
disparity in the need for, and the availability of, publicly funded
long-term services and supports for people with disabilities. This
disparity results in waiting lists estimated to range from 80,000 to
200,000 people nationwide.

(9) It is the intent of the Legislature that implementing a
residential, occupational, and living skills program for students
with mental disabilities, including autism, will accomplish all of
the following objectives:

(A) The program will increase the rate of employment of
students with mental disabilities from its current level of around
25 percent to 85 percent.

(B) The program will be a more affordable alternative for
families than adult day treatment programs, which may cost nearly
twice as much.

(C) The program will enable participating students to live
independently, to learn the life skills necessary to become lifelong
productive members of their local communities in California, and
to not need to relocate out of state in order to receive affordable
services.

(D) The program will provide students with mental disabilities
a more coordinated continuity of care by incorporating all of their
living skills, occupational, social, and recreational development
needs into one program.

67395.5.  

(a) The Autism Employment and Education Program
is hereby established to develop and implement a residential,
occupational, and living skills program at each participating
community college and California State University campus to help
students with mental disabilities, including autism, live
independently, obtain employment, and become otherwise
self-sufficient after they graduate or withdraw from the campus.

(b) The Autism Employment and Education Fund is hereby
established in the State Treasury for purposes of this chapter. The
moneys in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges and the Trustees of the California State
University for the implementation and administration of this
chapter.

(c) The Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges and the Trustees of the California State University shall
develop and implement both of the following:

(1) A residential, occupational, and living skills program at each
participating college or university, as applicable, to help students
with mental disabilities, including autism, live independently,
obtain employment, and become otherwise self-sufficient after
they graduate or withdraw from the college or university.

(2) Administrative guidelines and other requirements for
purposes of developing, implementing, and administering the
program described in paragraph (1).

67395.7.  

This chapter shall only become operative upon
appropriation in the annual Budget Act for the implementation
and administration of this chapter.