BILL NUMBER: AB 2383 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
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.