Amended in Senate August 1, 2016

Amended in Senate June 21, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2565

Introduced by Assembly Member Salas

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bigelow, Brown, Dahle, Eggman, Gray, Grove, Lackey, Linder, Mayes, and Olsen)

(Coauthors: Senators Beall, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Hertzberg, Runner, and Vidak)

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section 19806 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public social services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2565, as amended, Salas. Independent Living Centers: state funding.

Under existing law, the Department of Rehabilitation is required to provide various services to individuals with physical or mental disabilities who are found to be eligible therefor, including independent living services. Existing law provides for the operation of independent living centers, which are private, nonprofit organizations that provide specified services to individuals with disabilities, in order to assist those individuals in their attempts to live fuller and freer lives outside institutions. Under existing law, the department has the responsibility and authority for the encouragement of the planning, developing, and funding of independent living centers.

Under existing law, each independent living center, except those centers which have been both established and maintained using specified federal funding as a base funding, is required to receive, to the extent funds are appropriated by the Legislature, at least $235,000 in base grant funds allocated by the department. Existing law authorizes these state funds to be replaced by reimbursements under the federal Supplemental Security Disability Insurance and the federal Supplemental Security Income programs, as specified.

This bill would delete the above provisions excluding the centers that were previously established and maintained with federal funding and would instead require each independent living center to receive at least $235,000 in base grant funds allocated by the department, to the extent funds are appropriated by the Legislature and allocated by the department to the independent living centers from reimbursements under the federal programs. The bill would begin delete prohibit the department from redirecting specified funds that support independent living centers to provide the funding for the base grant funds for centers that are newly eligible for the base grant funds pursuant to this bill. end delete begin insert make related findings and declarations. end insert

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.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Independent living is a vested civil right under federal and
state law, and independent living with home and community-based
services is a viable alternative to significantly more costly
institutionalization in nursing homes and other settings.

(b) Independent living centers (ILCs) are among only a few
federally funded entities that are mandated to help individuals with
disabilities who desire to live in their homes and communities
transition out of institutional settings, such as nursing homes and
other institutions.

(c) ILCs work with individuals with all types of disabilities to
advance their personal independence and to remove barriers to
their equal inclusion in education, healthcare, employment,
housing, transportation, and other aspects of society.

(d) There is currently a large difference in the amount of funding
that each ILC in the state receives.

(e) In 1998, the base grant funding was set at two hundred
thirty-five thousand dollars ($235,000), with the exception of three
ILCs that do not receive the minimum base grant funding that is
available to the other 25 ILCs.

(f) The ILCs excluded from base grant funding are the Disability
Resources Agency for Independent Living, serving the Counties
of Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and
Tuolumne, the Independent Living Center of Kern County, serving
the County of Kern, and Placer Independent Resources Services,
Inc., serving the Counties of Alpine, El Dorado, and Placer.

(g) Authorization for the base grant funding of two hundred
thirty-five thousand dollars ($235,000) for each begin delete of the three ILCs
would be end delete begin insert ILC is end insert a wise and prudent investment begin delete to bring the three
ILCs up to the minimum base grant funding, and it end delete begin insert and end insert is an
important first step to begin to address the broader issue of the
underfunding of all ILCs.

begin delete

(h) Although this act authorizes funding for the three ILCs, it
does not make an appropriation. The seven hundred five thousand
dollars ($705,000) per year funding shall come from federal social
security reimbursements.

end delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 19806 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

19806.  

(a) An independent living center shall not be required
to provide any matching funds through private contributions as a
condition of receiving state funds except to acquire state incentive
funds.

(b) Each independent living center shall receive at least two
hundred thirty-five thousand dollars ($235,000) in base grant funds
allocated by the department, to the extent funds are appropriated
by the Legislature and allocated by the department to the
independent living centers from reimbursements under the
Supplemental Security Disability Insurance and the Supplemental
Security Income programs provided for under Titles II and XVII
of the Federal Social Security Act, Subchapter II (commencing
with Section 401) and Subchapter XVII (commencing with Section
1381) of Chapter 7 of Title 42 of the United States Code. Beginning
with the 1998-99 fiscal year, and each year thereafter, to the extent
these funds from the Social Security Act are not appropriated by
the Legislature as were appropriated in the 1997-98 fiscal year,
an amount equal to the combined state and federal fund allocation
to independent living centers in the Budget Act of 1997 shall be
appropriated to, and allocated by, the department to independent
living centers under this chapter.

(c) (1) Available state incentive funds shall be allocated at the
beginning of each fiscal year based upon the average amount of
private contributions received by the independent living center in
the second and third preceding fiscal years.

(2) The maximum amount of incentive funds that may be
allocated to any independent living center in any single fiscal year
shall be computed as follows:

(A) “Pool One” is defined as 60 percent of all state incentive
funds. “Pool Two” is defined as 40 percent of all state incentive
funds. Each independent living center shall be entitled to an equal
portion of Pool One, not to exceed the amounts raised pursuant to
paragraph (1).

(B) Incentive funds from Pool One not used after the initial
allocation pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be added to Pool
Two for allocation among all centers that had unmatched private
contributions after distribution of Pool One funds. Pool Two funds
shall be awarded in direct proportion to each center’s percentage
of the total remaining unmatched private contributions raised by
those independent living centers.

(3) For the purpose of determining eligibility for state incentive
funds, an independent living center that uses a fiscal year other
than the state fiscal year may elect to use a different fiscal year so
long as the closing date of the fiscal year so elected does not
precede the closing date of the equivalent state fiscal year by more
than 11 months.

(4) The amount of private contributions claimed by an
independent living center for each fiscal year shall be verified by
the department by utilizing appropriate financial records including,
but not limited to, independent audits. Audits may be performed
by the department up to three years from the close of the fiscal
year during which state incentive funds were received by the
independent living center being audited.

(5) State incentive funds that are not distributed to independent
living centers shall not be allocated or retained by the department
for distribution as state incentive funds in later fiscal years.

(d) For purposes of this section:

(1) “Private funds” does not include any funds originating from
any entity of the federal, state, city, or county government or any
political subdivision thereof. Notwithstanding the provisions of
this section, fees from any source for services provided may be
included as private contributions by an independent living center
for purposes of determining its allocation of incentive funds.

(2) “State incentive funds” means state funds appropriated by
the Legislature for purposes of this chapter, except those funds
allocated by the department pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (f).

(e) Any funds allocated under this chapter to any independent
living center, other than as part of the initial allocation for each
fiscal year, shall be made by contract amendment. Any contract
amendment shall require the provision of services in addition to
those required by the contract being amended. All those services
required by contract amendment shall not be performed prior to
the date the contract amendment is approved by the state.

(f) To the extent funds are appropriated by the Legislature for
the purpose of providing assistive technology services described
in subdivision (d) of Section 19801, two hundred ten thousand
dollars ($210,000) of those funds shall be allocated to the nonprofit
contractor selected by the Department of Rehabilitation to
coordinate delivery of assistive technology services and the
remainder shall be allocated equally among independent living
centers. The nonprofit contractor shall provide statewide assistive
technology information and referral and serve as a resource to the
independent living centers’ assistive technology service programs.

(g) To the extent funds are appropriated by the Legislature, after
allocation of base grant and incentive funds and assistive
technology funds, remaining funds shall be allocated by the
department among independent living centers on the basis of the
ratio of the total of the general population in an independent living
center’s geographic service areas as compared to the total of the
general population in all independent living centers geographic
services area statewide. The department shall adopt regulations
for the distribution of population funds by June 30, 1999.

begin delete

(h) The department shall not redirect funds allocated in the
2016-17 fiscal year for the support of independent living centers,
including funding for assistive technology, funding based on
population, or incentive funding, to provide the funding for the
base grant funds for an independent living center that has been
both established and maintained using federal funding under Title
VII(c) of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, as
their primary base grant, as required by subdivision (b) pursuant
to the act that added this subdivision.

end delete