BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2809|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2809
Author: Rodriguez (D)
Amended: 8/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: 4-0, 6/14/16
AYES: McGuire, Hancock, Liu, Nguyen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-1, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Developmental services: regional centers
SOURCE: Public Counsel
Special Needs Network
DIGEST: This bill requires regional centers to provide
documents about the appeal and complaint process in threshold
languages of a consumer and the consumer's family, as specified.
It also requires that a consumer's annual summary of services be
provided in the threshold language of the consumer, upon
request.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Establishes the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act, which declares California's responsibility for providing
an array of services and supports to meet the needs of each
person with developmental disabilities in the least
restrictive environment, regardless of age or degree of
disability. (WIC 4500, et seq.)
2)Establishes a system of nonprofit regional centers to provide
fixed points of contact in the community for all persons with
developmental disabilities and their families, to coordinate
services and supports best suited to them through their
lifetime. (WIC 4620)
3)Establishes an Individual Program Plan (IPP) and defines that
planning process as the vehicle to ensure that services and
supports are customized to meet the needs of consumers who are
served by regional centers. (WIC 4512)
4)Identifies required components of and timelines for the IPP,
and identifies the participants who may help to create the
IPP. Additionally, establishes the planning process for
creating the IPP or Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
to include gathering information, conducting assessments,
defining goals, identifying appropriate services, and other
components. (WIC 4646, WIC 4646.5)
5)Requires a regional center to communicate in the consumer's
native language, or, when appropriate, the native language of
his or her family, legal guardian, conservator, or authorized
representative, during the IPP planning process, including the
program plan meeting, including providing alternative
communication services. (WIC 4646 (h))
6)Requires a regional center to document in a consumer's IPP the
native language of the consumer, or family, as specified, and
to provide a copy of the IPP in the native language of the
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consumer or representative, as specified. (WIC 4646 (h))
7)Requires a regional center to ensure, at the time of
development, scheduled review, or modification of a consumer's
IPP or IFSP, the establishment of an internal process to
adhere to federal and state law and regulation, as specified.
Requires regional centers to provide the consumer and
representatives, as specified, a statement of services and
supports the regional center purchased for the purpose of
ensuring that they are delivered. The statement shall include
the type, unit, month, and cost of services and supports
purchased. (WIC 4646.4, WIC 4648 (h))
8)Requires regional centers and the Department of Developmental
Services (DDS) to annually compile and post data about
purchase of service authorization, use, and expenditure by
each regional center, including the languages spoken by
consumers and the number of instances when a written copy of
the IPP was provided in a language other than a threshold
language. (WIC 4519.5)
9)Defines in regulation a threshold language to mean one that
has been identified as the primary language indicated on the
Medi-Cal Eligibility Data system (MEDS). (CCR Title 9
1810.410 (a)(3))
This bill:
1)Requires that at the beginning of each IPP meeting, the
regional center shall provide a consumer and, when
appropriate, his or her parents, legal guardian, conservator,
or authorized representative information about the appeal and
complaint process in threshold languages, as defined and
appropriate.
2)Requires that the annual statement of services and supports
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provided to the consumer be made available in threshold
languages, as defined and as appropriate, to the consumer or
his or her parents, legal guardian, conservator, or authorized
representative, or both.
3)Specifies that these requirements are in addition to, and
independent of, any other rights, remedies, or procedures
under any other law and shall not be construed to alter,
limit, or negate any other rights, remedies, or procedures
provided for by law.
Background
Responsibility for approximately 295,000 consumers in
California's Developmental Services system is shared between
DDS, which provides oversight and funding, and the state's 21
regional centers, which assess clients' needs and coordinate
services locally. The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities
Services Act established an entitlement to services and supports
for Californians with developmental disabilities who are living
in their communities. A developmental disability is one that
originates before the age of 18, continues, or can be expected
to continue, indefinitely, and constitutes a substantial
disability.
Approximately 960 consumers live in three large Developmental
Centers and one smaller state-run facility. The rest live in
various community living arrangements. About 77 percent of all
consumers and 97 percent of child consumers live in the home of
a parent or guardian or in their own home. Services for
consumers are determined through an IPP.
Access to services
The Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related Disorders held
an informational hearing in 2012, to discuss questions
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surrounding equal access to regional center services for
consumers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The hearing was
prompted by a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times, which
explored the differences that families of children with autism
had in accessing services. The series concluded that people of
color, low income families, and those living in
socio-economically disadvantaged communities receive fewer
services. Often, the articles found, parents whose children
receive services are wealthier, more sophisticated in navigating
bureaucratic systems, and fluent in English. In contrast,
parents who work multiple jobs, single parents, immigrants,
those who can't speak English, and those with multiple children
receive fewer services.
In response, a 20-member Taskforce on Equity and Diversity for
Regional Center Autism Services was appointed by then-Senate
President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg. The group was charged
with finding recommendations to ensure that consumers of
regional center services receive appropriate and timely supports
regardless of race, ethnicity, educational background and other
socio-economic factors. A 119-page report, "A Preliminary Report
by the Taskforce on Equity and Diversity for Regional Center
Autism Services," was published on March 18, 2013, and
identified 19 recommendations, including the translation of key
documents into a consumer's or their family's native language.
Various pieces of legislation since then have attempted to
implement key portions of the report, and regional centers are
now posting annual information about caseload, including
consumer languages spoken.
Language access
DDS states on its Web site that it strives to reduce and/or
eliminate any language barriers for persons who are non-English
speaking or who have limited English proficiency. The
department's policy is to provide verbal interpretation and
translation of written materials related to the DDS service
delivery system in the languages that meet a five percent
threshold of the persons served, as well as many of other
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non-threshold languages as possible by utilizing certified
bi-lingual DDS staff or contracted services.
According to a 2014 report which analyzed California's Medi-Cal
data, about 40 percent of Medi-Cal recipients, or more than 3.5
million people, reported having a language other than English as
their primary language. The report additionally noted that
there were 13 distinct languages that qualified statewide as
threshold languages, and that Spanish was the most frequently
occurring threshold language, with more than one-third of all
Medi-Cal eligible Californians identifying Spanish as their
primary language. Los Angeles had the greatest number of
threshold languages of any single county, with 12. In addition
to Spanish, threshold languages in California are Vietnamese,
Cantonese, Armenian, Russian, Mandarin, Tagalog, Korean, Arabic,
Hmong, Farsi, Cambodian, and other Chinese languages.
2nd Extraordinary Session of 2015-2016. The issue of access to
regional center services has continued to be raised in the
Legislature. The 2nd Extraordinary session package, passed this
spring, included $11 million to address disparities. (ABX2-1,
Thurmond, Chapter 3, Statutes of 2015-16 Second Extraordinary
Session) Funding was targeted at creating pay differentials
supporting bilingual service coordinators at regional centers
when fluency in the second language helps to address the
language needs of the regional center's catchment area. The bill
also funds implementation of recommendations and plans to help
reduce disparities in the purchase-of-service expenditures and
to encourage the development and expansion of culturally and
linguistically appropriate services.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 1034 (Mitchell, 2016), among other things, prohibits lack of
parent or caregiver participation from being used to deny or
reduce medically necessary behavioral health treatment, as
specified.
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ABX2-1 (Thurmond, Chapter 3, Statutes of 2015-16 Second
Extraordinary Session) implemented targeted rate increases for
the community-based developmental services system.
SB 82 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 23,
Statutes of 2015) required each regional center to offer, and
upon request provide, a written copy of the IPP to the consumer
and family members, when appropriate, in a threshold language.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill will
result in minor one-time costs for regional centers to translate
information on the existing appeals and complaints process into
the state's threshold languages and ongoing costs of $25,000 per
year for regional centers to provide information on the
complaints and appeals process in threshold languages when a new
IPP is adopted (General Fund and federal funds). Additionally,
the analysis identified ongoing costs of about $775,000 for
regional centers to provide the annual statement of services
purchased on a consumer's behalf in the threshold languages,
upon request of a consumer or guardian (General Fund and federal
funds). According to the DDS, about 25,000 consumers have one of
the threshold languages as their primary language. The cost
estimate above assumes that 25 percent of those consumers would
request the statement to be provided in the threshold language.
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/15/16)
Public Counsel (co-source)
Special Needs Network (co-source)
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OPPOSITION: (Verified8/15/16)
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Department of Developmental Services
California Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Public Counsel, a co-sponsor of this
bill, writes in support that AB 2809 encourages equal access of
regional center services while supporting client self-advocacy,
and "we must take bold steps to help underserved families access
vital services. AB 2809 helps address these concerns."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The Department of Finance (DOF)
writes in opposition to this bill that it is opposed because it
will result in General Fund costs that are not absorbable within
the department's existing resources. Furthermore, DOF states
that the $11 million appropriated through the 2nd Extraordinary
Session will address disparities in regional centers.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-1, 6/1/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos,
Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Harper
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Beth Gaines, Hadley, Obernolte,
Patterson
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Prepared by:Mareva Brown / HUMAN S. / (916) 651-1524
8/16/16 17:52:53
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