Amended in Assembly August 15, 2016

Amended in Senate May 31, 2016

Amended in Senate April 14, 2016

Amended in Senate March 28, 2016

Senate Bill No. 982

Introduced by Senator McGuire

February 10, 2016

An act to add Section 4474.12 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to developmental services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 982, as amended, McGuire. State Department of Developmental Services: developmental centers.

Existing law vests in the State Department of Developmental Services jurisdiction over state hospitals referred to as developmental centers for the provision of residential care to individuals with developmental disabilities, including the Sonoma Developmental Center, the Fairview Developmental Center, and the Porterville Developmental Center, as specified. Existing law requires the department to comply with procedural requirements when closing a developmental center. Existing law required, on or before October 1, 2015, the State Department of Developmental Services to submit to the Legislature a plan or plans to close one or more developmental centers.

This bill would require the department to begin delete contract for a longitudinal study, commencing July 1, 2017, to, among other things, assess the quality of life and outcomes of developmental center residents who relocate from the Sonoma Developmental Center, the Fairview Developmental Center, and the general treatment area of the Porterville Developmental Center as a result of the closure of those centers and to make specified recommendations. The bill would specify the qualifications and duties of the contractor, as specified. end delete begin insert seek to modify the contract in existence on January 1, 2017, for the conduct of a movers longitudinal study to include specified requirements, including, among others, a requirement that at least 250 individuals who meet certain criteria participate in the study. end insert The bill would require the department to begin insert annually end insert submit interim reports to the Legislature regarding the begin delete study at the end of the first and second years of the end delete study. The bill would require, upon the completion of the study, the department to submit the study to the Legislature, as specified.

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.  

It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure the
appropriate transition of consumers currently living in
developmental centers from those centers to community living
arrangements as a result of the closure of the Sonoma
Developmental Center, the Fairview Developmental Center, and
the general treatment area of the Porterville Developmental Center.
It is the further intent of the Legislature to measure the unique
needs of people transitioning from developmental centers, including
providing information about the quality of life, satisfaction with
services, the degree to which the individuals achieve their goals,
and other measures as determined by the department.

SEC. 2.  

Section 4474.12 is added to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, immediately following Section 4474.11, to read:

begin delete

4474.12.  

(a) To ensure that persons with developmental
disabilities who are moved from developmental centers to the
community are receiving necessary services and supports, the
department shall contract with an independent agency or
organization for a longitudinal study, commencing July 1, 2017,
to assess the quality of life and outcomes of developmental center
residents who relocate from the Sonoma Developmental Center,
the Fairview Developmental Center, and the general treatment
area of the Porterville Developmental Center, as those institutions
are identified in Sections 4440 and 4440.5, as a result of the closure
of those centers. The study shall supplement the quality assessment
system established by Section 4571 and make recommendations
regarding improving health and safety, choice, integration, and
other similar factors based on the data collected. The study shall
be conducted each year concerning residents who move from the
developmental centers until two years following the date the last
resident moves from the developmental centers.

(b) The contractor shall be experienced in all of the following:

(1) Designing valid tracking instruments.

(2) Tracking the quality of community programs, including
outcome-based measures such as health and safety, quality of life,
integration, choice, and consumer satisfaction.

(3) Tracking the quality and appropriateness of community
placements for persons moving from large institutions into
community settings.

(4) Developing data systems.

(5) Data analysis and report preparation.

(c) (1) The contractor shall measure consumer and family
satisfaction with services provided, including case management
and quality of life, including, but not limited to, health and safety,
independence, productivity, integration, opportunities for choice,
and delivery of needed services.

(2) The contractor shall meet with each person, and the person’s
family, or legal guardian or conservator, when appropriate, no less
than once per year to discuss quality of life and observe the
person’s services and supports.

(3) In cases in which the consumer is not capable of
communicating his or her responses, and in which a family
member, or legal guardian or conservator, is not involved, the
contractor shall meet with no fewer than two persons familiar with
the consumer. Additionally, the contractor shall interview staff
and friends who know the consumer best and review records, as
appropriate, and shall use any data concerning the consumer
collected through the quality assurance instrument pursuant to
Section 4571.

(d) The contract may be satisfied by the same contractor used
by the department to implement the quality assurance instrument
pursuant to Section 4571, if appropriate.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert 4474.12. end insert   

end insert begin insert

(a) The department shall seek to modify the contract
in existence on January 1, 2017, for the conduct of a movers
longitudinal study to include all of the following:

end insert begin insert

(1) A requirement that at least 250 individuals who meet the
following criteria participate in the study:

end insert begin insert

(A) Volunteered to participate in the study.

end insert begin insert

(B) Proportionately selected from among individuals who have
moved into the community from Sonoma Developmental Center,
Fairview Developmental Center, or Porterville Developmental
Center.

end insert begin insert

(C) Proportionately selected from among individuals who have
moved into the community at different stages of the closure process.

end insert begin insert

(2) A requirement that the study follow a sample of individuals
described in paragraph (1) for a two-year period after the
individual moves into the community from the developmental
center.

end insert begin insert

(3) A requirement that the study include individuals who move
into the community from a developmental center during the first
year of the study, and during each subsequent year of the study,
until the developmental centers identified in subparagraph (B) of
paragraph (1) close.

end insert begin insert

(4) A requirement that researchers conducting the study meet
with each individual participating in the study at intervals of three
months, six months, one year, and two years following the person’s
move into the community from the developmental center to discuss
the individual’s quality of life and services and supports.

end insert begin insert

(b) The movers longitudinal study described in this section is
one element of the quality assurance instrument required pursuant
to Section 4571.

end insert begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  (1) For purposes of conducting the study, the department
shall maintain and update the addresses of, and contact information
for, former residents of the centers who relocated as a result of the
closure of the centers.

(2) The department shall ensure, to the extent permitted by law,
that researchers conducting the study have access to data and other
information necessary to conduct the study, including the addresses
of, and contact information for, former residents of the centers
who relocated due to the closure of the centers.

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  The department shall begin insert annually end insert submit interim reports to the
Legislature regarding the study begin delete at the end of the first and second
years of the study, end delete in accordance with the requirements of Section
9795 of the Government Code. begin insert The reports shall include
information about consumer and family satisfaction and adequacy
of community services. end insert Upon the completion of the study as
described in subdivision (a), the department shall submit the study
to the Legislature, in accordance with the requirements of Section
9795 of the Government Code.