BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1427 (Pavley) - Workforce development: developmentally
disabled individuals
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|Version: March 28, 2016 |Policy Vote: HUMAN S. 4 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 2, 2016 |Consultant: Brendan McCarthy |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1427 would require the Department of Developmental
Services to establish a Work Transition Project to assist
regional center consumers currently placed in segregated work
settings to transition to competitive integrated employment.
Fiscal
Impact:
Likely one-time costs up to $150,000 for the Department of
Developmental Services to develop program requirements,
accountability measures, and data collection requirements
(General Fund and federal funds).
Likely ongoing administrative costs in the hundreds of
thousands per year for regional centers to administer and
monitor participation in the program (General Fund and federal
funds).
Likely annual costs of $5 million to $10 million per year to
provide additional job readiness and support services to
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regional center consumers currently participating in work
activity programs or group supported employment programs
(General Fund and federal funds).
There are about currently about 15,000 regional center
consumers who participate in one of these two programs.
Assuming that 10% of those consumers participate in the
program authorized in the bill and that those consumers, on
average, receive the newly authorized services for two
quarters, total net costs for those new services would be
about $8 million per year. (This includes an offsetting
reduction in service hours those consumers are currently
receiving.)
Likely annual savings in the millions per year (General Fund
and federal funds). To the extent that the new services
authorized in the bill improve the employment prospects of
regional center consumers, it is likely that consumers will
shift from more expensive work activity programs and group
supported employment programs to less expensive individual
supported employment programs (wherein consumers are employed
in the community, with ongoing assistance from regional center
vendors). For example, if 50% of program participants are able
to shift to individual supported employment, annual savings
would be about $3 million per year.
It is important to note that the increased costs for a
regional center consumer using the new services would likely
only occur for the first year or two, whereas savings would
continue as long as the consumer stays in individual supported
employment. Thus the savings would increase over time while
program costs are likely to remain relatively flat.
Background: The Department of Developmental Services is responsible for
coordinating services and supports for about 250,000 people with
developmental disabilities. The vast majority of these people
are served by 21 regional centers, which are non-profit entities
that contract with the state. The regional centers, in turn,
contract with vendors to provide direct services to the
developmentally disabled.
Regional centers provide a variety of services to consumers
whose disabilities do not preclude them from some level of
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employment. Work activity programs (often referred to as
sheltered workshops) allow consumers to work alongside other
individuals with disabilities in a managed location, under the
supervision of regional center vendor employees. Group supported
employment programs allow consumers to work outside of a
sheltered location, but still with the support of regional
center vendors - for example alongside other consumers on
landscaping or janitorial crews. Individual supported employment
services are designed to support consumers working in a
competitive employment situation. Individual supported
employment services assist consumers in seeking out employment
opportunities, getting hired, and adjusting to working in a
competitive employment situation.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has
adopted revised program regulations that apply to regional
center consumers participating in the state's Home and Community
Based Services Waiver. Under the changes, the state will be
obligated to ensure that consumers are integrated into the
community, including having access to work in competitive
employment. The Department of Developmental Services is in the
process of developing a plan to bring its waiver programs into
compliance with the new federal requirements. It is likely that
the state will have to phase out work activity programs as a
placement for most consumers under the federal regulations.
AB X2 1 (Thurmon, Statutes of 2016) raised a number of rates for
services provided through the regional center system, including
implementing an 11.1% rate increase for supported employment
services and a 7.5% increase for enhancing wages and benefits
for staff who spend most of their time providing direct services
to consumers. That bill also requires the Department to submit a
rate study to the Legislature by March 1, 2019.
Proposed Law:
SB 1427 would require the Department of Developmental Services
to establish a Work Transition Project to assist regional center
consumers currently placed in segregated work settings to
transition to competitive integrated employment.
Specific provisions of the bill would:
Require the Department to establish a Work Transition Project
by July 1, 2017;
Require the Project to allow regional centers to allow blended
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or braided forms of integrated services;
Authorize up to 75 hours per quarter, at a rate up to $40 per
hour, for vendors to provide individual job readiness and
support services for consumers currently placed in segregated
work settings to move towards competitive integrated
employment;
Require the Department to allow the regional centers to
customize programs for consumers, by partnering with work
activity program and group supported employment program
vendors to transition consumers to integrated competitive
employment;
Authorize the Department to waive regulatory requirements that
conflict with the bill's requirements;
Require the Department to assess outcomes and report to the
Legislature.
Related
Legislation:
SB 1024 (Hancock) would require the Department of
Developmental Services to provide an incentive (of at least
a 10% rate differential) to encourage the provision of
individual supported employment services. That bill will be
heard in this committee.
SB 577 (Pavley, Statutes of 2014) created a pilot
project to evaluate whether community based vocational
development services are necessary for supported
employment. That pilot project has not been implemented.
Staff
Comments: The intent of the bill is to provide services needed
to move regional center consumers from less-integrated
employment settings (work activity programs and group supported
employment programs) to employment opportunities more fully
integrated in the community and the competitive job market. This
concept is aligned with the general requirements of the new
federal guidelines for regional center consumers who participate
in the Home and Community Based Services Waiver. However,
because the Department has not fully developed its plan to
transition the current system to one compliant with those
requirements, it is not yet clear how the proposed program in
this bill will conform to those plans.
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