BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1191
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2001
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Dion Aroner, Chair
AB 1191 (Longville) - As Amended: April 19, 2001
SUBJECT : Regional centers for persons with developmental
disabilities: inter-agency dispute resolution
SUMMARY : Establishes a process for resolving disputes between
regional centers and local public agencies. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Establishes a dispute resolution process that applies to
disputes regarding which local agency is responsible for
delivering or paying for a specific type, duration, or
frequency of service contained in an individualized family
service plan (IFSP) or individualized program plan (IPP) of a
child, aged 0 - 5.
2)Prohibits the dispute resolution process from being used to
determine eligibility for a service, resolve disputes between
a consumer and a regional center, or take up issues that have
been decided through a state fair hearing process or a
proceeding under the California Early Intervention Act, or for
which a consumer has requested mediation or a fair hearing.
3)Specifies that the provisions of the bill do not modify the
mandated responsibility of a regional center or local
education agency to fund services identified in the IFSP, and
do not modify the responsibilities of a regional center under
the Lanterman Developmental Services Act.
4)Authorizes a regional center to submit a written notification
of the failure to provide a service and a request for dispute
resolution to the agency that the regional center believes is
responsible for providing the service. Requires the regional
center to provide written notification of this request to the
consumer's parent, legal guardian, or authorized
representative.
5)Permits the regional center to withdraw its request for
dispute resolution at any time during the process.
6)Upon receipt of the written notification, requires the local
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agency to meet with the regional center and resolve the
dispute within 15 days. If the dispute is resolved, requires
the agency to mail a written copy of the resolution to the
parent, guardian, or authorized representative within 10
calendar days of the meeting.
7)If the dispute cannot be resolved within 10 calendar days,
requires the parties to submit their contentions to the Office
of Administrative Hearings (OAH).
8)Requires OAH to review the dispute and issue a binding written
decision within 30 calendar days of receipt of the case,
specifying the type, frequency and duration of the disputed
service to be provided and which entity is responsible.
9)Permits OAH to award reimbursement retroactively to the
prevailing party for services provided.
10)Requires OAH to send a written copy of the resolution to the
parent, guardian, or authorized representative, the Director
of Developmental Services, and the regional center or local
agency involved in the dispute resolution process.
11)Permits the local agency and the regional center to arrange
for the provision of services in the child's IFSP or IPP on an
interim basis, until the dispute is resolved.
12)Once the dispute resolution process is completed, requires
the agency determined to be responsible for the service to
reimburse the agency that provided the service, if one did.
13)Specifies that nothing in the inter-agency dispute resolution
process shall prevent a consumer from filing for a due process
hearing or pursuing a remedy through a civil action.
14)Requires the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to
pay for the services of the OAH.
15)Specifies that no resolution reached through this process
shall set a precedent for the resolution of any other matter.
16)Sunsets the program December 31, 2004.
EXISTING LAW
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1)Establishes the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act, under which the DDS contracts with 21 private non-profit
regional centers to provide case management services and
arrange for, or purchase, other services that meet the needs
of individuals with developmental disabilities.
2)Prohibits regional centers from using funds to supplant the
budget of any agency that has a legal responsibility and is
funded to provide services to the general public, thereby
establishing the regional center as the payer of last resort
for specific services.
3)Establishes the California Early Intervention Services Act and
Early Start Program, funded through Part C of the federal
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), to promote
a coordinated family service system for children from birth to
36 months who have a developmental delay or an established
risk condition. Requires regional centers to share primary
responsibility for provision of early intervention services
with local education agencies. Requires an IFSP to be
developed for each eligible child, delineating the child's
levels of development, desired outcomes, services to be
provided, and methods to be used to determine the child's
progress.
4)Requires an IPP to be developed for every child over the age
of 36 months who is eligible for regional center services.
Requires the IPP to identify the services and supports to be
purchased by the regional center or obtained from other
agencies.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Responsibility for early intervention services for children
who are developmentally delayed or at risk of developmental
disability is shared by regional centers, local school
districts and, if the child has health care needs, programs
administered by the Department of Health Services, including
Medi-Cal and California Children's Services. It is not
uncommon for disagreements to occur among these various
agencies regarding which is responsible for a particular
service. When such disagreements arise, the result is that the
child often goes without the service until the agencies
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resolve their differences or one of the agencies simply agrees
to provide it. Not only does this cause undue stress on
families, but it also interferes with the provision of
essential early intervention services.
2)This bill, sponsored by the Association of Regional Center
Agencies (ARCA), is nearly identical to one introduced last
year by the Human Services Committee, AB 2918. AB 2918 passed
out of the Assembly Human Services Committee 6-0, but failed
passage in the Senate Appropriations Committee. (Its failure
in the Senate Appropriations Committee was due to legislative
deadlines, not cost; DDS had estimated the cost of AB 2918 to
be no greater than $123,000.) According to ARCA, the bill was
re-introduced this year because the need still exists.
Families often face great frustration when a regional center
refers it to an agency for services, but the agency is
reluctant to provide them. This bill is intended to assure a
timely resolution of inter-agency disputes, and encourage
services to be provided while the resolution process is
underway.
3)In its 1999 monitoring report of California's Early Start
program, the federal Office of Special Education Programs
(OSEP) found, that "[p]rovision of early intervention services
to some children and families is inappropriately delayed
because the State lacks a reimbursement procedure to ensure
that needed services can begin in a timely manner without
disputes about agency fiscal responsibility." The Continuous
Improvement Plan, submitted in response by DDS to OSEP,
includes training for regional center service coordinators and
other staff, instructions that the "payer of last resort" has
an obligation to purchase services specified in the IFSP, and
responsibility for the Department of Education and the
Department of Health Services to develop reimbursement
agreements. Subsequent to the OSEP report, DDS has developed
memoranda of understanding with the Departments of Health
Services, Education, Mental Health, and Alcohol and Drug
Programs, specifying procedures for resolving disputes at the
state level.
Nonetheless, according to ARCA, at the local level the impasse
over who is the responsible agency continues to occur. This
bill, ARCA argues, establishes procedures to definitively
resolve local disputes. Because it is based on a statutory
process and includes the OAH, ARCA believes it will be more
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enforceable than the current memoranda of understanding among
state departments.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of Regional Center Agencies (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sherry Novick / HUM. S. / (916)
319-2247