BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
287 (Beall)
Hearing Date: 8/27/2009 Amended: 8/17/2009
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Human Services 4-1
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 287 would establish the Employment First
Policy, a program that would assist youth and adults served by
regional centers that are under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Developmental Services (DDS) in gaining
employment.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
SCDD committee at least $50 at least $100
at least $100 Federal
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services
Act, grants persons with developmental disabilities the right to
receive services and supports to meet their needs. Existing law
requires DDS to contract with private non-profit corporations
for the operation of regional centers to obtain services and
supports and to develop an individual program plan (IPP) for
individuals with developmental disabilities. DDS currently
contracts with 21 regional centers to provide services and
supports to approximately 243,000 individuals.
Existing law establishes the State Council on Developmental
Disabilities (SCDD) to develop and implement the state plan
required by the federal government.
Existing law establishes the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR)
with the mission to provide services and advocacy that assist
people with disabilities, including those with developmental
disabilities, to live independently and become employed. DOR
provides consultation, counseling, and vocational rehabilitation
to consumers. It administers the Supported Employment Program
through which it serves approximately 8,000 individuals, the
majority with developmental disabilities.
This bill would establish the Employment First Policy and would
require the IPP process for transition age youth and working age
adults to be guided by it.
This bill makes findings and declarations related to the
societal and economic benefits of employing individuals with
developmental disabilities.
This bill would state that the intended outcome of the
Employment First Policy is to increase the number of individuals
with developmental disabilities who engage in employment. This
bill would additionally state that the Employment First Policy
furthers the goal that services and supports be made available
to enable persons with
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AB 287 (Beall)
developmental disabilities to approximate the pattern of
everyday living available to people without disabilities of the
same age.
This bill would also state the Legislature's intent that,
beginning when a consumer is 14 years of age, planning teams
discuss school-to-work opportunities during IPP meetings and
that, upon request, a regional center representative would be
available to participate in a consumer's individualized
education plan (IEP) meetings to discuss transition planning.
Although this bill would establish the Employment First Policy
and would state Legislative intent that this policy would
further the goal of increasing the number of employed
individuals with developmental disabilities, the definition of
the Employment First Policy and scope is unclear. Since this is
unclear, there would be unknown, but major, General Fund and
federal fund cost pressure on DOR to provide supported
employment services to individuals who, as a result of this
policy would choose to pursue active employment. Supported
employment services are approximately $4,000 per person each
year. Costs are shared 20 percent General Fund and 80 percent
federal funds. However, since the amount of federal funds
available is capped, any extra resources required by DOR would
be 100 percent General Fund. There are approximately 140,000
youth over age 14 and adults served by regional centers.
Although it is difficult to estimate the number of adults who
would transition from day programs to supported employment, to
the extent that is the case, there could be General Fund and
federal fund savings for DDS. Since the Employment First Policy
appears to target youth leaving the educational system, the
number of people currently in day programs transferring to
employment could be small.
Additionally, the DDS General Fund budget assumes $384 million
in cuts for FY 2009-2010. These include substantial cuts to
regional center services and administration. It is unlikely that
regional centers, DDS, and DOR would be able to absorb any
additional responsibilities. However, to the extent that an
individual gains employment and continues to remain employed,
there could be savings to DDS to the extent that the person is
working and earning income instead of participating in a day
program funded by the state. The amount and timing of potential
savings is unknown.
This bill also would require the SCDD to form a standing
Employment First Committee to implement the Employment First
Policy and to, no later than July 1, 2011, and annually
thereafter, report to the Legislature and the Governor on the
committee's work and recommendations. This bill would require
that the responsibilities of the Employment First Committee
include, but are not limited to, identifying the respective
roles and responsibilities of state and local agencies in
enhancing employment opportunities, identifying strategies, best
practices, and incentives for increasing employment and
improving the transition planning process for students 14 years
of age or older, identifying sources of employment data and
recommending goals for increasing employment, and recommending
legislative, regulatory, and policy changes for increasing the
percentage of people with developmental disabilities in
employment.
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AB 287 (Beall)
SCDD would need at least an additional staff person at a cost of
approximately $100,000 annually in federal funds to complete the
report and to staff the Employment First Committee.
There are similar efforts to increase the number of employed
individuals with developmental disabilities. For example, the
Governor has a committee dedicated to the issue: the Committee
on Employment of People with Disabilities, which receives staff
support from the State Employment Development Department (EDD)
within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Additionally,
the Governor and First Lady Maria
Shriver launched the We Include Initiative, a program to aid in
the employment of people with developmental disabilities.
Finally, the State Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) provides
individualized services to people with disabilities to help with
employment and independent living, including some programs to
aid high school seniors in transitioning from school to the
workforce, which is a function similar to the one intended by
this bill.
AB 2424 (Beall) of 2008 would have similarly established an
employment first policy, although there were more detailed
changes to the IPP process than contained in this bill. AB 2424
was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file.
The amendments proposed by the author would limit the bill to
the findings and declarations and the establishment of the
Employment First Committee under the State Council on
Developmental Disabilities (SCDD), as described above, which
would develop an Employment First Policy and other
recommendations for consideration by the Legislature.