BILL NUMBER: AB 324 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 28, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beall
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Yamada)
(Principal coauthor: Senator Liu)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, and Salas)
(Coauthors: Senators Hancock, Wiggins, Wolk, and Yee)
FEBRUARY 18, 2009
An act to amend Sections 9100 and 9400 of, and to add Section 9009
to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to aging.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 324, as amended, Beall. Aging: Elder Economic Security Standard
Index.
Existing law, the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, creates
the California Department of Aging, with prescribed duties, including
the development of the state plan on aging.
This bill would require the department to report data from the
Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index), as defined, for
each service area included in the state plan , if specified
conditions are met .
Existing law requires each area agency on aging to create a plan
for its planning and service area that considers available data and
population trends, assesses the need for services, identifies sources
of funding for services, and develops and implements a plan for the
delivery of services based on the need.
This bill would also require that the plan utilize the Elder
Index, specify the cost of meeting basic needs for elders in each
planning and service area, and identify which elders are living at or
below the Elder Index, as prescribed.
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. Section 9009 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
9009. "Elder Economic Security Standard Index" means an index
that quantifies the costs that elders face in meeting their basic
needs, including, but not limited to, food, shelter, health care,
transportation, utilities, and essential household items, in the
private market. It is derived by applying the existing publicly
available methodology, developed by Wider Opportunities for Women and
the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts,
Boston, to publicly available data sources on the costs to live in
each county of the state.
SEC. 2. Section 9100 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
9100. (a) There is in the Health and Welfare Agency the
California Department of Aging.
(b) The department's mission shall be to provide leadership to the
area agencies on aging in developing systems of home- and
community-based services that maintain individuals in their own homes
or least restrictive homelike environments.
(c) (1) In fulfilling its mission, the
department shall develop minimum standards for service delivery to
ensure that its programs meet consumer needs, operate in a
cost-effective manner, and preserve the independence and dignity of
aging Californians. In accomplishing its mission, the department
shall consider available data and population trends in developing
programs and policies, collaborate with area agencies on aging, the
commission, and other state and local agencies, and consider the
views of advocates, consumers and their families, and service
providers. The department shall also report the Elder
Economic Security Standard Index data for each service area in its
state plan.
(2) The department shall also report the Elder Economic Security
Standard Index data for each service area in its state plan. The
requirements of this paragraph shall only be implemented if the Elder
Economic Security Standard Index is updated and made available to
the department.
(d) The minimum standards for its programs shall ensure that the
system meets all of the following requirements:
(1) Have the flexibility to respond to the needs of individuals,
their families and caregivers.
(2) Provide for consumer choice and self-determination.
(3) Enable consumers to be involved in designing and monitoring
the system.
(4) Be equally accessible to diverse populations regardless of
income, consistent with existing state and federal law.
(5) Have consistent statewide policy, with local control and
implementation.
(6) Include preventive services and home- and community-based
support.
(7) Have cost containment and fiscal incentives consistent with
the delivery of appropriate services at the appropriate level.
SEC. 3. Section 9400 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
9400. (a) The Legislature hereby declares and recognizes the area
agencies on aging to be the local units on aging in California that
are supported from an array of sources, including federal funding
largely through the federal Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3001,
et seq.), state and local government assistance, the private sector,
and individual contributions for services.
(b) Area agencies on aging shall operate in compliance with the
Older Americans Act and applicable regulations.
(c) Each area agency on aging shall maintain a professional staff
that is supplemented by volunteers, governed by a board of directors
or elected officials, and whose activities are reviewed by an
advisory council consisting primarily of older individuals from the
community.
(d) (1) Each area agency on aging shall create a plan that
considers available data and population trends, assesses the needs
for services provided under this division reflective of the community
needs, identifies sources for funding those services, and develops
and implements a plan for delivery of those services based on those
needs. Each plan shall include developing area home- and
community-based systems of care that maintain individuals in their
own homes or least restrictive environment, providing better access
to these services through information and referral, outreach, and
transportation, and advocating for the elderly on local, state, and
national levels.
(2) Each plan shall utilize the Elder Economic Security Standard
Index, specify the costs of meeting basic needs for elders in each
planning and service area, and identify which elders are living at or
below the Elder Economic Security Standard Index. The requirements
of this paragraph shall be implemented only if the Elder Economic
Security Standard Index is updated and made available to the area
agencies on aging.
(e) Area agencies on aging shall function as the community link at
the local level for development of home- and community-based
services provided under the department's programs.
(f) The area agencies on aging shall implement subdivision (b) of
Section 9100 at the local level, with particular emphasis on
coordinating with the local systems to enable individuals to live out
their lives with maximum independence and dignity in their own homes
and communities through the development of comprehensive and
coordinated systems of home- and community-based care. Nothing in
this division shall preclude local determination and designation of
service coordinators other than area agencies on aging, for
development and implementation of the long-term care integration
pilot projects set forth in Article 4.05 (commencing with Section
14139.05) of Chapter 7 of Part 3 of Division 9.
(g) In fulfilling their mission, area agencies on aging shall
build upon the resources and the commitment unique to each community
and shall be guided by a 10-point description of a community-based
system that shall do all of the following:
(1) Have a visible focal point of contact where anyone can go or
call for help, information, or referral on any aging issue.
(2) Provide a range of service options.
(3) Ensure that these options are readily accessible to all older
individuals, whether independent, semi-independent, or totally
dependent, no matter what their income.
(4) Include a commitment of public, private, and voluntary
resources committed to supporting the system.
(5) Involve collaborative decisionmaking among public, private,
voluntary, religious, and fraternal organizations, as well as older
individuals and consumers in the community.
(6) Offer special help or targeted resources for the most
vulnerable older individuals, those in danger of losing their
independence.
(7) Provide effective referral from agency to agency to ensure
that information or assistance is received, no matter how or where
contact is made in the community.
(8) Evidence sufficient flexibility to respond with appropriate
individualized assistance, especially for the vulnerable older
individuals.
(9) Have a unique character that is tailored to the specific
nature of the community.
(10) Be directed by leaders in the community who have the respect,
capacity, and authority necessary to convene all interested persons
to assess needs, design solutions, track overall success, stimulate
change, and plan community responses for the present and for the
future.
SEC. 4. Nothing in this act shall be construed to mandate changes
in the current funding allocations to area agencies on aging made
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 9112 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
SEC. 5. Nothing in this act shall be construed, based on the use
of the Elder Economic Security Standard Index, to affect means-tested
programs administered through the Mello-Granlund Older Californians
Act.