BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           2204 (Beall)
          
          Hearing Date:  7/15/2010        Amended: 4/5/2010
          Consultant: Katie Johnson       Policy Vote: Human Services 3-2
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:  AB 2204 would require the Department of  
          Developmental Services to take into account the state's ethnic,  
          sexual orientation, gender identity, geographic, and  
          socioeconomic diversity when convening stakeholder groups and in  
          publishing reports to the Legislature.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
           Major Provisions        2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
           
          Increased purchase     unknown, potentially in the millions  
          ofGeneral/*
          of services              dollars in cost pressure annually   
          Federal       

          *Regional centers purchase various services that may have a  
          federal reimbursement component, usually shared 50 percent  
          General Fund and 50 percent federal funds.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.
          This bill would require the Department of Developmental Services  
          (DDS) to take into account the state's ethnic, sexual  
          orientation, gender identity, geographic, and socioeconomic  
          diversity when convening stakeholder groups. Additionally, when  
          submitting reports to the Legislature, DDS would be required to  
          include a description of how it complied with the requirement to  
          take California's diversity into account when convening  
          stakeholder groups. DDS serves approximately 210,000 active  
          consumers through a network of 21 non-profit regional centers  
          and 2,100 consumers who are full-time residents at the state's 4  
          developmental centers.

          While the cost of taking California's diversity into  
          consideration when convening stakeholder groups would be minor  










          and absorbable within DDS's administrative budget, there could  
          be General Fund and federal funds cost pressure to the extent  
          that the stakeholders may work to increase the amount spent per  
          consumer to create purchase of service parity among ethnic  
          groups. 

          A 2008 study entitled Disparities in Service Utilization and  
          Expenditures for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities as  
          published in the Disability & Health Journal identified a  
          receipt of regional center services disparity among ethnic  
          groups after controlling for need and other factors. For  
          example, Latinos received $3,190 and African Americans received  
          $1,080 fewer in services when compared to white consumers. If  
          the 40,456 Latinos identified by the study as receiving regional  
          center services each received $3,190 more in services annually,  
          the cost would be approximately $130 million. If the 14,698  
          African American consumers identified as receiving services each  
          received $1,080 more in services annually, the cost would be  
          about $16 million. However, the study acknowledges that other  
          factors could explain the disparities, including client and  
          family attitudes and beliefs, language skills, and lack of  
          knowledge of the system.