BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1129 (Wiggins)
Hearing Date: 5/10/2010 Amended: 5/4/2010
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Human Serv. 3-1
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 1129 would provide that a person with a
developmental disability served by any regional center may
access intensive behavioral intervention services at the Sonoma
Developmental Center (SDC) when it is determined that he or she
is a danger to himself or herself or others, and when he or she
has a pending hearing related to a such a situation.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Services purchased unknown, but potentially inGeneral/*
at SDC by RCs the hundreds of thousands Federal
to millions depending on the
number of consumers
*See staff comments
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
This bill would permit a regional center (RC) to purchase
intensive behavioral intervention services at the Sonoma
Developmental Center (SDC) for persons who are not residents of
SDC. This bill would permit individuals to be temporary
residents of SDC when they would receive intensive behavioral
intervention at SDC even though the RC would purchase the
services. It is unclear what the funding source would be for
this bill because RCs do not currently purchase services from a
developmental center (DC). Costs related to DC residents are
currently paid directly by the state.
21 non-profit RCs purchase services for approximately over
240,000 clients of all ages through community vendors registered
with DDS, including respite and day programs. In contrast, the
DCs are licensed general acute care hospitals, skilled-nursing
facilities, and intermediate care facilities that serve a
population of 2,130 full-time residents. The DCs do not
currently provide inpatient or outpatient services to RC clients
other than their own residents.
Existing law provides that if a person is determined to be a
danger to himself or herself or others, he or she would enter a
DC through a court commitment process. Prior to the commitment
hearing, a court could order the alleged dangerous person to be
left in the charge of his or her parent or to be placed in a DC,
a psychiatric hospital or in any other suitable placement that
would be the least restrictive residential environment as
recommended by the person's RC and a DC, when applicable. SDC
intensive behavioral intervention beds are licensed as
intermediate care facility beds, which also exist in the
community. It would be unlikely that a court would consider
temporary
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SB 1129 (Wiggins)
residence in SDC, a state hospital, as the least restrictive
residential placement for a person requiring such services when
those services would be available in a licensed community care
facility.
This bill would permit any RC to choose to provide intensive
behavioral services at SDC instead of in a community
intermediate care facility regardless of whether or not the
placement was the most appropriate or the least restrictive
residential environment, as per existing law. This bill would
require a consumer receiving intensive behavioral intervention
to be considered a temporary resident at SDC and would prohibit
such a consumer from remaining a resident for a period exceeding
six months without a review by the regional center and SDC.
It costs the state approximately $25,000 per DC resident per
month. DCs are paid as follows according to the FY 2009-2010
budget: 96 percent General Fund and 4 percent other funds, the
State Lottery, and federal funds. Accordingly, the state could
expect to pay a similar per resident per month amount for any
temporary resident at SDC pursuant to this bill. Although it is
unknown how many consumers statewide would access these services
at SDC, if RCs chose to purchase services from SDC for at least
one consumer per regional center for a single month, costs would
be $575,000. If a single person in the state were to be placed
temporarily in SDC for intensive behavioral intervention for up
to six months, as permitted by this bill, the cost would be
approximately $150,000, as compared to a community placement
which has less overhead and fewer staff and is an overall less
expensive placement.
This bill would provide that intensive behavioral intervention
services at SDC would be funded through existing resources and
that no additional General Fund moneys would be appropriated.
DDS cut $334 million in its FY 2009-2010 budget and a $25
million cut is expected from its FY 2010-2011 budget. It is
unlikely that DDS could absorb these costs.