BILL NUMBER: AB 1244 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano and Beall)
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add Section 4685.8 to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to developmental services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1244, as amended, Chesbro. Developmental services:
individual choice budgets. Self-Determination Program.
Under existing law, the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities
Services Act, the State Department of Developmental Services is
authorized to contract with regional centers to provide support and
services to individuals with developmental disabilities. Under
existing law, the regional centers purchase needed services and
supports for individuals with developmental disabilities
through approved service providers or arrange for their provision
through other publicly funded agencies. The services and supports to
be provided to a regional center consumer are contained in an
individual program plan (IPP), developed in accordance with
prescribed requirements. Existing law establishes, contingent
upon approval of a federal waiver, the Self-Directed Services
Program, and requires the program be available in every
regional center catchment area to provide participants, within an
individual budget, and greater control over needed services and
supports.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would support the implementation of individual
choice budgets for regional center consumers.
This bill would establish the Self-Determination Program to be
available in every regional center catchment area to enable
individuals with developmental disabilities to exercise their rights
to make choices in their own lives. This bill would require that
program participants be provided with a capitated individual funding
allocation, as prescribed, to be used for the purchase of services
and supports necessary to implement the participant's individual
program plan. This bill would require the department to take all
steps necessary to ensure federal financial participation is
available for all program services and supports by applying for
amendments to a specified federal waiver or by applying for a new
waiver.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4685.8 is added to the
Welfare and Institutions Code , to read:
4685.8. (a) (1) The Self-Determination Program (SD Program) is
hereby established and shall be available in every regional center
catchment area to enable individuals with developmental disabilities
to exercise their rights to make choices in their own lives, as
described in subdivision (j) of Section 4502. The program shall give
participants greater control over access to, and the flexibility to
access, a wide range of needed and desired services and supports,
including, but not limited to, hiring their own workers and
purchasing needed items. The SD Program shall be consistent with the
requirements set forth in this section.
(2) SD Program participants shall be provided with a capitated
individual funding allocation computed in a fair, transparent, and
equitable manner, based on consumer characteristics and needs. The
allocation shall be used for the purchase of services and supports
necessary to implement the participant's individual program plan.
(b) The Self-Determination Program shall be designed to promote,
and shall be evaluated against, core quality outcomes for the
participants, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Participants' welfare, health, and safety.
(2) Whether participants are living in a place called home, under
one's own control, including living with family, friends, or on one's
own.
(3) Whether participants have meaningful participation and
membership in their own community.
(4) Whether participants are maintaining reciprocal long-term
relationships, including relationships that assist the participant to
live a healthy, included life.
(5) Whether participants are generating private income, through
typical jobs in regular employment settings or through
self-employment.
(6) Whether participants have control over transportation.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the purchase of
services and supports through the SD Program be eligible for federal
Medicaid match funding. The department shall take all steps necessary
to ensure federal financial participation is available for all SD
Program services and supports by applying for amendments to the
current home and community-based waiver for individuals with
developmental disabilities or for a new waiver pursuant to Section
1396n of Title 42 of the United States Code. The department shall
seek to maximize federal financial participation by applying for an
enhanced federal match through the federal Community First Choice
Option pursuant to Section 1396n(k) of Title 42 of the United States
Code.
(d) Individuals shall have the right to utilize their allocation
to hire workers of their choice, and supervise, direct, schedule,
evaluate, train, and terminate employees. The state shall support the
quality, availability, and stability of direct support workers by
establishing a base compensation package to ensure decent pay
standards for workers in this program. Individuals may use their
allocation and private sources of funds to pay direct support workers
above the base established by the state, develop job descriptions,
and otherwise organize and incentivize their support workers.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
(a) The Legislature recognizes the aspirations of people with
developmental disabilities to make their own life decisions, such as
where and with whom one lives, the role one plays within his or her
community, when to enter into and whether to sustain long-term
relationships, and how to pursue economic and spiritual goals.
(b) Individual choice budgets offer regional center consumers
authority over a fixed budget allocation, the freedom to design
supports of their choosing, and the support necessary to maximize
control over their services and their lives. This option promotes
core quality outcomes based on universal human aspirations.
(c) Individuals who have the choice to spend their allocation on a
wide range of supports and services, such as hiring their own
workers and purchasing items and services, have the ability to make
creative, nontraditional purchases based on their individual needs
and aspirations.
(d) Direct support workers are the foundation for the supports
necessary for people with developmental disabilities to access full
citizenship and employment opportunities and to pursue a life of
meaning in the ways that they choose. Therefore, individuals should
have the right to utilize their allocation to hire workers of their
choice and to supervise, direct, schedule, evaluate, train, and
terminate employees.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that
would support the implementation of individual choice budgets for
regional center consumers.