BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1626 (Maienschein) - Developmental services: habilitation.
Amended: As introduced. Policy Vote: Human Services 4-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: June 30, 2014
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1626 would increase the rates paid by the
Department of Developmental Services for supported employment
services by specified amounts.
Fiscal Impact:
Annual costs of $8.1 million per year for increased rates
paid for group supported employment services by regional
centers under the Department of Developmental Services (65%
General Fund, 35% federal funds).
Annual costs of $2 million per year for increased rates
paid for individualized supported employment services by
regional centers under the Department of Developmental
Disabilities (65% General Fund, 35% federal funds).
Potential annual costs of $1.8 million per year for
increased rates paid for supported employment services by
the Department of Rehabilitation (20% General Fund, 80%
federal funds). The bill does not directly raise the rates
paid by the Department of Rehabilitation for supported
employment services. However, through regulation, the
Department of Rehabilitation has set the rates it pays for
supported employment services equal to those paid by the
regional centers under the Department of Developmental
Services. In order to ensure that providers of supported
employment services continue to provide services to
consumers through the Department of Rehabilitation, the
Department may need to raise its rates to match those
provided by the Department of Developmental Services.
No significant fiscal impact is anticipated by requiring
the regional centers to pay for employment preparation
AB 1626 (Maienschein)
Page 1
services in cases where regional center consumers are placed
on a waiting list for services from the Department of
Rehabilitation (General Fund and federal funds).
Background: California provides community-based services to
approximately 250,000 persons with developmental disabilities
and their families through a statewide system of 21 regional
centers. Regional centers are private, nonprofit agencies under
contract with the Department of Developmental Services for the
provision of various services and supports to people with
developmental disabilities. As a single point of entry, regional
centers provide diagnostic and assessment services to determine
eligibility; convene planning teams to develop an Individual
Program Plan for each eligible consumer; and either provide or
obtain from generic agencies appropriate services for each
consumer in accordance with the Individual Program Plan.
Regional centers provide a variety of employment-related
services and supports to consumers. For example, work activity
programs (sometimes referred to as sheltered workshops) provide
opportunities for consumers to work in groups in a structured
environment under the supervision of a regional center vendor.
Consumers may also make use of supported employment services,
which are designed to assist consumers in achieving employment
in a traditional workplace. Typically, supported employment
services include various types of job coaching to assist
consumers in performing their duties and working with coworkers,
supervisors, and the public. Supported employment services are
available in groups of three to eight consumers or individually,
depending on the specific consumer's needs. Individualized
supported employment services must decrease over time until
stabilization of the consumer's needs is achieved.
Under current law, when regional center consumers require
habilitation services to prepare for employment, they are
referred to the Department of Rehabilitation for habilitation
services. (Regional center consumers can receive supported
employment services from both a regional center and the
Department of Rehabilitation, depending on the individual
consumer's needs.) If a regional center consumer is placed on a
waiting list for services by the Department of Rehabilitation
(due to budget constraints), current law requires certain
habilitation services to be provided by regional centers (via
vendors).
AB 1626 (Maienschein)
Page 2
As part of the 2008-09 Budget Act, rates paid to regional center
vendors for a variety of services, including supported
employment services, were reduced by 10% in order to achieve
budget savings.
Proposed Law: AB 1626 would increase the rates paid by the
Department of Developmental Services for supported employment
services by specified amounts.
Specific provisions of the bill would:
Increase the hourly rate for both individualized and group
supported employment services provided by regional centers
from $30.82 to $34.24 per hour;
Increase the fees that regional centers pay interim program
providers to complete the intake process from $360 to $400;
Increase the fees that regional centers pay program
providers for both placement in a job and after 90 days of
retention in a job from $720 to $800 when a regional center
consumer has been placed on a Department of Rehabilitation
waitlist.
The rate increases proposed in this bill would restore the rate
reductions imposed as part of the 2008-09 Budget Act.
Related Legislation:
AB 954 (Maienschein, 2013) was identical to this bill. That
bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's
Suspense File.
AB 1112 (Ammiano, 2013) would have required certain
employment support services provided by regional centers to
be paid at the same rates that the Department of
Rehabilitation pays for those services. That bill was held
on this committee's Suspense File and subsequently amended
to address a different subject.
Staff Comments: In the last 25 years, the Department or
Rehabilitation has only placed regional center consumers on a
waiting list for one brief period. Under current practice,
regional center consumers are given priority for habilitation
services. Therefore, it is unlikely that this bill will result
in any significant increase in costs to the regional centers by
requiring the regional centers to pay for employment preparation
services, if regional center consumers are placed on a waiting
AB 1626 (Maienschein)
Page 3
list by the Department of Rehabilitation.