BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1688
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1688 (Conway) - As Amended: April 22, 2014
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:7 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires reimbursement to cities and counties for
costs related to the investigation and prosecution of crimes
committed by developmental center employees against
developmental center residents. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides reimbursable costs incurred by a city or county
include costs to train personnel, investigate and prosecute
the crimes under this bill, as well as "reasonable and
necessary" costs, including administrative costs.
2)Prohibits a city or county from filing, and the state from
reimbursing, a claim that is presented more than six months
after the month in which the costs were incurred.
3)Requires a city or county to submit a statement of costs to
the state Controller for approval and requires the Controller
to reimburse the city or county within 60 days after receipt
of the statement or provide a written statement as to the
reason for not providing a reimbursement.
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4)Requires the Controller to request the Director of Finance to
include any amounts that cannot be fulfilled due to
insufficient funds in a request for a deficiency
appropriation.
5)Requires a local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over
the city or county in which a developmental center is located
to respond within 24 hours of receiving an allegation that a
crime has occurred at a developmental center.
FISCAL EFFECT
Likely significant costs in the $250,000 to $300,000 range to
reimburse cities and counties as follows:
1)One-time costs of approximately $100,000 (GF) to develop
training and to train up to 1,000 local personnel. Minor costs
to train additional personnel from time to time.
2)On-going costs, likely in the range of $100,000 to $150,000
(GF), to reimburse cities and counties for investigative,
administrative, and court costs.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, recent legislation and
policy changes within the developmental centers have primarily
been aimed at improving the internal response to abuse against
residents, but there are still gaps in the response from
outside law enforcement. This bill seeks to better protect
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developmental center residents by explicitly requiring law
enforcement to respond to allegations of crimes by employees
against developmental center residents while also providing a
mechanism for reimbursing local law enforcement for the
investigation and prosecution of such crimes.
2)Background . The Lanterman Act guides the provision of services
and supports for Californians with developmental disabilities.
The Department of Developmental Services (DDS) contracts with
21 regional centers, which are private nonprofit entities, to
carry out many of the state's responsibilities under the
Lanterman Act. The regional center caseload has over 260,000
consumers.
Approximately 1,300 regional center consumers reside at one of
California's four developmental centers (Lanterman,
Porterville, Sonoma, and Fairview) and one state-operated,
specialized community facility (Canyon Springs). These
facilities provide 24-hour habilitation and medical and social
treatment services.
A developmental center is required to immediately, but no
later than within two hours, report specified incidents
involving death, abuse, or harm of a resident to the local law
enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the city or county
in which the developmental center is located.
The Office of Protective Services (OPS), within the Department
of Developmental Services, consists of on-site police officers
and investigators charged with preserving the peace, enforcing
laws and regulations, and maintaining and protecting facility
residents and their rights. The investigators and officers
within OPS have duties within the facilities similar to those
of peace officers in the community.
3)Prior Legislation .
a) AB 602 (Yamada) Chapter 673, Statutes of 2013,
established a timeline for reporting abuse in developmental
centers, required development of POST training on law
enforcement interaction with mentally disabled and
developmentally disabled persons living within a state
mental hospital or a state developmental center by July 1,
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2015, and made other changes to reporting and investigation
requirements for mental hospitals and developmental
centers.
b) SB 651 (Pavley) Chapter 724, Statutes of 2013,
established requirements for sexual assault examinations of
residents in state hospitals and developmental centers, and
establishes a new penalty for failure of developmental
centers to report incidents.
c) SB 1051 (Liu) Chapter 660, Statutes of 2012, requires
DDS and DSH to report certain crimes involving death or
major injury to the state's designated protection and
advocacy agency, required that mandated reporters within a
developmental center immediately report suspected abuse to
OPS, and defined the job requirements for the OPS director.
d) SB 1522 (Leno) Chapter 666, Statutes of 2012, requires
that DDS report major crimes to the local law enforcement
agency with jurisdiction over the developmental center
regardless of whether OPS had investigated the facts of the
incident.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081