Amended in Senate January 6, 2014

Amended in Senate April 15, 2013

Amended in Senate April 9, 2013

Senate Bill No. 577

Introduced by Senator Pavley

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Sections 4850, 4851, 4854, and 4860 begin delete of, to add Section 4868.5 to, and to add and repeal Section 4870 of, end delete begin insert of end insert the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to developmental disabilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 577, as amended, Pavley. Autism and other developmental disabilities: begin delete pilot program: end delete employment.

The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act authorizes the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers to provide services and support to individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism. Existing law governs the habilitation services provided for adult consumers of regional centers, including work activity programs, as described, and establishes an hourly rate for supported employment services provided to consumers receiving individualized services.

This bill would require begin insert the development and semiannual review of end insert a begin delete job exploration and discovery end delete plan, as specified, begin delete to be developed if job exploration and discovery end delete begin insert if community-based prevocational end insert services are determined to be a necessary step to achieve a supported employment outcome. The bill would establish an hourly rate for begin delete job exploration and discovery end delete begin insert community-based prevocational end insert services of $40 per hour for a maximum of 75 hours per calendar quarter for all services identified and provided in the plan.

begin delete

This bill would require the State Department of Developmental Services to establish a pilot program for young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities to help them find pathways to financial independence through work. The bill would require the pilot program to develop and implement a new model for providing employment services to these individuals and to create financial incentives for employment service providers, as specified, among other requirements.

end delete begin delete

The bill would also establish, until July 1, 2018, a pilot program operative in specified regional centers, pursuant to which the State Department of Developmental Services would be authorized to allocate moneys for the support of programs provided by the participating regional centers to promote the employment of persons with autism and developmental disabilities. The bill would require the State Department of Developmental Services and the Department of Finance to establish, on or before July 1, 2014, the Employment Growth Fund for these purposes, as specified. The fund would consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature from cost savings resulting from the reduced amount of support payments made to persons with autism and developmental disabilities who earn wages from gainful employment attained as a result of their participation in the pilot program, as specified. The bill would impose specified duties on the State Department of Developmental Services relating to the pilot program, including preparing an annual report and designing and implementing an evaluation of the pilot program, as specified.

end delete

The bill would also set forth related legislative findings and declarations.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete yes end delete begin insert no end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Individuals with developmental disabilities have to struggle
to find gainful employment. Unemployment amongst the
developmentally disabled population is approximately 80 percent.

(b) Within the developmentally disabled community, autism is
the fastest growing population, making up approximately 50
percent of the annual new caseload of regional centers in some
parts of the state.

(c) One in three adults with autism do not have paid work
experience or a college or technical education seven years after
leaving the K-12 school system.

(d) In order to increase the self-sufficiency of young adults with
autism and other developmental disabilities, including increased
earning capacity and reduced government benefit support, it is
important that the state implement a program to provide
individualized skills assessment, social cue training, and specific
support to ensure their academic and employment success.

(e) The Governor and the Legislature must address the growing
need for new models of assessment, career training, and expanding
employment opportunities and support options for young adults
with autism and other developmental disabilities between 18 and
30 years of age. If this population is left without purposefully
designed pathways into employment, these young adults will
remain at high risk of public dependency throughout the course
of their lives.

SEC. 2.  

Section 4850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4850.  

(a) The Legislature reaffirms its intent that habilitation
services for adults with developmental disabilities should be
planned and provided as a part of a continuum and that habilitation
services should be available to enable persons with developmental
disabilities to approximate the pattern of everyday living available
to nondisabled people of the same age.

(b) The Legislature further intends that habilitation services
shall be provided to adults with developmental disabilities as
specified in this chapter in order to guarantee the rights stated in
Section 4502.

(c) The Legislature further intends that in order to increase
effectiveness and opportunity to gain meaningful employment
opportunities, habilitation services shall also provide begin delete job
exploration and discovery end delete begin insert community-based prevocational end insert services
to enhance begin delete and promote jobs skills, end delete begin insert community employment
readiness, end insert develop social skills necessary for successful begin insert community end insert
employment, and begin delete provide targeted outreach to employers end delete begin insert build end insert begin insert a
network of community and employment opportunities end insert for
individuals with developmental disabilities.

SEC. 3.  

Section 4851 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4851.  

The definitions contained in this chapter shall govern
the construction of this chapter, with respect to habilitation services
provided through the regional center, and unless the context
requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the following
meanings:

(a) “Habilitation services” means community-based services
purchased or provided for adults with developmental disabilities,
including services provided under the Work Activity Program and
the Supported Employment Program, to prepare and maintain them
at their highest level of vocational functioning, or to prepare them
for referral to vocational rehabilitation services.

(b) “Individual program plan” means the overall plan developed
by a regional center pursuant to Section 4646.

(c) “Individual habilitation service plan” means the service plan
developed by the habilitation service vendor to meet employment
goals in the individual program plan.

(d) “Department” means the State Department of Developmental
Services.

(e) “Work activity program” includes, but is not limited to,
sheltered workshops or work activity centers, or community-based
work activity programs certified pursuant to subdivision (f) or
accredited by CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission.

(f) “Certification” means certification procedures developed by
the Department of Rehabilitation.

(g) “Work activity program day” means the period of time
during which a Work Activity Program provides services to
consumers.

(h) “Full day of service” means, for purposes of billing, a day
in which the consumer attends a minimum of the declared and
approved work activity program day, less 30 minutes, excluding
the lunch period.

(i) “Half day of service” means, for purposes of billing, any day
in which the consumer’s attendance does not meet the criteria for
billing for a full day of service as defined in subdivision (g), and
the consumer attends the work activity program not less than two
hours, excluding the lunch period.

(j) “Supported employment program” means a program that
meets the requirements of subdivisions (n) to (s), inclusive.

(k) “Consumer” means any adult who receives services
purchased under this chapter.

(l) “Accreditation” means a determination of compliance with
the set of standards appropriate to the delivery of services by a
work activity program or supported employment program,
developed by CARF, the Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission,
and applied by the commission or the department.

(m) “CARF” means CARF the Rehabilitation Accreditation
Commission.

(n) “Supported employment” means paid work that is integrated
in the community for individuals with developmental disabilities.

(o) “Integrated work” means the engagement of an employee
with a disability in work in a setting typically found in the
community in which individuals interact with individuals without
disabilities other than those who are providing services to those
individuals, to the same extent that individuals without disabilities
in comparable positions interact with other persons.

(p) “Supported employment placement” means the employment
of an individual with a developmental disability by an employer
in the community, directly or through contract with a supported
employment program. This includes provision of ongoing support
services necessary for the individual to retain employment.

(q) “Allowable supported employment services” means the
services approved in the individual program plan and specified in
the individual habilitation service plan for the purpose of achieving
supported employment as an outcome, and may include any of the
following:

(1) Job development, to the extent authorized by the regional
center.

(2) Program staff time for conducting job analysis of supported
employment opportunities for a specific consumer.

(3) Program staff time for the direct supervision or training of
a consumer or consumers while they engage in integrated work
unless other arrangements for consumer supervision, including,
but not limited to, employer supervision reimbursed by the
supported employment program, are approved by the regional
center.

(4) Community-based training in adaptive functional and social
skills necessary to ensure job adjustment and retention.

(5) Counseling with a consumer’s significant other to ensure
support of a consumer in job adjustment.

(6) Advocacy or intervention on behalf of a consumer to resolve
problems affecting the consumer’s work adjustment or retention.

(7) Ongoing support services needed to ensure the consumer’s
retention of the job.

(r) “Group services” means job coaching in a group supported
employment placement at a job coach-to-consumer ratio of not
less than one-to-three nor more than one-to-eight where services
to a minimum of three consumers are funded by the regional center
or the Department of Rehabilitation. For consumers receiving
group services, ongoing support services shall be limited to job
coaching and shall be provided at the worksite.

(s) “Individualized services” means job coaching and other
supported employment services for regional center-funded
consumers in a supported employment placement at a job
coach-to-consumer ratio of one-to-one, and that decrease over time
until stabilization is achieved. Individualized services may be
provided on or off the jobsite.

(t)  begin delete “Job exploration and discovery” end delete begin insert “Community-based
prevocational services” end insert means (1) services provided to enhance
begin insert community end insert employment readiness, begin insert which may include the use of
discovery and job exploration opportunities, end insert (2) social skill
development services necessary to obtain and maintain begin insert community end insert
employment begin delete and to secure and support participation in end delete begin insert , (3) services
to use end insert internship begin insert , apprenticeship, end insert and volunteer opportunities begin insert to
provide community-based prevocational skills development
opportunities end insert , begin delete (3) end delete begin insert (4) end insert services to access and participate in
postsecondary education or career technical education, begin delete (4) services
to develop resume and interview skills, and (5) services to conduct
targeted employer outreach to secure employment end delete begin insert and (5) building
a network of community and employment opportunities end insert .

SEC. 4.  

Section 4854 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4854.  

(a) In developing the individual habilitation service plan
pursuant to Section 4853, the habilitation service provider shall
develop specific and measurable objectives to determine whether
the consumer demonstrates ability to reach or maintain individual
employment goals in all of the following areas:

(1) Participation in paid work for a specified period of time.

(2) Obtaining or sustaining a specified productivity rate.

(3) Obtaining or sustaining a specified attendance level.

(4) Demonstration of appropriate behavior for a work setting.

(b) If begin delete job exploration and discovery end delete begin insert community-based
prevocational end insert services are determined to be a necessary step to
achieve a supported employment outcome, a begin delete job exploration and
discovery end delete plan shall be begin delete developed. end delete begin insert developed and may include,
but is not limited to, all of the following: end insert

begin insert

(1) An inventory of potential employment interests.

end insert begin insert

(2) Preferences for types of work environments or situations.

end insert begin insert

(3) Identification of any training or education needed for the
consumer’s desired job.

end insert begin insert

(4) Opportunities to explore jobs or self-employment as a means
to meet the consumer’s desired employment outcome.

end insert begin insert

(5) Identification of any personal or family networks the
consumer may use to achieve his or her desired employment
outcomes.

end insert begin insert

(c) The habilitation service provider and the regional center
shall review the plan developed pursuant to subdivision (b)
semiannually to document progress towards objectives, additional
barriers, and other changes that impact the consumer’s desired
employment outcome.

end insert

SEC. 5.  

Section 4860 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

4860.  

(a) (1) The hourly rate for supported employment
services provided to consumers receiving individualized services
shall be thirty dollars and eighty-two cents ($30.82).

(2) Job coach hours spent in travel to consumer worksites may
be reimbursable for individualized services only when the job
coach travels from the vendor’s headquarters to the consumer’s
worksite or from one consumer’s worksite to another, and only
when the travel is one way.

(b) The hourly rate for group services shall be thirty dollars and
eighty-two cents ($30.82), regardless of the number of consumers
served in the group. Consumers in a group shall be scheduled to
start and end work at the same time, unless an exception that takes
into consideration the consumer’s compensated work schedule is
approved in advance by the regional center. The department, in
consultation with stakeholders, shall adopt regulations to define
the appropriate grounds for granting these exceptions. When the
number of consumers in a supported employment placement group
drops to fewer than the minimum required in subdivision (r) of
Section 4851, the regional center may terminate funding for the
group services in that group, unless, within 90 days, the program
provider adds one or more regional centers, or Department of
Rehabilitation-funded supported employment consumers to the
group.

(c) Job coaching hours for group services shall be allocated on
a prorated basis between a regional center and the Department of
Rehabilitation when regional center and Department of
Rehabilitation consumers are served in the same group.

(d) When Section 4855 applies, fees shall be authorized for the
following:

(1) A three-hundred-sixty-dollar ($360) fee shall be paid to the
program provider upon intake of a consumer into a supported
employment program. No fee shall be paid if that consumer
completed a supported employment intake process with that same
supported employment program within the previous 12 months.

(2) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid
upon placement of a consumer in an integrated job, except that no
fee shall be paid if that consumer is placed with another consumer
or consumers assigned to the same job coach during the same hours
of employment.

(3) A seven-hundred-twenty-dollar ($720) fee shall be paid after
a 90-day retention of a consumer in a job, except that no fee shall
be paid if that consumer has been placed with another consumer
or consumers, assigned to the same job coach during the same
hours of employment.

(e) The hourly rate for begin delete job exploration and discovery end delete
begin insert community-based prevocational end insert services shall be forty dollars
($40) per hour for a maximum of 75 hours per calendar quarter
for all services identified and provided in the begin delete job exploration and
discovery end delete begin insert community-based prevocational end insert plan as developed
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 4854.

(f) Notwithstanding paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
4648, the regional center shall pay the supported employment
program rates established by this section.

begin delete

SEC. 6.  

Section 4868.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

4868.5.  

(a) The State Department of Developmental Services
shall establish a pilot program for young adults with autism and
other developmental disabilities to help them find pathways to
financial independence through work. The program shall be
developed and implemented to assist those individuals to obtain
integrated employment outcomes that result in sufficient wages
and benefits in order to decrease, over time, their dependency on
public financial support.

(b) The pilot program described in subdivision (a) shall do all
of the following:

(1) Develop and implement a new model for providing
employment services to autistic individuals and individuals with
other developmental disabilities or modify an existing model for
providing those services.

(2) Identify existing support services that may be modified or
combined with supplemental services to provide skills assessment,
training, and transition services.

(3) Utilize available federal and state incentive programs.

(4) Create financial incentives for employment service providers
who assist the individuals served by the pilot program to become
successfully employed in jobs that pay wages that equal or exceed
the Social Security Administration’s substantial gainful activity
level or result in the individual obtaining employer-based health
benefits.

(5) Develop and implement a protocol for collecting and
evaluating data regarding the outcomes of autistic individuals and
individuals with other developmental disabilities who participate
in the pilot program.

SEC. 7.  

Section 4870 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:

4870.  

(a) There is hereby established a pilot program in the
following regional centers: Golden Gate Regional Center, East
Bay Regional Center, Alta California Regional Center,
Tri-Counties Regional Center, Orange County Regional Center,
and San Diego Regional Center. If additional regional centers
express interest in participating in the pilot program pursuant to
this section, the department may approve up to two additional
regional centers.

(b) The pilot program shall include all of the following:

(1) The State Department of Developmental Services and the
Department of Finance shall establish, on or before July 1, 2014,
the Employment Growth Fund for purposes of the pilot project.
The fund shall consist of moneys appropriated by the Legislature
for purposes of this section from cost savings resulting from the
reduced amount of support payments made to persons with autism
and other developmental disabilities who earn wages from gainful
employment attained as a result of their participation in the pilot
program, as follows:

(A) The sum of two hundred dollars ($200) shall be allocated
to the fund from funds payable to the State Department of Health
Care Services pursuant to the Medi-Cal program to the extent
authorized by federal law for each Medi-Cal eligible consumer of
regional center services for each month that he or she is enrolled
in an employer-paid health benefit plan.

(B) The sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be allocated
to the fund from the Department of Rehabilitation, for each
consumer of regional center services who earns a monthly wage
that exceeds the substantial gainful activity level, as established
by the federal Social Security Administration, for at least nine
consecutive months if the Department of Rehabilitation has
received cost reimbursement in that amount from the federal
government pursuant to the federal Ticket to Work program. This
sum shall be allocated on a one-time basis for each consumer who
meets that criteria.

(C) The total amount allocated pursuant to paragraphs (A) and
(B) shall be deposited into the fund on a quarterly basis.

(2) Each participating regional center shall submit the following
information to the State Department of Developmental Services:

(A) Information regarding each consumer who receives
Medi-Cal benefits and is subsequently enrolled in an employer-paid
health benefit plan.

(B) Information regarding each consumer who earns a monthly
wage that exceeds the substantial gainful activity level, as
established by the federal Social Security Administration, for at
least nine consecutive months.

(3) On and after July 1, 2015, the State Department of
Developmental Services shall allocate funds from the Employment
Growth Fund to supported employment providers who assist
consumers to attain either of the thresholds described in
subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1).

(4) The State Department of Developmental Services shall do
all of the following:

(A) Annually determine the average cost of providing adult
developmental center services to persons with developmental
disabilities in the regional centers participating in the pilot program
and compare that average cost to the actual cost of providing
supported employment services to consumers in the pilot program.
The department, once it has determined the difference between
those costs, shall allocate to the Employment Growth Fund 50
percent of the savings if the average cost of adult developmental
center services is higher than the actual costs of the supported
employment services provided to any consumer who meets either
threshold described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1).

(B) Prepare an annual report regarding the number of persons
with developmental disabilities who receive services from the
participating regional centers as a result of the pilot program and
estimated total cost savings to the state across departments as a
result of the program.

(C) Design and implement an evaluation of the pilot program.
If the pilot program results in a 10 percent or greater average annual
increase in the number of individuals who receive habilitative
services through the pilot program being placed in supported
employment, the department shall submit a recommendation to
the Legislature that the program be expanded statewide.

(c) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2018, and,
as of January 1, 2019, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2019, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

end delete